Jamaican-born British community leader and activist (1952–1979)
Olive Morris
Born
(1952-06-26)26 June 1952
St Catherine, Jamaica
Died
12 July 1979(1979-07-12) (aged 27)
Lambeth, London, England
Education
London College of Printing
Victoria University of Manchester
Occupation(s)
Community leader and activist
Olive Elaine Morris (26 June 1952 – 12 July 1979) was a Jamaican-born British-based community leader and activist in the feminist, black nationalist, and squatters' rights campaigns of the 1970s. At the age of 17, she claimed she was assaulted by Metropolitan Police officers following an incident involving a Nigerian diplomat in Brixton, South London. She joined the British Black Panthers, becoming a Marxist–Leninist communist and a radical feminist. She squatted buildings on Railton Road in Brixton; one hosted Sabarr Books and later became the 121 Centre, another was used as offices by the Race Today collective. Morris became a key organiser in the Black Women's Movement in the United Kingdom, co-founding the Brixton Black Women's Group and the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent in London.
When she studied at the Victoria University of Manchester, her activism continued. She was involved in the Manchester Black Women's Co-operative and travelled to China with the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding. After graduating, Morris returned to Brixton and worked at the Brixton Community Law Centre. She became ill and received a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She died at the age of 27. Her life and work have been commemorated both by official organisations – Lambeth Council named a building after her – and by the activist group the Remembering Olive Collective (ROC). Friends and comrades recalled her as fearless and dedicated to fighting oppression on all levels. She was depicted on the B£1 note of the Brixton Pound and has featured on lists of inspirational black British women.
Olive Elaine Morris (26 June 1952 – 12 July 1979) was a Jamaican-born British-based community leader and activist in the feminist, black nationalist,...
Brixton Hill, which had been built in 1978 and was named 'OliveMorris House' in 1986 after OliveMorris (1952–1979), a local community leader and activist....
Oliver James Morris (fourth ¼ 1916 – 20 September 1944) was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s...
1970s. A close friend of OliveMorris, in 2009 she founded the Remembering Olive Collective, which researches and documents Morris's life. Obi was close friends...
solicitor, William Morris. Of their four children, Olive (known variously as Olive Terry, OliveMorris and Olive Chaplin) and Jack Morris went on the stage...
summer of 1968, by Obi Egbuna, Darcus Howe, Linton Kwesi Johnson and OliveMorris, who were influenced by the American Black Panther Party. Other early...
Morris Newspaper Corporation and Morris Network. The company's offices are in the Oliver Sturges House at 27 Abercorn Street in Savannah. The Morris Newspaper...
photographer Maryam Moshiri, BBC News presenter Gemma Morris, journalist and television presenter OliveMorris, activist Roman Osin, cinematographer and photographer...
century, the working peasantry took part in Morris dances, especially at Whitsun. The Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell, however, suppressed Whitsun ales...
in Brixton, London, having first been squatted by the black feminist OliveMorris. Until its eviction in 1999, the 121 hosted events and in the 1980s printed...
Namely, Bryan, Dadzie and Scafe. The Heart of the Race was dedicated to OliveMorris, a co-founder of the BWG who died in 1979. The book discusses the history...
1952 – Gordon McQueen, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2023) 1952 – OliveMorris, Jamaican-English civil rights activist (d. 1979) 1954 – Luis Arconada...
cited by The Voice newspaper as one of eight black women – alongside OliveMorris, Connie Mark, Fanny Eaton, Diane Abbott, Lilian Bader, Margaret Busby...
John Oliver Last Week Tonight. "Philip Morris International". Scuderia Ferrari. Retrieved 30 March 2015. Day, Julia (23 February 2001). "Philip Morris strengthens...
Olive skin is a human skin tone. It is often associated with pigmentation in the Type III to Type IV and Type V ranges of the Fitzpatrick scale. It generally...
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British...
OBE Andrea Levy Sir Steve McQueen CBE Thomas Molyneux Dr Harold Moody OliveMorris Grace Nichols FRSL Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE David Olusoga OBE Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah...
mutiny", was killed in a skirmish close to the community by soldiers loyal to Oliver Cromwell in May 1649. Another colony of Diggers connected to the Surrey...
women established in 1978, with founder members including Stella Dadzie, OliveMorris, and Gail Lewis. It has been called "a watershed in the history of Black...
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