Bertice Berry (born 1960) is an American sociologist, author, lecturer, and educator.

Early life and education

Berry grew up in Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

, as one of seven children raised by a single mother. The family was poor and her mother struggled with alcoholism. In a 1994 article, Berry reflected on her upbringing and her mother's abusiveness when she was "in one of her frightening stages of drunkenness." Berry ultimately forgave her mother, writing that "her drinking was a way to mask her own pain. I think of the burden she endured as a black woman with few resources for herself or her children." Despite being told that she should give up on attending college, Berry graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree, ''magna cum laude'', from

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, ...

in Florida in 1982. She subsequently obtained an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. degree in 1988, both in sociology from

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. In 1994, she was awarded an honorary

D.H.L. The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...

degree by Jacksonville University.

Career

After completing her doctorate, Berry taught sociology at Kent State University. In the early 1990s, she left academia to work as an entertainer, lecturer, and comedian. She was the host and co-executive producer of her own nationally syndicated talk show, ''The Bertice Berry Show'', from 1993 to 1994. According to legend, the show's September 1993 debut was delayed by news coverage of the

Oslo I Accord The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...

; when the show finally aired an hour later, Berry quipped "We've got peace, now here's Bertice." Alas, the show never found an audience and production shut down seven months later, in summer 1994. Besides having her own talk show, Berry has also appeared on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', TEDx Talk, ''CBS Nightwatch'', CNN's ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...

'', and ''Sonya Live''. She is the author of two memoirs entitled ''The World According to Me'' (1996) and ''I'm On My Way, But Your Foot Is On My Head: A Black Woman's Story of Getting Over Life's Hurdles'' (1997), as well as several novels. She also wrote ''The Ties That Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory and Redemption'' (2009) about her African American heritage. Berry's self-help book about her weight-loss journey is entitled ''A Year to Wellness and Other Weight Loss Secrets'' (2010), and it won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Instructional) in 2012. Berry lives in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, where she is the co-owner of Iona's Gallery & Great Finds.

Bibliography

# Walk With Purpose, Collide With Destiny # A Year To Wellness; And Other Weight Loss Secrets # The Ties That Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory, and Redemption (2009) # When Love Calls, You Better Answer (2006) # Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-fix Remedy: A Novel (2003) # Redemption Song: A Novel (2001) # Haunting of Hip Hop (2001) # I'm on My Way but Your Foot Is on My Head: A Black Woman's Story of Getting Over Life's Hurdles (1997) # You Still Ghetto: You Know You're Still Ghetto If... (1997) # Sckraight From The Ghetto: You Know You're Ghetto If . . .(1996) # BERTICE: The World According to Me (1996)

References

External links

Bertice Berry official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Bertice 1960 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American novelists African-American television talk show hosts American women comedians American memoirists American women memoirists American women novelists American sociologists American women sociologists Jacksonville University alumni Kent State University alumni Writers from Wilmington, Delaware Writers from Savannah, Georgia 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Comedians from Savannah, Georgia Comedians from Delaware Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women African-American sociologists