A Memoir Coming March 2027
Thunder Wrapped in
Velvet
Cheryl Shaw spent her career telling women to listen to their bodies. It took two cancers for her to listen to her own.
About the Book
Raised in an Army family that moved every few years, Cheryl learned early that survival meant stillness, and later that survival meant motion. She became the dependable one: the daughter, the wife, the mother, the leader, the advocate who urged other women to get screened. Her body spoke anyway.
Thunder Wrapped in Velvet is the story of a Black woman who was praised for being strong long before anyone asked what she needed. Across six places and six decades, it moves from a locked closet to a chemotherapy chair, from a kitchen table to a tattoo studio, through a marriage that ended, a family she lost, a faith she came back to, and the long search for home.
Read more about the book →
Breast cancer is part of her story. It was never all of her.
“My family didn’t keep the records. My body did.”
FROM Thunder Wrapped in Velvet
For anyone who has been the strong one.
Women living with a diagnosis
To see yourself as a whole person, not only a
patient.
THE STORY ON THE COVER
“The pattern on the cover of this book is inked across my chest. It took eight hours on a tattoo table, and a lifetime, to put it there.”
Cover art by Shaka Shaw, recreated from Cheryl’s chest tattoo by Kali Tattz.
The one everybody calls
Book clubs and circles of women
For daughters, mothers, leaders and caregivers
who carry everyone else and wonder when they’re allowed to need care.
The book includes a reading group guide
for book clubs, support groups and faith
communities.
“Quote”
Name, Title
“Quote”
Name, Title
Cheryl, 1992 Oakland, CA
MEET CHERYL
Six places taught her to leave. Atlanta is teaching her to stay.
Cheryl Shaw has spent her career in breast health, humanitarian service and advocacy for Black women’s health. She led a breast cancer foundation in Seattle, worked alongside communities rebuilding after disasters around the world, and now works for an organization devoted to the health of Black women. A two-time breast cancer survivor, she lives in Atlanta, near her daughter and granddaughter, and gardens in her father’s old jacket.
My story >
Bring this story to your audience.
Cheryl speaks to health organizations, corporate teams, survivor groups and book clubs about listening to your body, Black women’s health and the cost of always being the strong one. Talks can include a reading, a signing and copies for attendees.
You don’t have to walk this alone.
The Breast Cancer Tribe is a community of survivors and the people who love them. Share your story, find support, and lend your voice.
“My body kept the record. And I’m still here.”
© 2026 Cheryl Shaw · Thunder Wrapped in Velvet, March 2027