THRU THE FIRE:

Honoring the Life of Milini Turner and Many Others

THRU THE FIRE is a wonderful evening of inspiring music and provocative art celebrating the life of Milini Antanez Turner:  Scholar, Doll-Maker, American. All event donations support the “I Am Justice Scholarship Fund” at Spelman College. Please join eyedrum for THRU THE FIRE on May 7th from 4-7pm to listen to music by DJ Tabone, Q of CHYPHAHOUSE and performances by Sun-Christopher. 

Founder of I AM Creative Justice and organizer of THRU THE FIRE, Sun-Christopher Turner speaks about the events that led to the need for this scholarship and program, “I AM honoring Milini Turner. In her mid-40s, Milini Turner became the second oldest graduate of the 1992 class of Spelman College. Milini Turner, my mom, went on to become a field interviewer for the largest study of stress on black women, giving us the “JHP contextualized stress measure for gender and race studies” via Emory-Rollins SPH.

Several years ago, she retired from her career in social work in Atlanta to her hometown in Big Spring, TX, where she lost her life to police violence. Adding to this horrific tragedy was the stillbirth of my sister’s child due to being tazed by the same officers. Also, my 12-year-old niece and nephew were arrested.

Since my mother’s brutal killing at the hands of police, my family has languished in a maze of pain.

In May 2019, we established the International Avari Milini Justice Scholarship Fund at Spelman College.”

I AM Creative Justice and the Turner family, founded this endowment for Spelman students affected and victimized by police violence and brutality. 

“It honors my mother Milini Turner, a former social scientist, doll-maker and American, aimed at raising awareness about the hidden faces of police brutality and violence. 

The scholarship fund goal is to raise $100,000. The funds will be awarded to Spelman College juniors and seniors focused on careers in social, legal, and international justice. The scholarship will also be awarded to eligible
students whose family is the survivor of police brutality. This fund will pay for books and tuition. Our mission is to address police violence with multiple I AM Justice Scholarships.

With the financial backing of our community and the guidance of restless souls calling for justice and critical police reform, we are determined to hold criminals accountable regardless of which side of the badge the criminal is on. We are determined to help educate Spelman students who hail from families who are the hidden victims of police violence much like myself and my family.”