Join us to hear more about INQUEST's 40 year history of campaigning alongside bereaved families for true, justice and accountability.
About the event
INQUEST is the only charity in the UK that provides expertise on state related deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media, and parliamentarians. In June 2022, INQUEST began a yearlong lottery-funded heritage project to document its 40-year history, transferring its material archive to the Bishopsgate Institute in Liverpool Street and beginning a series of oral history interviews, supported by the organisation On the Record.
Since January 2023, students at Westminster have been working alongside INQUEST to help document this 40-year history, while developing individual projects that shed light on the vital historical and contemporary work of the organisation. This public event marks the culmination of that work, with students inviting a panel of experienced INQUEST supporters, researchers and campaigners to discuss the role the organisation has played in the fight for truth, justice and accountability.
This event takes place in Fyvie Hall, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2HW.
It will run from 6-7.30pm and will be followed by a casual drinks reception.
About the speakers
Lee Lawrence is an award-winning author, speaker, social entrepreneur, and restorative justice advocate. At the age of eleven, Lee witnessed his mother Dorothy ‘Cherry’ Groce unlawfully shot by police, sparking the 1985 Brixton uprising, and leaving Cherry with physical injuries and disabilities which eventually lead to her death in 2011. After his mother’s passing, Lee campaigned to obtain justice, successfully receiving a full public apology and accountability by the Metropolitan Police. Since then, Lee has dedicated his time to pursuing justice through his work as an inspirational speaker, sharing his story in his award-winning book The Louder I will Sing. Lee works with organisations, institutions, educational establishments and communities.
Simon Israel was the Channel 4 News senior correspondent for 25 years, and although now officially retired he is still an occasional contributor. He specialised in reporting on terrorism, immigration, prisons, police, social and racial issues. Over the years, this award-winning reporting has covered the G20 protests, Stephen Lawrence murder, Victoria Climbie Inquiry, prison suicides and self-harm, Windrush and police misconduct. Simon is also a media consultant for MigrantVoice.
Dr Naomi Oppenheim joined INQUEST in June 2022 to coordinate their 40th anniversary project, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. A historian of modern Britain and the Caribbean, Naomi completed her PhD on Caribbean publishing and activism at UCL and the British Library in 2022. She has six years’ experience in the cultural heritage sector and has worked on several community history projects. Naomi is committed to using co-productive heritages practices as a channel to imagine and action more just and equitable futures.
Jessica Pandian joined INQUEST at the beginning 2021 as a researcher with specialist focus on state violence and structural racism. She now works as a policy and research officer with a broader focus. Jessica wrote INQUEST’s recent report, Deaths of racialised people in prison 2015 – 2022: Challenging racism and discrimination. It makes a powerful intervention as it uncovers new data and tells the stories of 22 racialised people and how they died preventable and premature deaths in prison. Jessica came to INQUEST from the Institute of Race Relations, where she researched the policing of the Black community and Black British history. Jessica has an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge, in which she researched anti-Black policing, gang violence and racial resistance across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The panel will be chaired by Kevon Jones and Imane Benatallah. Kevon is a second year PhD student at the University of Westminster researching Marcus Garvey, the UNIA and struggles for African liberation and self-determination in the UK. Imane is a final year undergraduate student working on post-independence Algeria and Islamism during the Algerian civil war.
The event is being organised by Alen Melero Yerinkova, Bruno Okafor, Cain Varley, Euan Southwell, Imane Benatallah, Jac St John, Jake Beasley, Jenna Richards, Kian Richardson, Kevon Jones, Nadiya Sabrye, Naomi Oppenheim and Sila Uyan.
We are very grateful to Helen Green (University of Westminster), Rosa Schling (On the Record), and the Quentin Hogg Trust for supporting Westminster's collaboration with INQUEST.
