Mavis Merlina Stephenson Best, née Clarke, MBE (11 July 1939 - 14 November 2022) was a grassroots social activist who worked for the civil rights of Black people in the UK.
She led a successful campaign to overturn the so-called Sus law but was also active in many local church and community projects to improve the lives of Black people.
A visiting South African lecturer at Goldsmiths, Basil Manning, noticed her and thought she would make a good leader of a campaign.
[2][3] At that time, the police, using the Vagrancy Act 1824,[4] were disproportionately apprehending and searching Black people as young as 12 and mostly male, suspecting them of the “intent to commit an arrestable offence”.
Best also contacted Paul Boateng, then aged 28 and one of the few Black lawyers in London, and a future Home Secretary and Labour peer.
After three years of the campaign, an all-party home affairs committee was set up and, in August 1981, section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824 was repealed.
[17] Best was awarded an MBE in 2002, when she was youth affairs officer for the West Indian Standing Conference, for services to equal opportunities.