Victor "Gotti" Cherry

Old Testament:

Victor "Gotti" Cherry is the voice of young urban America.

Victor was born and raised in Central Harlem; a community he affectionately calls “...the Black Mecca; the heart beat of the world”.  Victor has seen violence on all levels through-out his life, from being personally involved in domestic drug dealing in the late 1980’s to the 1990’s birth of East Coast Gang-Banging, which led towards his induction into the New York- based Bloods gang.  

In 1991, Victor became a member of the Harlem Children’s Zone; a Community-based Organization located in Central Harlem that serves as a beacon of educational enlightenment to the Harlem community. As a result of his affiliation with Harlem Children’s Zone, Victor became a powerful example of change through opportunity.  His innate, painfully real, and charismatic ability to inspire people around him led to his becoming the Poster Child for the Harlem Children’s Zone Beacon program after just a few months of participation.

 In 1992, Victor was elected President of the Beacon Teen Youth Council program; Victor also sat on then Governor Mario Cuomo’ State of New York Youth Council chair.

In 1993, Victor’s life changed forever with two personal tragedies.  On Easter Sunday, he lost his best friend Michael Duncan to a drunken driver automobile accident.  Two weeks later his cousin Mark Luker was gunned down at a dice game in Harlem right before his high school graduation.

New Testament:

Spurred on by the untimely and tragic deaths of two individuals dear to his heart, Victor transformed his pain and tragedy into motivational speaking, making urban, minority youth his main audience. He also incorporated passionate and visionary poetry into his life story which touched and uplifted not only the Harlem community, but also people from other neighborhoods, age groups and ethnicities.  Victor continued his metamorphosis into what he is known as today: a multi-talented artist, poet, motivational speaker, and Community Activist; his vision and goals are indeed that of a true Harlem Diplomat.

 In 1994, urged on by Harlem Children’s Zone Director Shawn Dove, who also served as his mentor, Victor was introduced to the Ameri-Corps, a volunteer program that helps young people earn money and a stipend fee towards text- books for college. The launching ceremony of the then newly initiated program was attended by numerous celebrities, including the United States Attorney General at the time, Janet Reno.  It was during this time as well that Victor became a very outspoken Community Activist, and in this same year, (1994), he self published his first book of poetry entitled, “Armed & Dangerous; the poetry of Victor “Gotti” Cherry.  Victor conducted workshops based on the philosophy of his book, where he showed young troubled children and other professional facilitators how you can be ‘Armed & Dangerous’ mentally, and excel in school, or whatever positive endeavors you choose to accomplish  in life.  1994 also proved to be the breakout year for a young Victor on the motivational speaking circuit where his talent for public speaking was recognized and he was featured in the nationally acclaimed, televised documentary, “Victory over Violence”.

In 1995, Victor was featured in the Robin Hood Foundation "Teenage Pregnancy Prevention" video (PSA). Recognized and acclaimed for his formidable debating talents, Victor was featured in public debates involving notable City Council members on youth prevention and services. Victor was also featured on the WPIX, Channel 11 morning show special with Mary Murphy named:  “Pee Wee Gangsters”, in which he and District Attorney Peter Reinhardt discussed the issues concerning the State of New York Juvenile detention system and their treatment of urban, minority youth.  The question posed was:  “should juveniles get judged as adults?” Victor’s responses were passionate, concise, accurate and powerful, to say the least.
 
In 1995 Victor received the CBS, Channel 2’   Martin Luther King Jr. Award For Outstanding Achievement.  1995 was also the year that Victor was a featured guest on the popular and widely acclaimed “Street Soldiers”, a radio talk show aimed primarily at the Hip-Hip generation and hosted by Hot 97’s Lisa Evers. 

In 1996, Victor began his Armed & Dangerous speaking tour which he named Peace Rehabilitation through Creative Thinking and Writing.   In addition to his speaking tour, Victor also conducted workshops on Violence and Gang Prevention which included presentations at prestigious educational facilities such as Wesleyan University, Colombia University, and Binghamton University.

 1997 found Victor within the Nation’s Capitol giving presentations to congress on urban and minority studies and laws.  Victor also represented the Common Wealth Foundation survey on Violence and Education amongst minorities in major cities such as New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

In 1998, Victor was featured on two WNET Thirteen programs: Ethical Choices and Rights & Wrong.  Both programs are scenario-based documentaries which examines school violence.  Fox 5 new reporter, Rosanna Scotto, was also featured on both of these ground-breaking documentaries.   It was during this time that Victor gave one of his most powerful lectures at the American Bar Association convention in Orlando Florida, which discussed the effects of violence.

In 1998, Victor premiered his Golden Award Winning Documentary:  “Rain Makers”.  The documentary proved to be so powerful and inspirational that aboriginal groups in Winnipeg Canada flew Victor out to their community in Canada to conducted a three week Inspirational and Motivational seminar on self- love and violence prevention.

1999, Victor was featured on a Bronx- net Documentary named:  “Chains Remain”, directed by the talented Sunny Smith.

 In 2000, Victor landed an acting role in the movie: “Drive-by: a Love Story”, which aired on B.E.T Black Star Power.

In 2002, Victor was a featured Model in Michael Jordan’s first issue of Brand Jordan Magazine.

In 2003, Victor recorded with Hip-Hop’s controversial gold recording artist Dead Prez’ and was featured on their gold selling, “Get Free or Die Tryin’ Mix” CD.

In 2004, Victor recorded various voice-overs for the Terra Association’s Educational Programs.

In 2005, Victor recorded and remixed (poetically) a few of Langston Hughes’ poems for the Scholastic Publishing’s Literacy Program. On October 15, 2005, which he self-proclaimed as another pivotal and memorable point in his career, Victor gave an eloquent and powerful speech at the “Million More Movement” in Washington DC representing the: Passing of the Torch Ceremony. Victor has time and again proven to be a leader of his generation.

In November of 2006, Victor was featured with some of Hip-Hop’s elites in an Anti-snitch Documentary titled: "Death before Dishonor".  In May of 2008, Victor hosted the Book signing held at Harlem’s own Hue-Man Book Store, of the highly anticipated literary work based on Gang Anthology entitled: “The Bandana Republic”.  Victor, whose work is featured in Bandana Republic, is one of the contributing authors along with Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

In March of 2009, Victor, through the self-named and created: Cherry Dreams INC, launched the Women’s Herstory Month Celebrations, hosted by Spoken word artist and Motivational Speaker Molika “MD” Mohamed.  The program celebrated and honored women of color who served their communities through grassroots organizations.

Revelations: Getting Others Together Too Improve: 

“There Will Never Be Unity in the Community Without Opportunity”
Cherry Dreams Inc,