Tom Turnipseed
Encyclopedia
Tom Turnipseed is an attorney who has been working in South Carolina
as a political and civic leader, and as an advocate for consumer, environmental and civil rights, the civil justice system and world peace since 1964. He is a former SC State Senator (1976–1980). In 1980, he was the Democratic nominee for Congress for the 2nd Congressional District. He was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General in 1998.
Tom has been an active civil rights leader. He has been the Chairman of the Board of the Center for Democratic Renewal (CDR), previously the National Anti Klan Network, an Atlanta-based civil rights organization. Tom was co-counsel for the Macedonia Baptist Church in Clarendon County, S.C. in its case against the Ku Klux Klan
for burning their church in 1997. The African American congregation won a $37,000,000 jury verdict against the Klan in 1998. In 1998, Tom received the Unitarian Universalist Association
's highest honor, the Holmes Weatherly Award, for the pursuit of social justice.
Tom is a board member of the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council, a statewide, non-profit organization founded to inform, advocate for, and educate, both the Hispanic community and the population at large, on issues affecting Hispanics.
Tom has also advocated for environmental justice in South Carolina. He was the founding chairman of the Citizens' Local Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), a statewide umbrella and informational clearing house organization for local citizens' groups concerned with toxic waste dumps in their areas. Tom has been an outspoken critic of environmental racism and classism that results in the disproportionate amount of toxic waste sites located in minority and poor communities. He has argued that toxic wastes constantly migrate in the air, water and soil and eventually threaten everyone.
Tom's essays have been featured in several books: one was Cast A Cold Eye, America's Opinion Writers, 1990 1991, published by Four Walls and Eight Windows; also in a book published in August 2000 by New York University Press entitled, Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle by Jonathan Birnbaum. His essay, "Renewing The Spirit Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: King Day at the Dome 2003", is featured in the third edition of Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, a college textbook by Sharon Crawley and Debra Hawhee, published in 2004 by Pearson/Longman.
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
as a political and civic leader, and as an advocate for consumer, environmental and civil rights, the civil justice system and world peace since 1964. He is a former SC State Senator (1976–1980). In 1980, he was the Democratic nominee for Congress for the 2nd Congressional District. He was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General in 1998.
Activism
Tom has been active in efforts to establish peace in the Middle East and to end the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.Tom has been an active civil rights leader. He has been the Chairman of the Board of the Center for Democratic Renewal (CDR), previously the National Anti Klan Network, an Atlanta-based civil rights organization. Tom was co-counsel for the Macedonia Baptist Church in Clarendon County, S.C. in its case against the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
for burning their church in 1997. The African American congregation won a $37,000,000 jury verdict against the Klan in 1998. In 1998, Tom received the Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
's highest honor, the Holmes Weatherly Award, for the pursuit of social justice.
Tom is a board member of the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council, a statewide, non-profit organization founded to inform, advocate for, and educate, both the Hispanic community and the population at large, on issues affecting Hispanics.
Tom has also advocated for environmental justice in South Carolina. He was the founding chairman of the Citizens' Local Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), a statewide umbrella and informational clearing house organization for local citizens' groups concerned with toxic waste dumps in their areas. Tom has been an outspoken critic of environmental racism and classism that results in the disproportionate amount of toxic waste sites located in minority and poor communities. He has argued that toxic wastes constantly migrate in the air, water and soil and eventually threaten everyone.
Media host and author
Tom has hosted radio shows on WCAY, WCTG, WCEO, and WOIC. He has also hosted a television show on WIS TV. In both formats, Tom shows provide a forum for discussing diverse issues and hosted community leaders, national and local leaders in politics and public affairs, sports, and arts and entertainment. The Seed Show broad/web casts live on WOIC, 1230AM (Air America) and seedshow.com every weekday morning from 8:00 till 9:00am. Tom has spoken and written on political and human rights, traveling throughout the country, and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Constitution, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Charlotte Observer, Counterpunch.org and many other newspapers.Tom's essays have been featured in several books: one was Cast A Cold Eye, America's Opinion Writers, 1990 1991, published by Four Walls and Eight Windows; also in a book published in August 2000 by New York University Press entitled, Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle by Jonathan Birnbaum. His essay, "Renewing The Spirit Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: King Day at the Dome 2003", is featured in the third edition of Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, a college textbook by Sharon Crawley and Debra Hawhee, published in 2004 by Pearson/Longman.
External links
- http://www.turnipseed.net/ - Turnipseed and Associates
- http://tomandjudyonablog.blogspot.com/ - Tom's blog written with his wife Judy