FRAMEWORKS: FIRST ANNUAL BLACK ACTIVISTS LUNCHEON + OLIVE MORRIS AWARDS

FRAMEWORKS is a luncheon and award ceremony focussing on African heritage women’s activism - inspired by the legacy of activist and organiser Olive Morris. The luncheon is the first of its kind in the UK and seeks to move forward conversations and actions around the history of liberation struggles led by our community - highlighting our long standing hope and passion for racial justice and social change.

The event especially aims to invoke the work and methods of Olive Morris as a framework that can be drawn from in our contemporary work.

On the day we will be proactively celebrating current Black Female leaders within the community by platforming their work and honouring them with the Olive Morris Memorial Award.

We welcome you to join us in these action oriented conversations that look to the past to inform the present.

Who was Olive Morris?

Olive Morris (June 23, 1952- July 12, 1979) was born in Jamaica, where she lived for 9 years with her maternal Grandmother. In 1961 her parents decided to move Olive and her siblings to South London, Brixton, for better employment prospects. Olive Morris was interested in racial justice (growing up around a lot of racial tension in Britain, particularly Brixton) she became increasingly interested in squatters’ rights and women’s struggles that were side-lined in a male-dominated Black liberation struggle. Olive joined the British Black panther youth movement. Her activism resulted in a three-month suspended sentence in 1969.

Olive Morris went on to set up the Brixton Black Women’s Group with other women who had joined the British Black Panthers. The group met in Olives and shared a squat with Liz Obi where she created a library. The location of the meeting was symbolic in speaking against the harassment and discrimination of squatters. The BBWO later became the Black women’s Centre. Olive further went on to fight for other liberation struggles (i.e. education, healthcare, housing, etc) which affected the Black community.

The Luncheon

The aim of the FRAMEWORKS luncheon is to highlight and explore the leadership methods demonstrated by Olive Morris and begin discussions on how this work can inspire a framework for mobilisation that reflects itself as repairing the damage caused to Black communities by racialised and anti Black systemic structures. The aim is also to raise awareness within Black communities here in Britain today, on how to align the great work done in the past by our Black activists leaders in the present.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS & PRESENTERS

PROFESSOR CAROLE BOYCE DAVIES

ESTHER STANFORD-XOSEI

who are specialists in the field of Black British Women’s Movements, Black feminist thought, liberative actions and reparations and have contributed greatly with over 25 yrs and more both on the ground and academically to the upliftment and transformations within the African Heritage space.

GUEST SPEAKERS

DR. RITA GAYLE (Global Black Geographies Network)

DR. ALEEMA GRAY (Bun Babylon :Rastafari Movement in Britain)

PLUS

WORKSHOPS WITH GRADUATES OF THE FIRST SEMESTER OF THE CORRECTING OUR COLLECTING AFRICAN HERITAGE COMMUNITY ARCHIVING COURSE.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY WATUSI 87 & SUBIRA DRUMMERS

CUISINE / MENU

CARIBBEAN

CARIBBEAN VEGAN

JUICES / SPRITZ

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE DAY WILL BE REINVESTED INTO THE PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE 2024 ANNUAL LUNCHEON & AWARDS CEREMONY & PUBLICATION.