BARONESS DOREEN LAWRENCE
In 1993, the murder of Stephen Lawrence shocked the world. He was just 19 and it soon transpired that Stephen, an aspiring architect, had been the victim of a racist attack. As he stood at a bus stop in Eltham in London, he was brutally set upon and stabbed to death by a gang of white youths. Millions mourned for Stephen and this tragic loss of life, but none more so than his mother, Doreen. Amid her overwhelming grief, she became a campaigner against racial injustice. Her incredible work led to a landmark report which said the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist and culminated in pledges to make reforms across UK policing.
Since then, Doreen has been awarded an OBE for her work and become a baroness in the House of Lords, as well as becoming a race relations adviser for the Labour Party.