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ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
It's Friday. Time for StoryCorps. Cherri Gregg is a Philadelphia radio host who recently came to StoryCorps with her mother, Mary L. Robinson Gregg. Cherri wanted to remember the person who cultivated her voice, her grandmother, Maryhall Fuller Robinson Sneed.
CHERRI GREGG: Grandma was one of my favorite people. I love you, Ma, but that was my girl.
MARY L ROBINSON GREGG: And I'll tell you why. When you were born, I had to have major surgery, so my mom took care of you the first year of your life. Your first word was with her, your first walk. I mean, she literally did everything the first year.
C GREGG: She was my first voice coach.
M GREGG: Yes, she was.
C GREGG: And she used to write the plays for the church.
M GREGG: Yeah.
C GREGG: And I remember she made me be the voice of God. And she used to have me, like, standing with my back straight in the kitchen...
M GREGG: And squint her eyes.
C GREGG: And she'd tell me to project and enunciate.
M GREGG: She said you were a butterfly and that I was not to clip your wings. But you know what, Cherri? Let me tell you something, I was mad at you. So let's just clear the air, OK?
C GREGG: (Laughter).
M GREGG: Let's just clear the air. When Grandma was in the nursing home, you got a cellphone, and it only had 300 minutes. And you told Grandma she could call you every day, and you told me that I had to call you on the pay phone because you had to save that 300 minutes for Grandma.
C GREGG: (Laughter) But I want you to tell me about my great-grandmother, your grandmother.
M GREGG: Big Mama?
C GREGG: Yeah.
M GREGG: She actually was, like, 4'10.
C GREGG: Tiny.
M GREGG: Yes, and she sat in a rocking chair all the time. And I didn't find out till I was grown it was a child's rocking chair. But you wouldn't know it because she just had such a big voice, you know?
C GREGG: Yeah.
M GREGG: Big Mama taught me to be OK in the skin that I was born in. Somebody called me fat. She said, honey, you're not fat. You're just pleasingly plump. Come on, let's go get some ice cream. You know, so she was just always about being the best version of you, whatever that is.
C GREGG: How do you think Big Mama influenced how you are being a grandmother to your grandchildren?
M GREGG: She taught me to love. She said when you're dealing with your children and your grandchildren, lead with love. And always remind them that you love them. I tell you all the time, I loved you from the moment you opened your eyes - I'll love you till God close mine.
C GREGG: I wish I had met Big Mama, though.
M GREGG: I wish you had, too.
C GREGG: I just want to make sure they're remembered.
M GREGG: Yeah. But they're in us, so how can they be forgotten?
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SCHMITZ: That's Mary L. Robinson Gregg and Cherri Gregg for StoryCorps in Philadelphia. The conversation was recorded for Brightness in Black, an initiative highlighting the joy, aspirations and complexity of Black voices. Their interview is archived at the Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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