The Syphax Freedom Fairytale

By Jasmine Sudarkasa 

As pandemic romances go, the Syphax love story is exactly what you would and wouldn’t expect it to be. 

What you’d expect is that they met online, scheduling several Zoom breakfasts and movie dates interspersed with long, socially-distanced walks on Kelly Drive. On their first date, Cheri planned an elaborate dinner at her home, hiring a violinist, chef, and masked maître d’ to meet Tracey at the front door. Their wedding had a Plan A, Plan B, and an outdoor tent across the street as Plan C – ‘being married during the pandemic was no joke,’ Cheri laughs. 

What might surprise you is that they’d both lived a lot of life before meeting. 

A prolific sales and marketing executive in her own right, Cheri moved to Philadelphia at 45 for a professional opportunity. She remembers, “I wanted a restart and a refresh. I came to Philly with open arms to whatever was going to happen’. After getting to know the city, she found a particular sense of belonging in West Philly, sharing that “it was like home: you’ve got the academics, you’ve got the conscious people, you’ve got the artists, you’ve got the activists.” 

Cheri spent five years building purpose in the city before meeting Tracey through her first online dating profile. “I’d never done this before,” she confesses, “but I decided to put together a really great profile and go online. I always say, ‘If I can sell and market other stuff, I can definitely sell and market myself.’”

Tracey, who’d been married and divorced before meeting Cheri, was no stranger to online dating but split his time between Trenton, NJ and Philadelphia. “Prior to meeting Cheri, I [was] in Trenton, New Jersey. I’d lived in Trenton all my life,” he recalls. 

Their love was a slow burn, developing as they juggled responsibilities, distance, and COVID restrictions. Cheri insisted on avoiding focusing all of her intention or time on Tracey, in favor of a more balanced approach: “If he calls and I’m available, cool; if he calls and I’m not, cool.” Tracey agreed, reiterating several times that he didn’t believe in love at first sight but that “[after] a few months of online dating, when we actually met in person, we couldn’t keep our eyes off each other.” 

Once connected, the couple quickly found that their passions for activism and community complimented each other. On the day that pandemic restrictions were lifted in Philadelphia, they married at the National Constitutional Hall. ‘Both of us are so into politics – that was one of the things that really aligned us,” said Cheri. ‘The National Constitutional Hall was the absolute perfect place: I love Philly, and I love history.’ 

The couple prioritized their politics and love for the community through every detail in planning and executing the wedding: all the vendors were either small business owners or black/female-owned. Cheri wore a handmade dress from Uganda, and the couple honeymooned in Ghana. ‘I am BlackPower.com,’ insists Cheri. 

This commitment to community is evident in the work that the couple does on their marriage and within the four businesses they own. Their restaurant, Bookers Restaurant and Bar, is a particular love letter to the community of West Philly: when she moved to Philadelphia, Cheri immediately identified with the neighborhood because of its resemblance to her hometown of Oakland, CA. It was a full circle moment when the opportunity presented itself for the couple to acquire the restaurant in 2023. Tracey insists it was a no-brainer: ‘looking at the numbers – the business was very profitable. [Previous owner Saba Tedla] created a great model, and once we looked at all that, there was a great opportunity.” 

For the Syphaxes, community and profitability go hand-in-hand: they see their restaurant as a way to commit to their neighborhood rather than simply profit off of it.‘I look at how we impact the community,” says Cheri. ‘We partner with schools, hire people through our young entrepreneurship program, and we’ve been asked to mentor. We have 50-odd employees that live in the neighborhood that we are able to advocate for, and Tracey’s doing an entrepreneurship class with our staff.” 

“The many differences we have about us have also been our strength, not just within our relationship but [also the business],” says Tracey. “We’re together seven days a week, and we run four different businesses. We’re constantly on, but because of those strengths that we have together, it makes it a lot easier.” 

Easier, certainly, but not easy – both Syphaxes have worked extremely hard to get where they are. Tracey’s work ethic, in particular, is what drew him to Cheri: “he’s just a complete and hard worker. As a person who was a single parent, that always makes me feel secure.” 

And Tracey works harder than most. He’d built a multi-million dollar real estate investment business and career as a motivational speaker before meeting Cheri, something many said couldn’t be done due to his carceral history. ‘‘I know that trials and tribulations are going to come. I’ve been through them all my life. From seven years in prison, and a year in solitary confinement, to being shot and the bullet lodged near my spine – I know that life can throw curveballs. I’m aware that those things happen. It’s just, I know that those are just moments. I like to say now, I’ve never had a bad day in my life.”

This outlook and the refusal to settle for ‘no’ is what keeps the Syphax’s businesses and marriage thriving. “Never, ever settle for ‘no’,” says Tracey. ‘Never, ever let anyone tell you that you’re less than and that you don’t deserve second, third, and fourth chances.” 

It’s been a long road for the couple, but the road ahead is brighter than either of them seem to have imagined. Through their travels, trials, and tribulations, the Syphaxes have come to appreciate a simple and expansive freedom and they fight like hell to keep it. All of their successes, they say, are about freedom. For Tracey, it’s the freedom to make decisions in a market that provides equal opportunity to all. For Cheri, it’s the freedom of expression and experience that we often take for granted in the United States. 

Together, they remind us that the best things in life come in their own time—love and success come with hard work. Tracey and Cheri Syphax do not take for granted that they get to enjoy the freedom they’ve earned along the way. Instead, like everything else, they share it. 

The last question of the interview makes this clear: when asked what they would tell their younger selves about the future, they reply – in unison – ‘it’s going to be lit!’