Sylvester Turner was known by many titles around Texas and the nation.
State Representative Turner. Houston Mayor Turner. 18th District Congressman Turner.
But in the community he grew up in and remained in until his untimely death last week, Acres Homes, aka the “Foh Foh,” Turner was known by his street name.
“Amongst the elders, he was Sly,” said Rain Eatmon, the founder of the Acres Home Community Advocacy Group and a longtime resident of the community. “No matter how far he rose up through the ranks, whether it was in state, city or Congressman, he was Sly to most of the elders in the community because he never allowed his title to keep him from being his authentic self.
“You would see that in his mannerisms and his speech. He was just Sly.”
One thing was for sure: Sly was all about Acres Homes wherever he went or from whatever office he held. Love was also returned from one of the city’s oldest traditional Black communities on the north side of Houston.
“He brought a lot of attention, a lot of attention,” said Dr. Quentin Wright, president of the Lone Star College that sits in Acres Homes. “I don’t think until this day people know how much is in Acres Home right now, just simply because of the attention he brought to it.”
Keeping Acres Homes at forefront
It was also common to hear Turner representing the “Foh Foh,” which is a callout to the Metro Transit Authority’s first bus line—the 44—to run through the community after it bought out the Black-owned bus company that operated there during segregation.
Turner not only made sure people knew about Acres Homes but he made certain his community was not left out when it came to growth development. He was instrumental in bringing the Lone Star College campus there, co-founding the Acres Homes Citizens Chamber of Commerce, coming up with the concept of Complete Communities, helping bring together the Near Northwest Management District and making sure the Astros and MLB brought its brand new Urban Youth Academy facility to the community.
“If he wasn’t giving the keynote speech, he always spoke at commencements. Every time he got up, he talked about the Foh Foh and he would get everybody going. I don’t care where he was at, whether he was speaking at the Fallbrook campus or the North Harris campus, it was always a Foh Foh because that’s where he came from. “
Dr. Quentin Wright
He also started the Acres Homes Family and Friends Day at the Park, which takes place annually at Sylvester Turner Park in the community.
“It’s very little in that community that he did not touch. And the thing is when you are dealing with a community, Acres Homes especially, that is at risk, he made it cool,” Wright said. “He was like, `You know what? Mayor Turner came from here. Mayor Turner came from the Foh Foh.’ And it brought a sense of pride to all in an already prideful community.
“You can tell that Acres Home is not seen in the same light as other underserved communities across the country and that is because of him.”
That sentiment is shared by many.
“His leadership as State Representative is still missed,” said Warren Fitzgerald Muhammad, who is an attorney and also serves as the CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Acres Homes Chamber for Business and Economic Development that Turner helped co-found. “I’m not trying to throw any shade on anybody who came after him, but he was a stalwart for the community and for the Chamber. He looked out for us and fought for us. As the mayor, you can see the development taking place in Acres Homes. He had a lot to do with that.”
Staying connected to Acres Homes
But more than anything, the greatest value Turner gave to Acres Homes was his accessibility. Even after becoming mayor and then a Congressman, the Harvard Law School graduate still lived in that community until his stunning death last week at the age of 70. Turner voted at the nearby Lone Star campus, he walked the streets of the community and made sure the community always had access to him.
“When he came to community events you could see that familiarity come out and you could almost see the code switch kind of fall off him. It was like, `I’m home. I’m with my people. I get to cut up like I want to.’”
Rain Eatmon
His number was listed because he wanted his community to know he was literally a phone call away. And he meant it. And if there was a funeral, wedding or commencement, he was there.
“It’s everything. It’s true accessibility,” said Eatmon, who had his number and used it often. “It’s jarring for certain people because you realize this is the person who is responsible for the entire city, but he still had the presence of mind to make time for his community and people who are actually doing the work to help him serve the community better.
“I was honored, I was flabbergasted, I didn’t really understand in the beginning and I questioned it a lot. I was like, `Why are you actually responding to me?’ I was just saying hi and he would text back.”
Wright, who worked with Turner on several projects and hired his daughter Ashley Paige Tuner as Lone Star’s community relations director, said it became the norm for Turner to swing by the campus, especially when it was time to vote.
“He would just show up,” he said. “It was weird because whenever dignitaries are coming to our location, we do all this prep work. But we were kind of accustomed to the fact that he was just going to show up. And it’s nothing we could do about it because that was like his campus.
“The thing he took so much pride in is, `I live right down the street.’”
The good with the not-so-good
“It was confusing because it taught me the importance of being able to disagree with a person and still have relationship with a person. I’m not going to sit here and say I was absolutely in love with all of his policies. I’m not going to sit here and say there were things he would promote that I would kind of side eye and be like, `Sir.’ But he was always like, `If you give me the respect I’m due, I’m willing to have a conversation about it. But if you talk to me sideways, I will talk back to you sideways and put a stamp on that I am the mayor.’”
Rain Eatmon
But his relationship with his community didn’t come without nuances. Perhaps the biggest is the ongoing Urban Renewal project, which has brought in expensive housing and white people to a disadvantaged community. However, many of the properties sit unoccupied because people in the community can’t afford to live in them, and the middle-class population has slowed because the community still lacks infrastructure like coffee shops, nice restaurants and grocery stores.
“This might be a little contrary, I don’t see the business development,” Muhammad said. “That’s a bone that I have to pick. We see the residential development. He always said, ‘Acres Homes needed more rooftops.’ So I guess he had a vision or plan on how to bring business by first increasing the population density to support business, but as of yet, the business development has not followed.”
Acres Homes another Black Wall Street
Turner and Muhammad both grew up in Acres Homes but didn’t know each other as kids. Turner lived in the Garden City part of Acres Homes and went to Klein schools while Muhammad lived in another part.
But their paths would soon cross, as both were attorneys in the community and civic-minded. It wasn’t long before the two became friends. Turner called Muhammad by his nickname, Chappy and of course, Muhammad called Turner by his neighborhood name, Sly.
Muhammad said the strong sense of community and the storied heritage of Acres Homes kept them both in Acres Homes.
“When Sylvester and I were growing up, Acres Homes was like a Rosewood or Black Wall Street,” Muhammad said while sitting on the front porch of his home that sits on West Montgomery. “We had everything we needed right here in Acres Homes.
“Acres Homes had its own bus company, the Acres Home Rapid and Transit Company, which was the first Black transit charter in the South. We had our own cabs. This street West Montgomery was lined with business and entrepreneurship. Two doctors and our own pharmacist. So we didn’t really have to leave Acres Homes.
“So we all grew up close-knit and getting what we needed by communicating and working together with each other,” Muhammad continued. “Sylvester kind of represented that. After he went off to Harvard, he came back to Acres Homes. He got elected and continued to live in Acres Homes. Put a mic in front of him and he is going to say the Foh Foh.”
There will never be another like Turner
“He was very proud of his grandson. He got his Christmas lights up even though he was too young to be able to see it. But he wanted those Christmas lights to be able to show him.
Dr. Quetin Wright
“He loved being a grandfather. That meant a lot to him. So, Im glad he got a chance to meet Jamison and spend some time with Jamison before he passed.”
And that connection and love will be missed the most in Acres Homes.
“He set a precedent that I think is going to be hard for people to follow because he has given access,” Wright said. “I can tell you, when the news broke unexpectedly, we had to comfort people, we had to get Kleenex. It was just the amount of hurt across the board like they had just lost a close loved one, was just absolutely amazing.
“I don’t know if we are going to see something like that again in our lifetime. I don’t know if we are going to see somebody, especially a politician, who is loved this much by a community. You’ve got to give him a lot of credit for that.”
