Shirley Turner was born Shirley Fisher in 1950 in Washington, DC. With her three siblings, she is an eighth-generation descendant of George Pointer. She has three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She currently resides in Baltimore, MD.
Her grandmother, Rosa Harris Conway was among those displaced from the Broad Branch Road in 1928, when she was HOW OLD. Her childhood was marked by her escape – with her mother Evelyn Conway Fisher and three siblings – from an abusive father. Her mother’s determined effort to raise four children as a single parent meant working multiple jobs.
“When we left, we moved to Northwest DC. It was a good life because we no longer had to endure an abusive environment. After about four years, we moved to Southeast DC to a better environment, ” she recalled.
But while obstacles in her home life improved, the education offerings for smart kids like her were tepid. “We attended schools where there were low expectations for black students. Upon entering high school, I had the opportunity to attend school outside the area. I graduated later with a bachelor’s degree from UMUC in College Park Md.”
A lesson she learned early and well was a stalwart work ethic. “After college I worked for 18 years for the Department of Defense, starting as a clerk typist and ending that career as a program analyst. Eventually I was hired as a case manager with the U.S Department of Human Services in Prince George’s County and later in Montgomery County for 25 years before retiring.”
Excerpts from Shirley’s oral history interviews in early 2021:
On learning about George Pointer: “At the beginning, I wasn’t excited about learning about the history of George Pointer, but once I started reading about him my first thought was about his attributes. I thought, this man must be a Christian because of his character, integrity, and a forgiving spirit he displayed. He was a young, hard-working man, born into slavery and was able to buy his freedom, became an entrepreneur, help his people, and moved forward.”
“I believe when my ancestors were forced to move, due to eminent domain, we lost a community of hard-working men and women filled with integrity, wisdom, education, and entrepreneurship. This resulted in a lack of direction, mentors, and quality education. I’m not mainly talking about myself and my siblings, but my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We all lived in chaos and disconnection. The one thing that helped me during this journey was the direction and wisdom I gleaned from the Bible.”
On what she thinks should happen now: “My view is that the story needs to be told. The (common) narrative about the African American community has been very damaging. I don’t believe that racism toward the African American community will change until society realizes that we are all human, all one blood, and we all come from dirt which encompasses a color spectrum (white, black, shades of brown, red, and yellow).“
On what’s most important here – paying restitution to a few or correcting the record: “Let the people hear the story. Not any one of us desires to move to Chevy Chase. Let the residents enjoy the park. It is great that there is signage about George Pointer. I care about changing the mindset of people who were ruined in the African American community. As a community, we need to join forces to correct the wrongs done with support such as mentorship, quality education, tutoring services, guidance and support for single parents – programs that will give children experiences outside their own community. Eventually we ought to have a display in the African American Museum on the Mall to encourage and empower children.”