Description
It’s 30 years since Stephen Lawrence was killed in an unprovoked and racially motivated attack while waiting at a bus stop in south London.
The failures of the ensuing police investigation into Stephen’s appalling murder shocked the nation and reignited debates about policing and racial discrimination. In 1999 the Macpherson Report concluded that there was “institutional racism” within the Metropolitan Police.
This landmark report reset the foundations for race relations in the UK – in defining institutional racism and in removing double jeopardy. However, three decades on from Stephen’s senseless killing and in the wake of the global racial reckoning, how much have attitudes changed and how much farther is there still to go before racism is truly confined to history?
Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon and Lord John Sentamu, former Archbishop of Canterbury and advisor for the Macpherson Inquiry, will reflect on Stephen’s life and legacy, how far race relations have come and the challenges that lie ahead.
About the Speakers
Baroness Doreen Lawrence
Baroness Doreen Lawrence is the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in an unprovoked racially-aggravated attack in 1993. Her efforts in seeking justice for Stephen’s murder have fostered an ongoing commitment that lead to an investigation into claims of police corruption.
Baroness Lawrence holds a BA Hon Humanities degree, a postgraduate certificate in Counselling Skills and later gained my diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. She has been awarded four honorary degrees, by the University of East Anglia, Bradford University, Staffordshire University, and the University of Greenwich. Following 22 years as the Founding Director and President of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, she stepped down to establish the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation in January 2020, which is the only charity that bears his name.
Lord John Sentamu
The Rt Rev’d & Rt Hon. Baron John Sentamu, LLB, MA, PhD (Cantab), PC, of Lindisfarne in the County of Northumberland and Masooli in the Republic of Uganda and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda. Former Archbishop of York. He studied theology at Cambridge and was ordained in 1979. He served on the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry; chaired the Damilola Taylor Murder Review and the Living Wage Commission. He participates in House of Lords debates especially on poverty, racism and social justice issues. As Archbishop, he set up two charities: Acts 435 serving those in need, and The Archbishops’ Youth Trust, for young leadership.
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