# "David Oluwale's death in 1969 helped 'reshape Leeds'"



## GarveyLives (Apr 23, 2019)

In belated commemoration of Stephen Lawrence Day:

David Oluwale's death in 1969 helped 'reshape Leeds'


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## Orang Utan (Apr 23, 2019)

There's been a lot of events to commentate this in Leeds. My sister had a poem published in the anthology Remembering David Oluwale and read it out in a ceremony last week in Killingbeck cemetery. He was buried in a pauper's mass grave 
Songs, sadness and inspiration at Killingbeck Cemetery as Leeds remembers David Oluwale


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## GarveyLives (Jan 7, 2021)

Good news:



> _"A new sculpture is planned in Leeds as a permanent memorial to a man who  died more than 50 years ago after suffering a campaign of police harassment and brutality ..."_



New sculpture planned as memorial to David Oluwale for Leeds 2023


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## GarveyLives (Oct 16, 2021)

> _"Two police officers stood trial in 1971 accused of the manslaughter of Nigerian vagrant David Oluwale. Few questions were asked about the circumstances of his death, until a whistleblowing young police cadet implicated two senior policemen. The trial shook and shamed Leeds ..."_



Remember Oluwale, BBC Radio 4, 16 October 2021


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## weltweit (Oct 16, 2021)

GarveyLives said:


> Remember Oluwale, BBC Radio 4, 16 October 2021


Listening to it now. Grim.


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## hitmouse (Oct 16, 2021)

Orang Utan said:


> There's been a lot of events to commentate this in Leeds. My sister had a poem published in the anthology Remembering David Oluwale and read it out in a ceremony last week in Killingbeck cemetery.


Oh, definitely want to get around to reading that one some day.


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## GarveyLives (Mar 29, 2022)

From Leeds City Council: 

Key milestone as stunning *David Oluwale* tribute bridges the gap


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## GarveyLives (Apr 26, 2022)

25 April 2022:  First black person to die after contact with police honoured with blue plaque 







(Source: BBC)​
26 April 2022:  Outrage after "cowardly" theft and removal of David Oluwale's blue plaque in Leeds overnight


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## bluescreen (Apr 26, 2022)

It is depressing and disgusting but the ignorant racist fuckwits who did it clearly never heard of the Streisand effect.


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## GarveyLives (Apr 28, 2022)

GarveyLives said:


> 25 April 2022:  First black person to die after contact with police honoured with blue plaque
> 
> 
> 
> ...



... not everyone in Leeds is happy with *David Oluwale's* story being remembered? 











(Source: Twitter)​
*"Just popped down to Leeds Bridge with @abigailmashall and we’ve fixed a temporary plaque for David Oluwale while we work to get another permanent one back in place. David was persecuted in life, and his story won’t be silenced now."*

*- Jonathan Pryor, Headingley & Hyde Park Councillor & Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council, 27 April 2022.*







(Source: Twitter)​
*"We’ve been back to replace the temporary plaque for David Oluwale that was ripped down. (and we have plenty more where that came from.)*
*
CCTV is now overlooking the spot & in response to this removal we’re going to put the plaque on the screens on @millsqleeds and @LeedsMarkets"
*
*- Jonathan Pryor, Headingley & Hyde Park Councillor & Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council, 28 April 2022.*


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## GarveyLives (May 10, 2022)

GarveyLives said:


> ... not everyone in Leeds is happy with *David Oluwale's* story being remembered?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Leeds fights back:

Leeds citizens shame thieves who stole plaque to victim of police racism

Meanwhile:

*David Oluwale* memorial plaque: _Arrests_ over theft






*Hundreds of images of the British Nigerian man who died in Leeds in 1969 are on display across the city in defiance of thieves*​


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## editor (May 10, 2022)

> The council agreed to display an image of the plaque on its digital screens in prominent locations around the city, and the advertising company JCDecaux also volunteered its billboards. Other people and organisations began to run with the idea too, including Leeds Playhouse, which displayed the image on a 2-metre-tall billboard at the front of the theatre, and Hyde Park Picture House, a historic cinema, which will show the plaque before its films.
> 
> Other efforts include a skateboard shop making skateboard stickers and a printing company producing full-scale plaque stickers
> 
> ...





Well, that backfired nicely for the racist scumbags


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## hitmouse (May 10, 2022)

This makes me think of stuff I've heard about Holocaust memorials in Germany. Without wanting to give any credit to the racist scumbag who stole the plaque, they have made the memorial much more powerful - even if they aren't particularly happy about it, I imagine WYP can probably accept Oluwale being memorialised as long as everything's seen to be safely in the past, that was then and this is now and all that. But the plaque getting torn down makes it so much more real, it makes it undeniable that the past isn't over and didn't go anywhere, the Leeds of 2022 isn't as safely distant from the Leeds of 1969 as some people might like to pretend.


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