Hundreds attend Alice vigil
HUNDREDS of people gathered in Alice Springs for an impassioned Black Lives Matter vigil to protest against black deaths in custody.
Organisers held the event to condemn the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in the United States after a policeman allegedly knelt on his neck despite him pleading “I can’t breathe”.
Local Alice Springs Arrernte elder Pat Ansell
Dodds started the vigil with a healing smoking ceremony and said indigenous people in Australia face the same issues of mass incarceration and deaths in police custody.
“It happens here too and it affects all our families. It is so important we join together and change the racist attitudes in Australia,” she said.
More than 400 Aboriginal people have died in police custody in Australia since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ended in 1991.
A statement was also read out from the family of teenager Kumanjayi Walker who died after he was allegedly shot by an NT police officer in Yuendumu last year.
“The death of George Floyd has resurfaced a whole bunch of pain for my family,” the statement said.
“We are struggling with our emotions and we are struggling to stay strong.”
There was a low police presence near the peaceful demonstration on the Alice Springs court lawns.
Activist and Luritja/Arrernte man Vincent Forrester said he wanted to see better leadership in the NT.
“If you look at the current climate here in the Northern Territory we have fools who are standing for elections and standing on racism,” he said.
The vigil in Alice Springs also coincided with protests across Australia. After being given a last-minute legal reprieve to protest in the CBD, a 20,000-strong crowd gathered in Sydney to march.
Thousands of people also gathered in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and regional centres.