Bertice berry biography of christopher

American sociologist

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

Early life and education

Berry grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, as one of seven children raised by a single mother.

The family was poor and her mother struggled with alcoholism. In a article, Berry reflected on her upbringing and her mother's abusiveness when she was "in one of her frightening stages of drunkenness."^[1] 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."^[1]

Despite being told that she should give up on attending college,^[2] Berry graduated with a B.A.

degree, magna cum laude, from Jacksonville University in Florida in She subsequently obtained an M.A. degree in and a Ph.D. degree in , both in sociology from Kent State University in Ohio.^{[citation needed]}