When people talk about Cheryl Smith, they describe a woman who is passionate, committed and no-nonsense. Most opinions of her are derived from her insightful, poignant weekly columns that appear in the Dallas Weekly or her in your face delivery and cutting-edge interviews on Soul 73 KKDA's Reporters Roundtable with Cheryl Smith.

Cheryl is a talk show host/producer at KKDA-AM, Executive Editor-at-Large for the Dallas Weekly, host of cable television's "On the Dotted Line" and a professor at Paul Quinn College.

She is the current president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists and the former president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Florida A&M University National Alumni Association. A former two-term National Association of Black Journalists Regional Director, Cheryl has also served as president of the Dallas Metroplex Council of Black Alumni Associations.

A graduate of Florida A&M University with a degree in Journalism, Cheryl also received her masters degree in Human Relations and Business.
For over 23 years, Cheryl has worked as an editor, columnist and staff writer for The Dallas Weekly. She has also been a talk show host/producer at KKDA-AM since 1990. Additionally, Cheryl has worked as executive editor/director for Future Speak, a weekly newspaper produced by high school and college students in the Dallas area.

A regular contributor to the National Newspaper Publishers Association's newswire service, Cheryl’s column is distributed through The Griot Syndicate. She has also taught journalism at Paul Quinn College, the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University.
Cheryl has received numerous awards as an editor, writer, producer and talk show host, and for her community involvement. She has won the Black Press' highest honor, the Messenger Award, from NNPA and has received awards from the Dallas Press Club, Texas Publishers Association, NAACP and NCEW to name a few.

A life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and FAMU Alumni Association, Cheryl has served as president of three organizations. In 1994, she became the first Black and female to chair the North Texas Health Facilities Corporation, a testament to her ability to lead, build and forge coalitions.

The National Civil Rights Museum awarded her the "Invisible Giant" Award and in 2005, the Omicron Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. presented her with the "Image Award." In November 2009 Cheryl was honored by the Journalism Educator's Association.
If you really want to see Cheryl in action, you should catch her at the D-FW Association of Black Journalists Urban Journalism Workshop where she has make an impact on aspiring journalists from middle school to age 55 in the "basic training" type program that has been conducted at Dallas' Lincoln High School since January 1990.

Her Don't Believe the Hype Celebrity Bowl-a-thon, which has brought numerous celebrities to the area, including comedian Dick Gregory, Chuck D and Malik Farrakhan of Public Enemy, R&B singers Miles Jaye and Eric Benet and actresses Kiki Shepard and Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, helps provide thousands of dollars in scholarships annually, while also underwriting the expenses for students to attend journalism conferences.
Her speaking engagements have taken her around the country and as far away as Cameroon, where she compared the Black Press in America to the struggle for a free press in Africa.

Cheryl lives in Dallas, where she is raising her sister’s children.