Many know Cheryl Wills as a nationally recognized award-winning television personality for Spectrum News’ flagship national news network, New York 1 News, headquartered in New York City. She anchors and reports on- location from some of the most popular destinations in the world. 

What many may not know is that Cheryl loves American History aka ‘Black History’, as the daughter of Firefighter with Engine 1 in Manhattan, Clarence Wills. The eldest of five children, Cheryl is a mentor to her brother, Clarence Wills Jr., who was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, she is guiding his career as a cartoonist.

While speaking with THOUGHTS magazine whose theme is “S.T.E.A.M with a taste of Culture’ with Director of Marketing, Nijaah Howard, Mrs. Wills said her goal is “to stop our (Black) children from calling themselves the n-word. We are dying at record numbers, and it is an embarrassment and a shame.” Mrs. Wills believes that too many Black children are not learning their family’s history, and therefore do not know who they are and what they have. She is concerned that without such knowledge many of these children grow up with low self- esteem, become victims of gangs and drugs, and will not realize the potential within them, just like many of Mrs. Wills’ family members.

“Through education we can change all this and get rid of the n-word” she says. Black history is often taught only through the lens of slavery. Mrs. Wills is set out on a mission to change this by giving information sessions to Black students in New York City schools, where they can learn about the positive impact Black people have had on society. Whether it be 30 students at a time or 500 students, Mrs. Wills is making an impact starting with our youth.

She is a historian and an advocate for preserving African American history. She is funding her own life’s goal, which is owed to her great-great grandfather Mr. Sandy Wills, who was enslaved and ran away to fight for freedom in the Civil War in President Lincoln’s army. His burial site is unmarked, and she is determined to relocate him to Memphis National Cemetery along with the numerous other slaves that died there. She wants to work closely with the families of enslaved people who died in slavery or shortly after emancipation. “One thing that many family members want is to have their ancestor’s grave marked so that they can restore some meaning and dignity to their lives” says Cheryl. Once her life’s goal is completed, she plans on writing a book and immediately turning it into a movie. After 200 years, the same family owns the plantation in Haywood County, Tennessee. This Documentary Film is to find DNA that matches Cheryl, direct descendant of Grandpa Sandy and his wife Emma, who was astrong woman with 9 children to be buried in Memphis.

As the Author of several Black History children’s books; “Emancipated: My family’s fight for freedom”, “Die free”, and “The Emancipation of grandpa Sandy Wills” that sparked interest in now using her voice to speak for the silenced and forgotten in her sequel book, “EMMA”. Emma was Sandy’s wife, a brave and strong enslaved woman who dreamed of being free and literate. She never let her dreams die. Emma had to fight for everything in her life, her freedom, her hope, and the pension she was entitled to as the wife of a deceased soldier. Cheryl is steadfast in sharing her amazing story that introduces themes like perseverance, leadership and initiative to children while educating them about historic events but most importantly self-pride.

If Emma could achieve her goals, perhaps all the girls that come after her, like her great- great granddaughter, Cheryl Wills can be as successful also. Today, Cheryl continues to speak with encouragement, love, and discipline to children so that they, too, can dare to dream and achieve! “How can you know where you are going, if you don’t know where you come from?” says Cheryl.

Cheryl Wills reaches back through her family tree for a story of freedom and self-determination. Cheryl shares a little about ‘Emma’ and the powerful will she had to Live’:

“Little Emma was an illiterate and brave enslaved on the Moore plantation in Haywood County,

Tennessee, she works in the house, caring for and playing with the white master’s children but not learning with them. More than anything, she wants what they have but she can’t: freedom and literacy. With the end of the Civil War, she gains one but not the other. Emma marries a former Black Union soldier and has 9 children. When he dies, she applies for survivor’s benefits but is denied twice due to bureaucratic quibbles about her husband’s name. Her third application, based on the records of her children’s births, is approved. Wills emphasizes both Emma’s unrealized desire to read and write and the importance of literacy to the successful negotiation of power structures. Emma Wills overcame challenges and dared to dream big during a painful period in the nation’s history. With only a little hope in her heart and tenacious determination, she found the inner strength to keep her family stable during trying times and reach her goals”. “Emma”, the sequel to Cheryl Wills’s popular children’s book, The Emancipation of Grandpa Sandy Wills, brings to life one of the lost voices of the Civil War era while inspiring audience to stand for what they want to achieve and Girls whose roots share the

same African DNA to be proud of their heritage and not succumb to negative talk or calling each other out of their given name’.

I Love writing books; I’ll do this for the rest of my life” says’ Cheryl

Cheryl is so grateful about the life she’s living now because her dream is fully aligned with her vision to teach youth about their history. She is also starting the Sandy and Emma Wills foundation where she will have a genealogy contest in schools. The aim would be to find an interesting ancestor, and the winners would be taken to the Gore Island of west Africa, this is the place where the whole history of Africans in America started, she wants to show the kids the root of their history, the rich heritage, and ancestor that they have but were never told and taught at schools.

‘Our children must learn who they are and who they are’.