Thicker than Water: A Memoir

In 2003, Kerry starred in the Spike Lee film She Hate Me, playing a lesbian who gets pregnant with her former fiancé’s sperm. For help with the birthing scene, she asked her mother about the night she was born.

Kerry was born on January 30, 1977. Her father was a fan of Roots, the final episode of which aired the night before her birth, and he tried to convince Valerie to name her after a character on the show. She refused. They chose Kerry because it referenced both Valerie’s pride in being a Black woman and her Irish heritage since she had learned that Kerry meant “little dark one” in Irish (180), referring to people in the southern Ireland who have darker complexions.

Grateful for her mother’s insight, Kerry felt like she better understood the emotions of a mother giving birth. Before her parents saw She Hate Me, Kerry warned them about the amount of sex in the movie.

One year, Kerry had an abortion, and she wished she had not tried to please others so much that she had advocated for safer sex. She used a fake name and was shocked when the nurse commented that she looked like

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now