A promoter of “causes many of us now take for granted,” Catford born campaigner and humanist activist Barbara Smoker believed in surviving “on her wits” and “making an extra bit on the horses.” She once “embark[ed] on a crusade around the neighbourhood, telling all the kids that there was no Santa Claus… [so that she could prove to them] they were being made fools of, and I was only saving them from this indignity” and amongst her many other pronouncements was to announce that “an eternity in heaven – that would be hell.” Pro-alphabet reformist Smoker also claimed to have manufactured the first ‘Make Love, Not War’ badges and in 2013 gave the following advice in The Oldie: “Don’t always be obedient. Obedience is overrated. You’ve got to work out your morality for yourself, not do everything you’re told. Obedience can be more of a vice than a virtue.” Amongst her written works were My Godforsaken Life and Good God! A String of Verses to Tie Up the Deity.

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Two stories to keep beside you

Dame Louise Casey DBE, CB – Homelessness campaigner – In 2018, Tony Blair’s former ‘homelessness tsar’ Dame Louise Casey “blasted” Theresa May’s government as anything but “kind.” A former director of Shelter and head of the Rough Sleepers’ Unit also, Casey became an advisor to Boris Johnson to review how to tackle rough sleeping in February 2020. Educated at Goldsmiths, University of London, this history graduate spoke for the nation during the coronavirus crisis when she announced: “It’s time for everybody in our country to step up... I hope common sense prevails.”
From the same Steeple territory

Dame Louise Casey DBE, CB

In 2018, Tony Blair’s former ‘homelessness tsar’ Dame Louise Casey “blasted” Theresa May’s government as anything but “kind.” A former director of Shelter and head of the Rough Sleepers’ Unit also, Casey became an advisor to Boris Johnson to review how to tackle rough sleeping in February 2020. Educated at Goldsmiths, University of London, this […]

“Legal superwoman” Jessica Jackson Sloan (born Jessica Hurst) – Born in Alabama in 1982, Jessica Jackson Sloan has morphed from a high-school dropout with a baby and a drug addict, jailbird husband in 2004 to, most bizarrely, one half of a “criminal justice reform dream team” with Kim Kardashian in 2020.
From the same Steeple territory

Jessica Jackson Sloan (born Jessica Hurst)

Born in Alabama in 1982, Jessica Jackson Sloan has morphed from a high-school dropout with a baby and a drug addict, jailbird husband in 2004 to, most bizarrely, one half of a “criminal justice reform dream team” with Kim Kardashian in 2020. “Steely-eyed blonde,” divorced and the co-founder of #Cut50 – a bipartisan effort aimed […]