#NNPA BlackPress

Turning Ideas into Impact: Kristen Turner’s Safe Spots Seating Journey

In honor of August being Black Business Month, the Chicago Defender is running a series of profiles on our city’s dynamic Black entrepreneurs. Imagine a world where everyone pursues the coolest ideas that live in their heads. I’m referring to those ideas that distract you from a reality that would drastically change if given a […]
The post Turning Ideas into Impact: Kristen Turner’s Safe Spots Seating Journey first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 years ago

August 12, 2023

Chicago Defender Staff

In honor of August being Black Business Month, the Chicago Defender is running a series of profiles on our city’s dynamic Black entrepreneurs.

Imagine a world where everyone pursues the coolest ideas that live in their heads. I’m referring to those ideas that distract you from a reality that would drastically change if given a chance to exist. I genuinely believe that the world would be a much better place if we gave our ideas a lot more credit. Today’s idea innovator, Kristen Turner, reminds us how important it is to maximize the creativity that lives inside of us.

Identity

I am a poet, an educator, technology professional, community organizer and DIY Specialist, states Kristen. Everything I do is in reflection of what could promote people, specifically children, which are my heart and my passion. The things I’m invested in and am passionate about have a central focus, which is to help people to actualize and realize their healthiest self and help children learn as much as they can to realize the future they could actually have.

The Chicago Native

Like many, Kenwood Academy shaped the creative lens of numerous Chicagoans. Kenwood alums play such an integral role in the culture that it is unmatched. Turner, a Bronco alum, credits Kenwood for her exploration and creativity.

My intricate parts have been influenced by Chicago and the culture that culminates in this city. It being such a rich city allows me to cultivate the culture here and use it as an example for the rest of the world. Chicago is home, and I think it’s important to know that you could take me out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of me.

Safe Spot Seats

With her Safe Spot seats, Kristen Turner invented, which are made with recycled water bottles (Photo Provided).

The pandemic birthed tons of creative ideas, and like many, Turner decided to act on what she knew was both innovative and necessary. Needless to say, her invention, Safe Spots, was more than an idea. It was a game changer.

As a teacher preparing to come back into the classroom, I was looking for ways to help differentiate the anxiety for kids who had just been at home. I was looking for flexible seating options and decided I wanted to do something with the water bottles in my classroom. What sets Safe Spots apart is that they are covered in a fabric with small doodles that children can use to incite and enhance conversation. Not only is this tool used for something that can engage students with coloring, but it can teach them about the circularity of plastic and how it can upcycle it into things we can use for everyday experiences. It’s also washable so they can reuse it over and over again.

By the end of the school year, I was able to make each student one as a gift for their graduation, and students in other grades quickly became intrigued and interested as well! Before I knew it, I had more people asking to purchase them, and it prompted me to get this message out there in addition to the drinking of water. This helped students with mindfulness and stillness, as opposed to the anxiety that the pandemic had brought about.

Had I not betted on myself, I wouldn’t have known there was a door waiting to be opened after betting. – Kristen Turner

Target Audience

It is child-sized, but not limited to children. It’s light and portable and can be taken on road trips, outside or just something that anyone needs as a safe spot for a moment of mindfulness. This is something that will be able to transform people’s experience with furniture. We were always taught as children not to color on the furniture if you don’t want to get in trouble. This challenges the concept of making static furniture into usable art that you can experience. It merges interactive art installation and furniture.

Manufacturing

Selling them now has been interesting. The last time I sold them was for Englewood Arts Collective, which resulted in me receiving a grant to continue to build Safe Spot seating. They’ve been an enormous help in the creative and brand identity of me trying to make something sustainable. Since then, Healthy Hood Chicago has allowed us to use their space to collect water bottles, and we have about five interns that are committed to helping us to make the seats on a consistent basis so that we can continue to pump them out.

You can find Safe Spots on Instagram @safespotseats, as they promote a variety of experiences of plastic reduction and the upcycling and recycling of plastic into different things. You can also purchase a Safe Spot seat on my website, thekristenturner.com. We accept Visa and Mastercard.

Water-Shaped Passion

Experiencing some health issues and wanting to be healthier prompted the desire for Turner to increase her water intake.

Water helped me refocus myself and the things I desired and wanted. As a teacher, the recycling of water bottles came from the “reduce, reuse, and recycle” themed unit that every teacher is familiar with. We did a water affirmation science experiment in my classroom where we would speak positive things into one jar of water and negative things into another jar of water, and we were blown away by the results! Humans are all water, and me being intentional about cleansing myself with it will ultimately propel me into anything that I envision.

Confidence & Perspective

Oftentimes, going on a cleanse or fast exposes so much more than what you’re sacrificing. It can inspire you to explore yourself deeper as well as strengthen you to dive into those new discoveries.

Interestingly enough, I was on a seven-day cleanse and after that cleanse I had an experience that really catapulted me into taking a leap of faith. After having an intentional cleanse and fast from food, my perspective shifted on the eighth day when I ate again. It was as though the world had shifted to my exact desires that I had been manifesting and praying for.

An opportunity opened for me and really inspired stepping outside of the box after having worked at a school for six years. In those years, I had recommitted to my health, gained a deeper understanding of community and my impact, found out some of my gifts and was able to explore different things. As soon as I took that leap, doors were opening left and right that I didn’t imagine would open.

Betting On Yourself

Kristen Turner with a grant award she received for her Safe Spot seats (Photo Provided).

For a long time I had so many beautiful ideas but didn’t have the courage to bet on myself and run with it.

I applied for a grant and literally submitted it at 11:50 pm, when the deadline was midnight, and ended up winning the grant. The judges who scored my application told me that I should apply for more grants. They were moved by Safe Spots. Had I not betted on myself, I wouldn’t have known there was a door waiting to be opened after betting. It’s easier said than done, but you never know what doors are waiting to be opened.

It is so important to bet on yourself!

If you know you have something special, let nothing or no one get in the way of you pursuing it. That special idea is yours to use, so use it. When you use it, you keep it. Handle with care what’s rare and you’ll never regret the moment you pursued your idea.

The post Turning Ideas into Impact: Kristen Turner’s Safe Spots Seating Journey appeared first on Chicago Defender.

The post Turning Ideas into Impact: Kristen Turner’s Safe Spots Seating Journey first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Chicago Defender Staff

Posts by Chicago Defender Staff

Up Next

AutoNetwork is going live! – preview of 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Longe Range RWD

Don't Miss

Chicago’s Psalm One Shines at Hip Hop Heritage Museum Event

Chicago Defender Staff

Click to comment

#NNPA BlackPress

Chavis and Bryant Lead Charge as Target Boycott Grows

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises.

Published

5 days ago

April 23, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Calling for continued economic action and community solidarity, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant launched the second phase of the national boycott against retail giant Target this week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises. “They said they were going to invest in Black communities. They said it — not us,” Bryant told the packed sanctuary. “Now they want to break those promises quietly. That ends tonight.” The town hall marked the conclusion of Bryant’s 40-day “Target fast,” initiated on March 3 after Target pulled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. Among those was a public pledge to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025—a pledge Bryant said was made voluntarily in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.“No company would dare do to the Jewish or Asian communities what they’ve done to us,” Bryant said. “They think they can get away with it. But not this time.”

The evening featured voices from national movements, including civil rights icon and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who reinforced the need for sustained consciousness and collective media engagement. The NNPA is the trade association of the 250 African American newspapers and media companies known as The Black Press of America. “On the front page of all of our papers this week will be the announcement that the boycott continues all over the United States,” said Chavis. “I would hope that everyone would subscribe to a Black newspaper, a Black-owned newspaper, subscribe to an economic development program — because the consciousness that we need has to be constantly fed.” Chavis warned against the bombardment of negativity and urged the community to stay engaged beyond single events. “You can come to an event and get that consciousness and then lose it tomorrow,” he said. “We’re bombarded with all of the disgust and hopelessness. But I believe that starting tonight, going forward, we should be more conscious about how we help one another.”

He added, “We can attain and gain a lot more ground even during this period if we turn to each other rather than turning on each other.” Other speakers included Tamika Mallory, Dr. David Johns, Dr. Rashad Richey, educator Dr. Karri Bryant, and U.S. Black Chambers President Ron Busby. Each speaker echoed Bryant’s demand that economic protests be paired with reinvestment in Black businesses and communities. “We are the moral consciousness of this country,” Bryant said. “When we move, the whole nation moves.” Sixteen-year-old William Moore Jr., the youngest attendee, captured the crowd with a challenge to reach younger generations through social media and direct engagement. “If we want to grow this movement, we have to push this narrative in a way that connects,” he said.

Dr. Johns stressed reclaiming cultural identity and resisting systems designed to keep communities uninformed and divided. “We don’t need validation from corporations. We need to teach our children who they are and support each other with love,” he said. Busby directed attendees to platforms like ByBlack.us, a digital directory of over 150,000 Black-owned businesses, encouraging them to shift their dollars from corporations like Target to Black enterprises. Bryant closed by urging the audience to register at targetfast.org, which will soon be renamed to reflect the expanding boycott movement. “They played on our sympathies in 2020. But now we know better,” Bryant said. “And now, we move.”

Stacy M. Brown

Posts by Stacy M. Brown

#NNPA BlackPress

The Department of Education is Collecting Delinquent Student Loan Debt

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt.

Published

5 days ago

April 23, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

Trump Targets Wages for Forgiven Student Debt

The Department of Education, which the Trump administration is working to abolish, will now serve as the collection agency for delinquent student loan debt for 5.3 million people who the administration says are delinquent and owe at least a year’s worth of student loan payments. “It is a liability to taxpayers,” says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at Tuesday’s White House Press briefing. She also emphasized the student loan federal government portfolio is “worth nearly $1.6 trillion.” The Trump administration says borrowers must repay their loans, and those in “default will face involuntary collections.” Next month, the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt. Leavitt says “we can not “kick the can down the road” any longer.”

Much of this delinquent debt is said to have resulted from the grace period the Biden administration gave for student loan repayment. The grace period initially was set for 12 months but extended into three years, ending September 30, 2024. The Trump administration will begin collecting the delinquent payments starting May 5. Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Talladega College, told Black Press USA, “We can have that conversation about people paying their loans as long as we talk about the broader income inequality. Put everything on the table, put it on the table, and we can have a conversation.” Kimbrough asserts, “The big picture is that Black people have a fraction of wealth of white so you’re… already starting with a gap and then when you look at higher education, for example, no one talks about Black G.I.’s that didn’t get the G.I. Bill. A lot of people go to school and build wealth for their family…Black people have a fraction of wealth, so you already start with a wide gap.”

According to the Education Data Initiative, https://educationdata.org/average-time-to-repay-student-loans It takes the average borrower 20 years to pay their student loan debt. It also highlights how some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans. A high-profile example of the timeline of student loan repayment is the former president and former First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, who paid off their student loans by 2005 while in their 40s. On a related note, then-president Joe Biden spent much time haggling with progressives and Democratic leaders like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill about whether and how student loan forgiveness would even happen.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

VIDEO: The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. at United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

https://youtu.be/Uy_BMKVtRVQ Excellencies: With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world. I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the […]

Published

5 days ago

April 23, 2025

Oakland Post

https://youtu.be/Uy_BMKVtRVQ

Excellencies:

With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world. I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.

The focus on AI and digital equity is urgent within the real time realities today where there continues to be what is referred to as the so called mainstream national and international media companies that systematically undergird racism and imperialism against the interests of People of African Descent.

We therefore call on this distinguished gathering of leaders and experts to challenge member states to cite and to prevent the institutionalization of racism in all forms of media including social media, AI and any form of digital bias and algorithmic discrimination.

We cannot trust nor entertains the notion that former and contemporary enslavers will now use AI and digital transformation to respect our humanity and fundamental rights.

Lastly we recommend that a priority should be given to the convening of an international collective of multimedia organizations and digital associations that are owned and developed by Africans and People of African Descent.

Basta the crimes against our humanity!

Basta Racism!

Basta Imperialism!

A Luta Continua!

Victory is certain!