“I feel like a part of me is missing. Parents want to see their children grow up, and go through all the stages of their lives and I have missed out on that with Stephen.”
On the 25th January, a bitterly cold winter morning, Doreen Lawrence was awarded an honorary degree from the University of York. She received this degree because of her tireless campaigning and a university spokesman described her as an “exemplar of dignity in the face of adversity for students and staff.”
Doreen Lawrence is the mother of three children, Stephen, Stuart and Georgina. Twenty years ago, Stephen was murdered in a brutal, racially-motivated attack.
After an abhorrent lack of justice, which demonstrated huge cracks in our judicial system, Stephen’s killers walked free, causing Doreen to devote her life to finding justice for her son.
Ms Lawrence has actively campaigned to obtain justice for her son’s case, as well as many other racial attacks ever since. In 1999, another investigation into her son’s murder meant she was able finally to feel some closure. This was the investigation commissioned by Jack Straw, working in the home office at the time, who described his decision to reopen the case as, “the best thing I did in office.”
Last year, the outcome of the case was changed, and two out of Stephens’s five killers were finally sentenced to life in jail.
As she tirelessly campaigned, Doreen set up the Stephen Lawrence Foundation, which enables young adults to be able to afford to study at university to become architects.
This foundation is now branching out to other professions, but Doreen explained that Stephen’s dream was to design houses and so she chose to honour him in this way.
“Stephen was doing his A-levels, he hadn’t got to the point where he choose universities but he planned to study architecture.” As the foundation flourished and took off, Doreen spoke about how proud she was: “For me, seeing the first students graduate under Stephen’s name was quite an occasion. When the first students graduated, I went to their graduation ceremony.”
Doreen didn’t originally go to University, commenting that “going to university was something I always wanted but sometimes things don’t work out.” However she started a humanities degree when her children had grown up, and she was studying at Greenwich when her son was murdered.
“I didn’t stop when Stephen died you know, I think because of how things were. Nothing was happening around Stephen’s case and I felt like I needed to do something, so I carried on with my degree.”
Ms Lawrence has shown great strength and perseverance through all the work she has done. She is recognised across the world as someone who has changed lives. At the Olympic opening ceremony last year, she carried a flag to the cheers and applause of the entire population. In 2003, she received an OBE as well as the honorary degree from York a couple of weeks ago.
She arrived on York campus with a friend to keep her company, and as she sat on the stage awaiting her award, her face looked rather stoic and sad. This was not the life she chose. As she stepped onto the podium to receive her honorary degree, she uttered her words and her voice shook. She explained later that she had been thrust into the public eye: “I didn’t set out to do any of this, it was never a plan, and it was something that I had to do.
“It’s quite emotional for me actually. I listen to people reading stuff about me but I always get very emotional. I often choke when I get up to speak as well. It’s being recognized for the work I have done over the years.”
Rowland Atkinson commended her achievements, explaining to the crowd celebrating her graduation that Doreen had spent her life devoted to social justice and equality: “Doreen’s campaigning has brought changes to policing, civil rights and attitudes to race to allow people to live without fear and discrimination. Doreen’s work has challenged prejudice and promoted the vision of a positive community in her son’s name. She has fought a tireless campaign against racism and inequality and guards against complacency. It takes great courage to condemn such behaviour.”
In her acceptance speech, Doreen thanked the University of York, “for bestowing this great honour upon me. I see education as the most precious gift that we can give our children.”
She described the occasion as “quite an honour to be in such a selection of people this morning, for those who have done a PhD and stuff, to be in their presence.”
She added with a smile, “I think Steve would be laughing at me, saying Mum, I can’t believe this. I think he would be proud, I think all my children are proud of what I have been doing over the years.”
Doreen feels that “all the work I have done over the years has truly been recognised and that is very special. “I think what I seem to have done is made a difference and highlighted what a lot of people would like to say for themselves…I feel like the work I have done has been great.”
When I asked her whether she thought that enough had changed, she hesitated before responding: “I think some things have changed 20 years on, but in this time, especially in this climate, I feel like things are beginning to roll back, people are worried about their finances and that.”
As our conversation came to an end she explained that she would not be able to stop campaigning for change: “It’s the way in which the country is turning, they think they have done race, done disabilities, people seem to think, they don’t need to do anything more. If we are not careful, all the good work we have done will be wiped away.”