Stephen Lawrence Day 22 April 2022 #sldayfdn

This is from Stephen’s Story on the Stephen Lawrence Day website:

Stephen Lawrence was born and grew up in south-east London, where he lived with his parents Neville and Doreen, his brother Stuart and sister Georgina.

Like most young people, he juggled an active social life, school work, family commitments, and part-time employment. But he also had ambitions to use his talent for maths, art, and design to become an architect, and wanted to have a positive impact on his community.

Tragically, his dream of becoming an architect was never realised. On 22 April 1993, at the age of just 18, Stephen was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack. He didn’t know his killers and his killers didn’t know him.

An article in the Guardian, in 2019, reported on The Macpherson Report, an enquiry into Stephen Lawrence’s murder, completed more than four years after he was killed:

A 350-page report concluded that the investigation into the killing had been “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership”. Specific officers in the Metropolitan police were named and the entire force was criticised.

A total of 70 recommendations designed to show “zero tolerance” for racism in society were made.

Some 67 of the report’s recommendations led to specific changes in practice or the law within two years of its publication. They included the introduction of detailed targets for the recruitment, retention and promotion of black and Asian officers, as well as the creation of the Independent Police Complaints Commission with the power to appoint its own investigators.

The abolition of the “double jeopardy rule” – which stated that people could not be tried for the same crime twice – eventually led to the 2012 conviction of Gary Dobson and David Norris for Lawrence’s murder.

But racism still exists in Britain. You can get involved in this year’s Stephen Lawrence Day, and beyond, here. And here. And here. And here. To help continue A Legacy of Change. And here’s a link to my 2021 post about Stephen Lawrence Day.