Sherry Gordy: One of our life’s purposes is to help other people
Editor’s Note: After a wine, boutique hotel and restaurant tour of Mexico’s burgeoning Valle de Guadalupe, Robin Leach is back working from the cooler climes of La Jolla near San Diego for the remainder of this hot month ahead of our newly designed website launching shortly. We’ll have his story of the 100 new restaurants and vineyards that have sprung up north of Ensenada next week, and we’ll continue with guest columnists until his return for Labor Day Weekend.
Today, one our guest columns is by Sherry Gordy, the daughter of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. Sherry is celebrating the third anniversary of her weekly talent show at Fiesta Rancho and devotes time to running her family foundation. Our other guest column is by Paul Hymas, who opened another Nacho Daddy this week. Here’s Sherry:
By Sherry Gordy
What an unexpected pleasure to be asked for the second consecutive year to contribute to this column. Last year, I spoke about fond memories that I had regarding my youth. I spoke about my foundation and the weekly show that I produce in Las Vegas. This installment will be dedicated to the latter of the two.
People have speculated that I was brought up with a silver spoon in my mouth and my own staff. I’ve heard it all. In truth, I was raised to be self-reliant. My father saw kindness and compassion in my heart, so he gave me the task of director of The Berry Gordy Family Foundation.
I found it so rewarding reading applications and reviewing grants. It’s very important that people understand that one of our life’s purposes is to help other people, especially those who are less fortunate. My experience left me with a burning desire to create my own foundation.
So, The Sherry Jackson Foundation came into inception in 2004 with the hope of assisting the countless number of underprivileged young adults living in the Los Angeles area, where I lived most of my formative years. I used my mother’s maiden name Jackson for two reasons: to honor her, and I didn’t want to use the recognizable Gordy name.
The mission of the Sherry Jackson Foundation is to enhance the educational success, employment opportunities and emotional health of children and young adults, who face economic, environmental or emotional challenges, through programs that create opportunities to enable wise life choices.
We live in a technology-based world yet have young citizens not able to function within its parameters. Look at this year alone. We have a presidential election coming upon us, and some of the issues we are trying to combat are at stake.
We need to take a more proactive stance on uniting to make America strong again. Music has proven to unite people and make positive changes in the world, but we have to move forward together.
Everybody deserves the opportunity to attend a good school. Everybody deserves adequate food, shelter and the opportunity to support his or herself and their family. Sadly, the scales of justice aren’t balanced.
People need to care more about one another and the world we live in by volunteering and donating to trustworthy charitable foundations that work on behalf of your favorite cause(s). Charity starts at home but extends beyond the property line.
In my home, we realize the importance of being grateful for what we have and share any excess. People’s financial situations change overnight. It’s important that they don’t fall through the cracks in society.
Several years ago, I opened my eyes and realized that live music, as part of the arts, is dying. Opera houses and playhouses have been forced to close due to low attendance and the loss of the patrons of the arts coming up from the millennial generation. It seems that U.S. citizens have become an island to themselves and feel that live music is too mundane.
The youth of today believes that Kanye West discovered Sir Paul McCartney. This is absurd. The history of music has been forgotten and is moving in a different direction. It’s less personal. Growing up a Gordy, music has always shaped my life.
Some of the best music ever made came from Motown, which was founded by my father, Berry Gordy Jr. As the world marches on to the next musical craze, I feel that people still need to experience or feel the joy and emotion of watching music live onstage.
About three years ago, officially three years this month, I opened SHERRY GORDY PRESENTS TAKE THE STAGE where you are the star. An open-mic talent showcase inspired by Motown. We are at Club Tequila Showroom in Fiesta Rancho on Friday nights.
We encourage semi-pro and pro singers and artists to use our stage as a platform to perform alongside legendary icons who grace our stage in our All-Star Band. We give everybody the opportunity to be heard and use social media for exposure and promotion.
We promote the oldies but goodies. What’s wrong with having the opportunity to sit and listen to the music of our past and relive the good and bad moments that the lyrics and melodies reflect? We’ve lost some of America’s music pioneers this year, David Bowie and Prince. They revolutionized modern music.
Especially once videos were broadcast nonstop with the creation of MTV in 1981. Since then, people have stopped attending small, intimate clubs to see their favorite bands. They now flock to gigantic arenas and sit with 70,000 other people to watch live performances. We are working diligently to keep the speakeasy relevant.
We also broadcast our show on Livestream.com globally from inside the club and have red carpet interviews with our performers and an ever-growing following. Music feeds our soul and is the soundtrack to our lives. I believe this implicitly.
Peace, love and Motown forever.
Be sure to check out our other guest column today from Paul Hymas opening another Nacho Daddy this week, probably the only hangout in Las Vegas where if you complain to the waiter, “There’s a scorpion in my shot glass,” he’ll ask if you want another one!
Robin also has the lowdown on the Britney Spears biopic by Lifetime that she’s not backing, and he wraps his interview with Jennifer Romas of SEXXY at Westgate Las Vegas about to celebrate its 400th show. The story will be in Sunday’s Sunday Life in the Las Vegas Review-Journal along with changes just unveiled at The Chandelier bar at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
