This is taken from The Journalist, April 2008:

SARAH OLOWE died in London in December after a sudden illness, aged 45. A philosophy graduate, she had the mind of a lawyer and the pen of a first class journalist. She was forthright, brave and feisty, as the BBC and others found out when she fought them in race and sex discrimination cases.

We quickly bonded as activists in the London Television branch and the union's Race Relations Working Party - before it became the Black Members Council. Sarah went on to Chair the BMC. Her commitment to the advancement of black journalists was unrivalled. She also chaired the Equality Council and was a member of the NEC, the Ethics Council and Broadcasting Industrial Council.

Sarah could have become the union's first black female Deputy General Secretary when she stood for the post in the 1990s, but was beaten.

She refused to fit the stereotype some white people have of black women. She wasn't "ghetto", she spoke crystal-clear BBC English, loved good champagne and also had a fondness for horse riding, classical music and fine wines.

She was a BBC Radio 4 reporter and presenter, on programmes including Today in Parliament, and wrote features for the Financial Times, Sunday Times and Caribbean Times. She edited two books.

Marc Wadsworth