Lee Lawrence

Award-winning writer and campaigner Lee Lawrence talks about major cases of racial injustice in Britain including his own experience of fighting for 30 years for justice for his own mother who was shot by police in an incident that sparked the 1985 Brixton riot.

Lawrence was just 11 when his mother, Cherry Groce, was mistakenly shot in the shoulder by police in a raid on the family home, leaving her paralysed. Lawrence explains how he fought for justice for his mother for 30 years. He also describes other cases of racial injustice he came across during his campaign. They include a Somali sailor wrongly convicted of murder in Cardiff, an assault on footballer Dalian Atkinson and the hounding of Notting Hill’s Mangrove Club. Lawrence highlights many positive changes that have happened but says much still needs to be done. He lays out a pathway to a truly anti-racist society.

Lawrence is an author, speaker, social entrepreneur and advocate for restorative justice. His memoir of growing up a young black man and about the shooting of his mother, The Louder I Will Sing, won the Costa Biography Award.