Olive Morris
(1952-1979), Political activistOlive Elaine Morris
Sitter in 2 portraits
Political activist, and community leader. Jamaican-born Morris arrived in London aged nine. She became politicised in the 1960s and 1970s when discrimination in housing and employment made life extremely difficult for the African-Caribbean community. She became a key figure in the campaign against oppression, racial injustice and sexism in Britain. Morris joined the revolutionary socialist Black Panther movement and became a founding-member of the Brixton Black Women's Group. In 1978 she co-founded the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent and was instrumental in the campaign to end police stop-and-search 'sus' laws. Morris read economics and social science at Manchester University where she campaigned against high overseas-student's fees. Morris died, aged 27, from an uncommon cancer. In 2011 the Olive Morris memorial award was launched giving bursaries to young black women.
by Neil Kenlock
modern bromide print from original negative, January 1973
NPG x199645
by Rob Adderley, and Ceri Buckmaster, and Staffan Gnosspelius
currency note, 2009
NPG D48057
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