The Beauty Turner Academy of Oral History virtual showcase explored exciting projects at the intersection of creative storytelling, organizing, and public history. This celebratory event featured the work of our talented inaugural cohort, who learned to use oral history to advance social justice campaigns, preserve community histories, and facilitate collective healing.
Beauty Turner Academy graduates reflected on their experiences and shared their successes during the showcase. Audience members also listened to excerpts from the Beauty Turner Academy Mixtape, a collective oral history project curated by Beauty Turner Academy Corps members jellystone robinson, Cosmo, and Nedra Deadwyler. The mixtape explores how public housing residents create a sense of home. To make the evening even more special, legendary writer, scholar, and cultural organizer Eve L. Ewing co-hosted the event with us.
During the event, the audience heard from Oral History Archive & Corps Manager Liú Méi-Zhì Huì Chen, who provided valuable insights about the legacy of Beauty Turner and the importance of that legacy on the National Public Housing Museum's Beauty Turner Academy of Oral History. Co-host Eve L. Ewing facilitated a meaningful discussion, posing thought-provoking questions to the panelists. In particular, Eve asked jellystone robinson, Chicago’s second-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, about the ways in which oral history practices have influenced his creative work, and vice versa. Troy Gaston shared how oral history has helped shape his journey as an organizer and academic, and how it continues to play a vital role in advancing social justice and liberation movements. Ammie Kae, a licensed social worker, clinical therapist, and owner of Granddaughters, a mental health practice that centers Black girls, women, their families, and communities, shared thoughts about the profound connection between oral history and healing.
The event also featured a robust Q&A session, during which audience members explored various topics, including intergenerational communication and love, ancestry, and the ethical responsibility of oral historians to narrators who prefer to keep their stories private. The event was a powerful testament to the enduring significance of oral history and its capacity to connect individuals across generations and cultures. The event underscored the timeless relevance of oral history in fostering meaningful connections.
Photos by Davon Clark.
Interested in learning more about the Beauty Turner Academy of Oral History? Watch our info session!
Meet our Co-Host
Eve L. Ewing
Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a writer, scholar, and cultural organizer from Chicago and is a Beauty Turner Academy of Oral History mentor. She is the award-winning author of four books: the poetry collections Electric Arches and 1919, the nonfiction work Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side, and a novel for young readers, Maya and the Robot. She is the co-author (with Nate Marshall) of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. She has written several projects for Marvel Comics, most notably the Ironheart series, and is currently writing Black Panther. Ewing is an associate professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues. Currently she is working on her next book, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, which will be published by One World.
Meet the Mixtape Curators
jellystone robinson
jellystone robinson (he/they) is a black trans agender lesbian from the Ida B. Wells Extensions on the South Side of Chicago. In his creative practice, he is attempting to retrieve ancestral memory and self actualization through due diligence, time travel, self expression, love and pleasure. You can follow him on IG @jellyfru1t and learn more about his work on his website. He was also a panelist.
Nedra Deadwyler
Nedra Deadwyler is a public historian and native of Atlanta. Her approach centers on diverse narratives; Black, Indigenous, POC, queer, and immigrant voices in how we talk about place and history. She is the Founder and Principal of Civil Bikes, a preservation and heritage tour company, and Save Your Spaces, a preservation festival, both are based in Atlanta, Georgia. She received a Master of Heritage Preservation at Georgia State University, Master of Social Work from New York University, a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Georgia. She was Scholar in Residence 2021 with The Atlanta Beltline. She has published a chapter, Civil Bikes: embracing Atlanta’s racialized history through bicycle tours. (Routledge, 2016, Bicycle Justice and Urban Transformation: Biking for All? Edited by A. Golub, M.L. Hoffmann, A. E. Lugo, and G. F. Sandoval), book review, Whose Bike Lanes, a book review of “Bike Lanes are White Lanes: Urban Planning and Bicycle Infrastructure and Advocacy, and an article, “There is a Tremendous Untold Story of Black. People on Bikes” in Bicycling Magazine.
Cosmo
Cosmo (they/them) is a black, queer, classically trained Chef and aspiring philanthropist with a knack for the arts. Recently a graduate of Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, pursuing my culinary career has been something I’ve prioritized for years and is where my passion lies. When I’m not playing with my food, I love to spend my time creating, learning, growing, and loving myself, and the world around me.
Meet the Panelists
Ammie Kae Brooks
Ammie Kae is a licensed social worker, clinical therapist and owner of Granddaughters, a mental health practice centering Black girls, women, their families and communities.
Troy Gaston
Troy (a former Robert Taylor Homes resident) is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), continuing his research centered on Black women impacted by the carceral system. He is also an organizer with Black Lives Matter and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, having advocated for countless social welfare opportunities in Chicago including increasing the minimum wage, more housing assistance infrastructure, and the Right to Return for public housing residents in Chicago. He is a McNair Graduate from Roosevelt University with a degree in Political Science and a Minor in Legal Studies, and was a 2022 Chicago United for Equity (CUE) Community Building Fellow.