Who & Why....

I had to take time out to pay tribute to an amazing writer, activist, and person. Though I never received the chance of meeting Beauty Turner I have come across her story through the many people she touched while working at the Hyde Park Herald/Lakefront Outlook Newspaper. The goal of Turner's writing was to tell the looked over stories of many down and out Chicago Housing Authority residents. As a resident herself of The Robert Taylor Homes, Turner described herself as a "writer and a fighter."

The news of Turner's death came last week as she suffered a coma due to an aneurysm. With her many years of battle within abusive relationships Turner used that same relentless spirit to get her voice heard on many public housing issues. Curtis Lawrence a former writer for the Chicago Sun-Times Newspaper gad this to say about Turner.

"Officials at the CHA tried to ignore her, and she just demanded to be heard," Lawrence stated.

Turner was survived by two sons Larry Jr., Landon, a daughter, Latanya, and a twin sister Daisy.