Rep. Johnnie Turner honored with 85th birthday celebration and street naming
The celebration of former State Rep. Johnnie Turner began with a Sunday birthday party and ended with a permanent marker of her legacy unveiled on Monday.
Friends, family, legislators and her beloved sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. gathered Sunday to honor Turner’s 85th birthday. The Life Center Hall party room was filled with admiration and laughter as tributes highlighted every corner of her life — political, personal and community.
State Sen. Raumesh Akbari presented a formal resolution from the Tennessee Senate and House before revealing a framed replica of the new highway sign that now bears Turner’s name. “(Tomorrow) We are unveiling a permanent marker that will show everyone that drives down this street that the person that was dedicated to this district was permanently memorialized here,” Akbari said Sunday.
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The sign will stand at the corner of Third Street and Levi Road in Tennessee House of Representatives District 85 as a lasting tribute to Turner’s years serving the area at the Capitol in Nashville.
Rep. Karen Camper reflected on the deeper meaning behind the legislative recognition. “This resolution enshrines her legacy in history,” Camper said. “In the annals of Tennessee history, her name is going to come up. The things she has done will go down in history for us to reflect on for years.”
Her commitment to the fight for justice and equality under the law for African Americans went beyond government to her service with the nation’s premiere civil rights organization, the NAACP. She began as a volunteer and eventually served as executive director of the group for more than a decade.
Rep. G.A. Hardaway called himself her “seat mate” and confidant in Nashville. “She is the one and only who could get certain things done — like the Cold Case Civil Rights Bill. Ms. Johnnie got it to the finish line. It serves as a template for legislation all over the country because of Mrs. Turner.”
In January 2010, after the death of her husband, longtime District 85 Representative Larry Turner, Johnnie Turner was appointed to succeed him. She held the seat through 2018, choosing not to run again. During her time as a state legislator, she became the House Democratic Floor Leader, and served on key education and transportation committees, while maintaining active involvement with the NAACP and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
One of her final and most significant legislative achievements was sponsoring the Tennessee Cold Case Civil Rights Crime Act, signed into law in May 2018. The act established a permanent cold case unit within the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate unsolved racially motivated murders and violent crimes from 1940 to 1979. Tennessee Lookout notes Turner worked alongside Hardaway and Sen. Mark Norris to pass the bill, which has since allowed reopening of languishing investigations.
Turner’s influence as a mentor and civil rights leader echoed throughout the room.
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Attorney Van Turner referred to her as his “political mother” and recalled her holding him accountable early in his political career. “She got on me about putting the campaign signs down crooked,” he said. “She let me know they needed to be straight, she told me, ‘That’s a representation of the campaign.’”
NAACP Memphis Branch President Kermit Moore added, “She is the epitome of an activist and freedom fighter. She is still getting memberships for the NAACP and continues to inspire many across the state. She is still mentoring the next generation of freedom fighters.”
Vickie Terry, executive director of the NAACP Memphis Branch, praised Turner’s continued support. “She taught me everything I know,” Terry said. “She said to me, ‘I am here to help you with whatever you need to be successful,’ and she has done that and continues to help.”
Similar sentiments flowed as others shared reflections and memories.
Ernest Long, longtime security guard for the NAACP Freedom Fund Gala, recalled, “Mrs. Turner is an excellent lady. She didn’t take no mess though, but she is sweet and dedicated. She would try to compromise, but she would not let you walk on her — or the NAACP — and certainly not Larry Turner.”
Charlotte Freeman, president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Memphis Alumnae Chapter, honored Turner’s sorority contributions: “She stands head and shoulders above all. I appreciate what she has done for the sorority.”
Dress in crimson, as were many of her sorority sisters, Turner sat at the front table surrounded by family and close friends. As a steady stream of well-wishers stopped to greet her hugs and kind works, she warmly thanked each one. “It feels so good to be here,” Turner said “I love you. It is a joy and a blessing to hear what everyone is saying about me. I am very touched. I just love everybody.”
“It feels so good to be here. I love you. It is a joy and a blessing to hear what everyone is saying about me. I am very touched. I just love everybody.”
State Rep. Johnnie Turner
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The celebration continued Monday at noon in 90-plus degree heat, where local and state dignitaries joined Turner at the corner of Third and Levi for the official sign unveiling.
Turner stood beneath a canopy formed by umbrellas held high by her Delta Sigma Theta sisters, shielding her from the sun as her son unveiled the new sign: Rep. Johnnie Turner Highway.
Among the crowd, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy reflected on her civil rights legacy: “I don’t think people realize all that she has done. She has been a champion for civil rights. Now, with this physical marker, we are documenting what’s been done.”
Her journey, however, began long before she held elected office.
She has previously shared about the humiliation she felt being forced as a schoolgirl to give up a bus seat to white children who taunted her, and of being harassed by older white students on late night bus rides home during her years as a student at LeMoyne-Owen College.
Her peaceful resistance to those attacks was the start of her fight for dignity and civil rights for her people and others that is ongoing to this day.
In Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, a documentary project by Comcast NBCUniversal, Turner offered a reflection that encapsulates her life’s work:
“Discrimination against anybody is wrong, because I know what it’s like to be discriminated against. I know what it’s like to be humiliated. I know what it’s like to be treated as a second-class citizen. … Making life better in terms of freedom, equality and justice for all has been my life’s story.”
