Stephen Lawrence mural: Eltham school unveils mural

Children at a girls’ school in south-east London have unveiled a mural there to commemorate the life of Stephen Lawrence.

He was 18 when he was murdered in April 1993 in a racist attack in Eltham.

Pupils in Year 9 and 10 at Eltham Hill School painted the mural in sections every week over most of the past academic year.

Stephen’s mother Baroness Lawrence, who unveiled the mural, said she was “really and truly moved”.

Baroness Lawrence said she “often wondered” what would her son would say if he “knew about his name being so well known”.

Speaking to the students, she said: “I don’t think he’d realise how much his contribution has been to this country and to this society.”

During her speech, Baroness Lawrence spoke about her ongoing fight for justice for her son: “Us as a family, we are the ones who had to fight for justice – it didn’t come – it didn’t come to us.

“And you can see what’s happening today with our young people – it’s the families yet again who have to raise their voices to get some justice.

“I want to make sure now that we hold the government to account to make sure young lives do matter and that we protect them every way that we can.”

Hafsah was one of more than a dozen students who worked on the project.

She told BBC London that the mural was important in reminding people of the teenager’s story.

“I think it’s important that we educate young people for more generations going,” she said.

Jamila, who painted the skyline on the mural, told BBC London: “We added the skyline because Stephen wanted to be an architect when he grew up and we added it in a blue colour, to show it that was a blueprint because a few of these buildings hadn’t been made yet before he passed away.”

She added: “We wanted to draw attention to, like, he was a person and he did want to grow up and have an occupation – and he was passionate about art.“

The students explained why they included the quote at the top of the mural: “You don’t have to be afraid of what you are”.

It comes from the song Hero by Mariah Carey, one of Stephen’s favourite artists, and was released in 1993, the year he was killed.