Elizabeth Obi is a British activist who was involved in the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

black nationalist Black nationalism is a nationalist movement which seeks representation for Black people as a distinct national identity, especially in racialized, colonial and postcolonial societies. Its earliest proponents saw it as a way to advocate for ...

, and

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

' rights campaigns of the 1970s. A close friend of

Olive Morris Olive Elaine Morris (26 June 1952 – 12 July 1979) was a Jamaican-born British-based community leader and activist in the feminist, black nationalist, and squatters' rights campaigns of the 1970s. At the age of 17, she claimed she was assaul ...

, in 2009 she founded the Remembering Olive Collective, which researches and documents Morris's life.

Life

Obi was close friends with fellow activist

and, in 1972, they attempted to visit

Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...

in Algeria, but only made it as far as Morocco. They joined the

British Black Panthers The British Black Panthers (BBP) or the British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organisation in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of black people and racial minorities in the country. The BBP were inspired by the US ...

together and met other young black

s and

s such as Jackie Blake, Geneva DaCosta and

Stella Dadzie Stella Dadzie (born in 1952) is a British educationalist, activist, writer and historian. She is best known for her involvement in the UK's Black Women's Movement, being a founding member of the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Desce ...

. Also in 1972, the two women

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

a privately-owned property above a laundrette at 121

Railton Road Railton Road runs between Brixton and Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth. The road is designated the B223. At the northern end of Railton Road it becomes Atlantic Road, linking to Brixton Road at a junction where the Brixton tube stat ...

in Brixton. Morris and Obi then moved on to another squat at 65 Railton Road. The 121 squat became the

121 Centre 121 Centre was a squatted self-managed social centre on Railton Road in Brixton, south London from 1981 until 1999. As an anarchist social centre, the venue hosted a bookshop, cafe, infoshop, library, meeting space, office space, printing facili ...

and continued to be occupied until 1999. Together with

Beverley Bryan Beverley Bryan (born 18 August 1949) is a Jamaican educationist and retired academic who was a professor of language education at the University of the West Indies in Mona. Settling in Britain with her parents in the late 1950s, she went on to ...

, Obi and Morris established the

Brixton Black Women's Group The Brixton Black Women's Group (BWG) was an organisation for Black women in Brixton, London, England. One of the first Black women's groups in the UK, the BWG existed from 1973 to 1989. BWG members were also involved in Organisation of Women o ...

(BBWG) in 1973. In 2008, Obi set up the Remembering Olive Collective (ROC) in tandem with Ana Laura Lopez de la Torre, intending to commemorate the life of Olive Morris. In 2015, Obi took part in the conference "Black British Feminism: Past, Present and Futures" at the

Black Cultural Archives Black Cultural Archives (BCA) is an archive and heritage centre in Brixton, London, devoted to the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. Also known as BCA, it was founded in 1981, by educationalist and historian Len G ...

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

organised by a new generation of Black British feminists such as

Chardine Taylor-Stone Chardine Taylor-Stone is a British feminist activist, writer and musician. In December 2015 Taylor-Stone founded Stop Rainbow Racism to campaign against the performance of ‘Blackface’ at LGBTQ+ Venues. The campaign began in response to a per ...

and others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obi, Liz Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Black British activists British women activists People from Brixton 20th-century squatters