Tragically shot in front of her children by the Metropolitan Police in 1985, Cherry Groce sustained injuries that left her paralysed and in pain until the day she passed away.

A memorial, designed by world-renowned architect Sir David Adjaye OBE will be unveiled in Windrush Square, Brixton in honour of Cherry Groce on Sunday 25th April.

Speaking to The Voice, Chair of the Cherry Groce Foundation and son of Ms. Groce, Mr. Lee Lawrence said   “I feel that now she [Cherry Groce] can be rested.  We can release her, she can be free because we’ve done everything we can in our power to honour her and allow her legacy to live on,” says Lee Lawrence.

Lee Lawrence is the award winning author of ‘The Louder I Will Sing’ his biography and Lee has been fighting for justice since the day his mother passed away.

“She was shot in 1985 and two years later there was a trial. The result of that trial was that the police were not guilty.  “There was no responsibility or accountability for what had happened…it was like my mum got shot in the line of duty,” Lee explained.

Cherry Groce was shot at her home in Brixton, an incident that changed her children’s lives. 

“When the incident happened and my mom was alive, we went into survival mode… we suppressed our feelings around what happened.  So when my mom passed, all of that came up to the surface…there was just this overwhelming feeling of sadness and delayed trauma.”

Following on from her passing her children fought for justice for their mother.  The day after her funeral Lee visited Cherry Groce’s grave and made a commitment to himself and his mother.

“I said my mum can’t go out like this… I’m gonna throw everything into evening up the score a little bit and defend my mom in a way that I couldn’t defend her the day she was shot,” Lee shared with The Voice.  

An inquest was opened after Cherry Groce’s passing due to doctors determining a causal link between the shooting and her death.  Eventually, a public apology was issued by The Met and after a further battle of two years in High Court, they also took accountability for the impact that the incident had on Cherry Groce’s children.

Lee says that they eventually received “restorative justice”.

“I would say it’s a variation of justice –  it’s not the kind of justice that should have taken place,” Lee told The Voice.  

Lee wants the memorial to bring hope from his family’s journey and struggle serving as a reminder of the struggle for equality and racial justice for black people.  For her son, the memorial is the end of one chapter but another begins in the continued fight for equality.

Reflecting on the recent news of the conviction of George’s Floyd’s murderer, Lee felt relieved and shocked and wants us to get to a point where, “hopefully, these things don’t happen again but if they do happen the way that they’re dealt with is more fairly.

The memorial which will be erected in Brixton features a planted roof that shelters public benches.   

“Brixton is synonymous with black culture –  it was a place we called home, it’s where the ’81 and ’85 risings happened.  It’s important that we have something that actually acknowledges what we’ve gone through and acknowledges our struggle. Brixton is changing so much, it can be very easy for our stories to be etched out,” Lee explained.

Lee says, “the memorial represents community and the progress in our struggle,” and hopes it inspires people to continue the fight for equality.

The memorial will be officially unveiled in Windrush Square on Sunday 25th April at 11am . Following the official ceremony, The Voice and The Cherry Groce Foundation will host an online community event on Facebook Live where we will hear from community leaders on the importance of legacy and commemoration. You can register for the online event here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/together-we-rise-remembering-cherry-groce-tickets-149680216557

For more information on The Cherry Groce Foundation, you can visit their website: www.cherrygroce.org