2007 | The David Oluwale Memorial Association

What is the David Oluwale Memorial Association?

The David Oluwale Memorial Association – often referred to as DOMA or Remember Oluwale – is a charity that keeps David Oluwale’s story alive. It uses his story to promote ‘equality, diversity, and racial harmony’ and to inspire creativity in Leeds (Remember Oluwale, 2022). DOMA also seeks to raise awareness of the issues David Oluwale faced during his lifetime, campaigning around ‘mental ill-health, racism, homelessness, destitution, police brutality, incarceration in prison and psychiatric hospitals’ (Remember Oluwale, 2022).

How did it begin?

DOMA met for the first time in July 2007 but the idea for a memorial was first raised two years earlier.

In October 2005, the author Caryl Phillips gave a talk at Leeds Beckett University (then Leeds Metropolitan University) as part of Black History Month. Phillips spoke about the research for his forthcoming book, Foreigners, which contains a chapter on David Oluwale. At the talk, he suggested there should be a memorial to Oluwale in the city. The talk had been organised by Professor Max Farrar and Dr Emily Zobel Marshall, who would go on to play key roles in the charity as its secretary and co-chair.

Max Farrar has told us why he was so keen to get involved. As a university student in the 1970s, Farrar lived in Chapeltown, Leeds and remembers the words ‘Remember Oluwale’ painted on a wall opposite the Hayfield pub (Farrar, 2022). Farrar felt the area had a ‘vibrant and politically active’ community and saw this graffiti as the community’s response to David Oluwale’s death (Farrar, 2022). He learnt more about the case from reading about the trial of Geoffrey Ellerker and Kenneth Kitching in the magazine Race Today (Farrar, 2022). When he later wrote a book about Chapeltown, Farrar included a brief paragraph on the case as an example of poor relations between the police and black communities in Leeds (Farrar, 2002).

Max Farrar was interviewed by both Caryl Phillips and Kester Aspden while they were researching David Oluwale’s story. This renewed his interest in the case. He explains that ‘stories like this are forgotten at our cost’ and that he believes Leeds must come to terms with its past in order to progress (Farrar, 2022).

The publication of Aspden’s book Nationality Wog: The Hounding of David Oluwale in summer 2007 rekindled interest in the idea of a memorial. After the book’s launch, Farrar helped to set up a small committee to campaign and raise funds. The David Oluwale Memorial Association met for the first time in July 2007 (other founding dates have been mentioned, but this is based on a recently acquired note of the first meeting).

DOMA was granted charitable status in 2012 and Caryl Phillips remains involved as Founding Patron.

What does being a charity mean?

DOMA has three charitable objectives. These are to reform the city of Leeds, to redeem it from the injustices of the 1950s and 60s and to inspire the city to be more creative and united (Remember Oluwale, 2022). In Max Farrar’s words, DOMA ‘uses the name and the story of David Oluwale as a vehicle for educating and campaigning on issues of race equality, social and economic equality’ while promoting a more supportive community (Farrar, 2022).

Emily Zobel Marshall explains that the charitable structure has been the best way to educate the public about David Oluwale’s story. (Zobel Marshall, 2022). She is determined to use DOMA to continue to highlight and fight ‘institutional racism’ by using David’s story as a lens to observe our own times (Zobel Marshall, 2022).

The charitable structure has also helped DOMA’s fundraising efforts. As a charity, DOMA can claim Gift Aid on donations, and is better able to support its objectives. Its board members provide annual reports for the public it actively promotes public involvement through voluntary opportunities, its newsletter and its social media pages.

How has DOMA inspired local communities?

DOMA has been involved in various projects since its creation. This has included working with the Nigerian community in Leeds, the Leeds West Indian Centre, local churches and local newspapers. With its motivation to stand up against racism, DOMA co-hosted a public speaking tour with the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015. This demonstrates how David Oluwale’s story engages with today’s social topics. It also shows how we can reflect on the past to better shape our future, which Farrar has said was one of his personal aims for the charity (Farrar, 2022).

The charity inspired creativity with the Remember Oluwale Writing Prize in 2016, which used literature to engage with the positive aspects of David Oluwale’s life. The prize was judged by Caryl Philips, the inspiration DOMA, alongside the poet Ian Duhig and the novelist Marina Lewycka. The shortlisted entries were collected and published in the book Remembering Oluwale: An Anthology (Bradley, 2016).

A second anthology will be published in 2023 containing more creative memorials. Emily Zobel Marshall explains that ‘art and cultural forms can be used as a resistance against oppression” (Zobel Marshall, 2022). She believes that the arts have allowed David Oluwale’s story to evolve and stay relevant to contemporary society (Zobel Marshall, 2022). Marshall believes the second anthology will be ‘more experimental’ through its combination of poetry, prose, images and graphics (Zobel Marshall, 2022). This anthology will be published by Peepal Tree Press, a publishing company specialising in Caribbean writing.

DOMA has also organised other forms of memorial. This includes a programme of events to mark the 50th anniversary of David Oluwale’s death, a blue plaque to commemorate David Oluwale and the Yinke Shonibare sculpture Hibiscus Rising. The last example will help DOMA realise its long-held ambition to create a memorial garden for David Oluwale near to the site he entered the river in 1969.

Max Farrar and Emily Zobel Marshall both agree that Leeds has a long way to go. But the more actively it engages with stories like Oluwale’s, exploring its past for what it is and not what it has been covered up to be, the more Leeds will atone for the injustices of the 1950s and 60s.