"Turn To Turner...People Not Politics"

Dion Turner, Candidate for New York State’s 55th Assembly District, was born Dion Tyson Turner on July 5, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York. His father abandoned him before he was born, leaving his 19 years old mother to assume the role of both mother and father. Three years later Dion’s mother gave birth to a daughter, Alicka T. Ampry-Samuel.

Turner has always loved the arts and literature. He at one time considered the life an artist. At the age of 14 he along with then popular dance group, the International Outstanding Unit (I.O.U.) danced at the world famous Apollo Theater and choreographed shows for the likes of Diana Ross, the late Heavy D. and Salt-N-Pepa.

He was also member of the legendary Hip-Hop super-group the Juice Crew All-Stars, as a dancer for Master Ace. While in high school he established the first African-American Heritage Club, successfully petitioned to have African-American History added as an elective course at James Madison, in Brooklyn. Furthermore, as Stock Market Captain, he was interviewed by local news about his Warren Buffet style investment during the stock market crash of 1988. These experiences gave him the desire to pursue politics.

Turner graduated in 1995 from the first degree-granting historically Black university, Lincoln University, Pa, whose alumni include Cab Calloway, ‘30, Langston Hughes, ‘29, Thurgood Marshall ‘30, and Wilbert “Bill” Tatum ’30, with a degree in Political Science. He was also a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) and a member of one of the oldest African-American fraternities in United States, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., founded in 1911.

Two years after graduating from Lincoln University, in 1997, he was able to secure a recording contract for his classmate with Andre “Dr. Dre” Young’s then fledging label, Aftermath Entertainment. During his tenure with both Aftermath and Interscope he formed a partnership with his producer to create the popular and now renowned And 1 Mix Tape of which a television program was created. This product changed the way apparel and basketball is marketed globally to the youth.

After successfully navigating a depressed sports apparel market in 2006 and co-managing Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam Poet, Black Ice, he surprisingly no longer felt fulfillment from industry. So, for the next two years he worked with a college professor to help transform a Camden, New Jersey high school’s issue with student behavior and he partnered with local merchants, as well as Fortune 500 companies in distributing clothes to the homeless and toys to women and children who were victims of domestic violence, during the Christmas season.  Additionally, he was instrumental in securing a partnership with an enrichment program for Frederick Douglass Academy VII, in Brownsville. In 2008 he was accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows Program, an initiative created by Mayor Bloomberg’s Administration. In 2008, he received his Masters in Education and is currently completing a second Masters Degree program in Educational Leadership. He is the sum total of his experiences which have given him purpose and reason to alter education and politics.

Turner currently resides in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and is the father of three boys.

One people, One Vision, One 55th Assembly District.