Portia Shipman is the Founder and former Executive Director of the Sherri Denese Jackson Foundation for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Inc., founded on June 26, 2006, after the death of her dear friend. Portia has spent thirteen years fighting for domestic violence victims through the nonprofit. Through her dedication and commitment to saving the lives of women, one life at a time, the story of Sherri has been featured on Oxygen (Buried in the Backyard), Investigation Discovery (Dead Reckoning), and TV One (Fatal Attraction).
August 2018, Portia Shipman became ordained as a Yoruba priestess, Queen Mother Aji'bifa, meaning she who wakes and speaks. Upon returning from Nigeria and feeling unfilled in her career of thirty years working in the home health care profession, she closed the doors of her home care agency, Reliable Home Care Services.
She is now sharing her story. Those Sandals is a deeply personal story about a woman and the loving, yet discouraging relationship shared between her mother, Gladys Shipman. Portia courageously explores the mother-daughter wound and her yearning for love and guidance from the woman she looked up to the most. Additionally, the memoir recounts her personal disappointments and achievements and how she finally found her voice and strength to live life on her terms.