UK Black History - The bullet that changed a life forever

Diversity Matters

In Brixton, in 1985, at the age of 37, Cherry Groce was wrongfully shot by the police in her own home, witnessed by her 11-year-old son, Lee Lawrence and his siblings. Cherry was left paralysed from the waist down. The children were left traumatised. In April 2011 Cherry Groce eventually died from her injuries having spent 26 years in a wheelchair. At the time, the shooting sent shockwaves through a community that had become accustomed to police brutality aimed at black males - and sparked the second Brixton Uprising – an overflow of anger and frustration at the institutional and everyday racism that the Black community faced.

My special guest is Lee Lawrence, this episode marks an important point in UK Black History and Lee shares his life experiences and journey with triumphs and heartbreaks along the way.

Lee has written a book, entitled The Louder I will Sing which is available on Amazon and highly recommended - The Louder I Will Sing (Audio Download): Lee Lawrence, Lee Lawrence, Ben Bailey Smith, Candice Brathwaite, Hachette Audio UK: Amazon.co.uk: Audible Books & Originals

He is also the chair and founder of the Cherry Groce Foundation which is a charitable trust that exists to, Honour Cherry Groce so as to ensure that our future will learn from the past, build communities through the pursuit of justice and work at the root cause to prevent miscarriages of justice. Donations are gracefully excepted, click here to make a donation The Cherry Groce Memorial

NOTE: Apologies for the audio quality throughout the episode