"We can catch our own babies....We owe it to our ancestors to get all-the-way free."
–Melanie Funchess

In love, Jackie Dozier, Melanie Funchess, aka "Mama Mel," and Sherita D. Bullock, aka "The Baby Lady," are leading the effort in Rochester, NY, to rebuild the Black  "Village." Known as "Shermakie," a combination of their three names, Jackie, Melanie, and Sherita are self-described gatekeepers of  the Black village. Jackie, Melanie, and Sherita are  modern-day QueenMothers who demonstrate not only the centrality  of Black women in the movement for emotional emancipation and the complete liberation of people of African ancestry, but the sheer power of Black sisterhood.