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Beauty Turner

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Beauty Turner
Born
Beauty B. Turner

January 23, 1957
DiedDecember 18, 2008(2008-12-18) (aged 51)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupations
Known forActivism on behalf of public housing residents in Chicago
Ghetto Bus Tours

Beauty B. Turner (October 23, 1957 – December 18, 2008) was an American housing activist and journalist from Chicago, Illinois. At the time of her death, Turner was compared to the civil rights leader Ida B. Wells.[1][2]

Biography

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Career

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Turner was well known for her Ghetto (Greatest History Ever Told To Our People) Bus Tours, which "gave a voice to those who had none". Turner was associate editor of Chicago (South) Street Journal and a columnist for the Hyde Park Herald and a number of other local newspapers. Turner was also an activist in the community. For sixteen years, Turner was a resident of the Robert Taylor Homes, one of the US's best known public housing projects.[3] Towards the end of her career, Turner worked as a research assistant for Professor Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociologist at Columbia University. Her writings have appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.[3][4]

Awards and honors

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Turner won a number of awards through her career as a journalist, which include:

  • First New America Award by the National Society of Professional Journalists
  • Winner of a Studs Terkel
  • Peter Lisagor
  • Associated Press award
  • Chicago Association for Black Journalist award
  • Courageous voice award for her community activism
  • Black Pearl award
  • Woman of the Century award
  • Shero award from the Empowerment Zone Committee[3][4]

Personal life and death

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Turner had three children (two sons and a daughter); Larry Turner (born 1975), Landon (born 1980) and LaTanya Turner (Taylor) (born in 1977). Turner's grandson is Reezy Turner.[5] Turner died on December 18, 2008, at the age of 51. She developed an aneurysm, fell into a coma, and never recovered. She died at Rush University Medical Center.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Olkon, Sara (December 19, 2008). "Beauty Turner, 51: Chicago public housing activist and reporter". Chicago Tribune.
  2. ^ Rhodes, Steve (December 19, 2008). "'Writer, Fighter' Beauty Turner Dies". NBC Chicago.
  3. ^ a b c "Beauty's Ghetto Bus Tours". Beautys Ghetto Bus Tours. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b "'Writer, Fighter' Beauty Turner Dies". NBC Chicago. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Beauty Turner, 51: Chicago public housing activist and reporter". Chicago Tribune. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2013.