FYI: Norvie L. Cherry

Ms. Norvie L. Cherry was born in Evergreen, Alabama in August of 1947.  At an early age, her father moved the family to Detroit, Michigan, where she and her 5 siblings were raised with a rich family history.

Her grandfather, the late Presiding Elder Joseph H. Cherry was a church builder, having built 5 churches which still stand today as monuments of the legacy which he left us all.

Reverend Cherry was a Civil Rights crusader and worked side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other ministers in Montgomery, Alabama for the equal rights of all people.  He fought for others without regards for his own personal safety.  He served as Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Montgomery Improvement Association during the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott in 1955-56.

After finishing High School in 1965 Ms. Cherry briefly attended Central State University in Xenia, Ohio, where she majored in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.  On her return to Detroit, she worked for the Ford Motor Company, building the inside door panel of the Ford Mustang.

In 1969 Ms. Cherry relocated to Pittsburgh, Penna. to manage her aunt and uncle’s bar, Jappy’s Cafe.  Shortly after moving to Pittsburgh she was awarded a One Year Scholarship from the Ford Motor Company and chooses to attend The Pittsburgh Barber School in 1970; while working the bar at night.  Soon the family gave Ms. Cherry full control over the bar, which she renamed the Black Olive.

When Ms. Cherry’s aunt realized she would finish barber school, she bought her a barbershop 3 doors down from the bar.  Cherry’s Barber Shop and Shoeshine Parlor opened its doors two weeks before Ms. Cherry finished school.

In 1971, Ed Conwell’s Beauty Supply Company of Pittsburgh, Penna. sponsored Ms. Cherry by renting her a booth in Chicago at Jessie Jackson’s Save the Children Push Expo, where her Afro hair styling abilities caught the attention of Rev. Jackson and others, so as they filmed the event and the one of a kind concert, they also filmed Ms. Cherry as she demonstrated her art.  Resulting in her appearance in Jessie Jackson’s Movie, Save the Children.

Not only did she appear in the movie, Rev. Jackson or Paramount Pictures, granted rights for VH One to use footage of her twice in a four-part Mini-Series Black to the Future 1970-2000.  She is featured in the 1970’s segment with David Alan Greer and Debbie Allen.

It was at this point Ms. Cherry began entering and winning The Bonner Brothers Big Show; a hair styling competition that she won in 1971 and 1972 for Afro Hair Styling.  The Bonner Brothers Hair Shows continue as one of the biggest competitive Hair Shows to this day.

Cherry’s Barbershop and Shoeshine Parlor would remain under Ms. Cherry’s control for over 35 years until her aunt passed in 2006, her uncle was already gone.  It was then that Ms. Cherry gave her barbershop to her longtime friend and shop manager, and it is still open to this day.

While living in Pittsburgh and being in the bar business, coupled with being a business owner at such a young age put Ms. Cherry in a unique position.  She was able to meet and appeal to people from all walks of life and lifestyles.  The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly; an experience that would later play a large part in her growth.

After years of success in Pittsburgh, Ms. Cherry decided to leave in 1979 for the deep south; Atlanta, Ga.  She had accepted an invitation and a job position from her brother, the owner of Professional Wall-Papering.

Six months later she shared her club experiences with a bar owner she had recently met, resulting in her taking a position at the club (The Towers) as its new manager.  Ms. Cherry renamed it The Club Sheba.

Realizing once again she was tired of working in the bars, Ms. Cherry finally left that life and started working again with her brother while driving for Federal Express; a package delivery company.  Also, during this time she opened and operated her own Construction Company; Cherry’s Sheetrock Finishing and Home Repairs, coupled with other local jobs throughout the years.

As time passed it didn’t take long for Ms. Cherry to experience the racially charged attitude of the south.  True to her family’s history with the Civil Rights Movement, on January 24, 1987, Ms. Cherry, Dick Gregory, Andrew Young, Jessie Jackson, Coretta Scott King and estimated 20,000 more joined Hosea Williams, and marched on Forsyth County Ga., much to the dismay of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 2008 Ms. Cherry was diagnosed with 3rd Stage Breast Cancer, and the doctors were not optimistic.  Ms. Cherry was.

Before receiving cancer treatments, Ms. Cherry was horrified at the fact that she was facing this disease and didn’t know Chemo was a drip; with that, she was determined to Trust herself and Faith in Jesus Christ to exit from this experience bubbling with usable knowledge.  The knowledge she would share with others; What does Cancer feel like; the real answer.  Living without taste buds, what’s a port, will my fingernails ever quit flaking?  What will I tell the family?

With all the clinical reports, test results, and statistics that are available, Ms. Cherry discovered no matter how hard the doctors try to work their magic with great care draped in compassion; “It’s one thing to treat the disease, but it’s quite another to experience it,” she said.  Resulting in her determination to tell the other side of the story; the story of a Living Witness with a desire to break the “they say” chain of information using her personal Testimony to help expose and explain the side effects of cancer, as she knows it.  “The things we are too embarrassed to talk about,” she said.

Ms. Cherry began documenting the process, coupled with finding unique ways to explain the uncertainties.  She is providing knowledge to those in need or simply just want to know What really happens; this resulted in starting a Blog, It”s Something to Think About and the penning of her tell-all book.

The book, I Survived 60 Years to Get Cancer, Then Kill It./ The Norvie L. Cherry Story, is her way of sharing her lifelong experiences, coupled with battling Cancer through  Medical Terms she picked up along the way, told through Short Stories and her Blog as they relate to all issues requiring great Faith; While hoping the proceeds from the book and other events will one day fund her Thumbs Up Project designed to aid in the Abolishment of Human Trafficking.

Ms. Cherry told us she’s in a joint venture with Ms. Rene Menendez, The Closet; Creative Ladies Organizing Services Effectively Together.  The purpose is to become more organized as a group while learning how to accept, work with, and use the tools of others with their permission.

The more we organized the more prepared we will be to achieve our goals now and in the future through Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Ms. Cherry said.

Ms. Cherry and her Thumbs Up Project, and The Closet will be attempting to demonstrate how to achieve this on Sunday, April 24th 2016 at Jazzy J’s Banquet Hall 5134 Old National Hwy. College Park, Ga. 30349 from 6p-12a  (Old National and Godby Rd. behind the Chevron ) and It’s  FREE TO THE PUBLIC!

That alone gets a big Thumbs Up me, especially because it’s all for The Glory of God, Ms. Cherry said.

norvielcherry.com or email norviep2@att.net

I Survived 60 Years to Get Cancer, Then Kill It./ The Norvie L. Cherry Story is available (at over 70,00 bookstores but you can order it from xulonpress.com/bookstore, get an E book from amazon.com/bookstore or anywhere books or E books are sold.

To God Be The Glory!  Thank You for your Support.