Olive Morris - Activist

Olive Morris was born on the 26th June 1952 in Jamaica, West Indies, she moved to South London at the age of nine.

Olive first came to prominence in 1969 when she was just 17 years of age. Nigerian diplomat Clement Gomwalk, was being harassed and assaulted by police in Brixton, they said he was stealing his own car. Olive stepped in and was arrested – she was also assaulted, harassed and subjected to racial abuse. Olive was unable to stay quiet and be a bystander when she knew of or witnessed injustices.

In the 1970s Olive helped found the British Black Panther Movement’s youth wing and later co-founded the Brixton Black Women’s Group and

the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) two of the earliest Black feminist organisations in the UK. Olive was an advocate, she helped defend Black tenants against evictions, she was vocal - demanding better housing. She also helped take over abandoned buildings. In 1972 Olive and a group of activists occupied a disused building at 121 Railton Road in Brixton, the squat and the building became a community base, It was an important space for Black political organising in South London.

Olive didn’t enjoy school and left without any qualifications, however as a adult she went on to study for an economics and social science degree at Manchester University, graduating in 1978. Olive travelled to China in 1977 to broaden her outlook and learn about revolutionary movements.

Olive Morris passed away far too early. She died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1979. She was just 27 years of age.

Want information about community jobs? Click HERE