Doreen Lawrence

Doreen Lawrence

Doreen Lawrence OBE (born 24 October 1952) is a prominent British human rights campaigner dedicated to securing justice for the victims of racially motivated crime and police misconduct. She first came to public attention in 1993 as the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager who was murdered in a suspected racial attack in south-east London.

Contents

Early life

Doreen was born in the British crown colony of Jamaica in 1952.[1] At the age of nine, she immigrated to England. She completed her education in south-east London, before becoming a bank worker. In 1972, she married Neville Lawrence and their son Stephen was born in 1974.

Murder of Stephen Lawrence

Main article: Murder of Stephen Lawrence

Following the murder of their son in 1993, Doreen and Neville believed that the Metropolitan Police investigation was not being conducted in a professional manner, citing incompetence and racism as prime flaws.[2] In 1999 After years of campaigning, (with the support of many in the community, the media[3] and politics), a wide-ranging judicial inquiry was established by Jack Straw, the Home Secretary. Chaired by Sir William MacPherson the inquiry was to investigate the circumstances of Stephen's death. The public inquiry was the subject of intense media interest which became international when it concluded that the Metropolitan Police was 'institutionally racist'[4] and that this was one of the primary causes of their failure to solve the case.

Public life

In the aftermath of the inquiry, Mrs Lawrence continued to campaign for justice for Stephen as well as for other victims of racist crime. She has also worked to secure further reforms of the police service. In 2003 she was awarded an OBE[5] for services to community relations. She founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust[6] in order to promote a positive community legacy in her son's name. Doreen Lawrence has been selected to sit on panels within the Home Office[7] and the Police Service, and she is a member of both the board and the council of Liberty,[8] the human rights organization, as well as being a patron of hate crime charity Stop Hate UK.[9] On 22 May 2009, Doreen Lawrence visited Countesthorpe Community College to speak to the students about the aftermath of the murder of her son.

Popular culture

Chris Ofili's 1998 painting No Woman No Cry is a portrait of Doreen Lawrence crying; in each tear is an image of her son. It was part of Ofili's Turner Prize exhibition, and now hangs in the Tate Gallery.[10]

In 1999 Doreen was played by the oscar-nominated actress Marianne Jean Baptiste in the TV docudrama The Murder of Stephen Lawrence.[11]

In 2000 Doreen featured in a double portrait exhibited at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery in Greenwich, London.[12]

References

  1. ^ Torday, Paul. "And Still I Rise - the autobiography of Doreen Lawrence, Faber and Faber (15 Jun 2006)". Amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Still-I-Rise-Doreen-Lawrence/dp/0571227546. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  2. ^ "BBC reports Doreen Lawrence's testimony to MacPhereson Inquiry". BBC News. 1998-06-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/110842.stm. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  3. ^ "New York Times reports Daily Mail support for Lawrence campaign". Nytimes.com. 1997-02-18. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/18/world/racial-killing-bursts-a-british-press-taboo.html. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  4. ^ "Full text of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry". Archive.official-documents.co.uk. 1999-02-24. http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm42/4262/4262.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  5. ^ "BBC reports award of OBE for Doreen and Neville Lawrence". BBC News. 2002-12-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2615797.stm. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  6. ^ "www.charitiesdirect.com reference page for the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust". Charitiesdirect.com. http://www.charitiesdirect.com/charities/stephen-lawrence-charitable-trust-the-1102267.html. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  7. ^ "www.theyworkforyou.com cites House of Lords reference to Home Office Panel with Doreen Lawrence". Theyworkforyou.com. 2009-05-06. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?gid=2009-05-06a.548.4. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  8. ^ Murray, Douglas. "New Statesman cites Doreen Lawrence as board member of Liberty". Newstatesman.com. http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform/2007/08/human-rights-chindamo-cameron. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  9. ^ "Stop Hate UK official website". http://www.stophateuk.org/. 
  10. ^ Charlotte Higgins, chief arts writer. "review of the 2010 Ofili retrospective". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jan/25/chris-ofili-art. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
  11. ^ www.imdb.com page for TV drama 'The Murder of Stephen Lawrence'
  12. ^ "Greenwich University Press release for Doreen Lawrence portrait". W3.gre.ac.uk. 2000-05-15. http://w3.gre.ac.uk/pr/releasearchive/472.html. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 

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