My mother was shot by the police and that bullet changed everything

"When Lee Lawrence's son, Brandon, picked him up from hospital after a minor operation recently, Brandon thought he saw a car following them. Lawrence looked round and told his son he didn't think it was anything to worry about. But then the car which turned out to be an undercover police vehicle put its siren on. It overtook them and did a hard stop. I expected to see guns come out next, says Lawrence. I thought: What the hell is going on?'"

"I got upset. My son was trying to calm me down, because I was thinking: How could this be happening to my son?' Lawrence was 11 when his mother, Cherry Groce, was shot and paralysed in 1985 by an armed police officer during a botched raid on her home. Community fury over Groce's shooting would spark a two-day uprising in Brixton, south London."

"The officers, says Lawrence, said they had reason to stop the car but they found nothing and went on their way. Lawrence was distressed. Brandon said to me: Dad, I know you're upset, I know it's disheartening for you, but this is the reality for us.' And it really dawned on me. Part of me felt like, what's the point? Questioning what I'm doing."

Lee Lawrence's son, Brandon, was pulled over by an undercover police vehicle after collecting his father from hospital, causing fear and distress when officers performed a hard stop but found nothing. Lawrence experienced re-traumatization given his childhood when his mother, Cherry Groce, was shot and paralysed in 1985 during a botched police raid that sparked a two-day uprising in Brixton. Lawrence founded the Cherry Groce Foundation in 2016 to run training for police recruits and leaders, expose racial bias, campaign for greater diversity, and promote restorative justice. The stop reinforced the need for sustained work and vigilance against complacency.

Read at www.theguardian.com