Opals are united in fight for equality
AUSTRALIAN Opals star Liz Cambage wants the Aboriginal flag permanently displayed on her national uniform after her teammates declared solidarity with her and committed to a fight for racial equality.
In a powerful five-minute video, the Opals called on Australians to “Rise Up” against racial injustice after this month urging Basketball Australia to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Cambage, who marched in recent protests and urged others to attend marches in Melbourne, revealed a text message to her teammates led to a boycott of training earlier this month when she felt BA had failed to respond to the movement.
But that response from her teammates sparked the push to make real change and Cambage said she finally felt like she was no longer the only one in the fight.
“A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night I put in the group chat that I wasn’t feeling the greatest, I wasn’t feeling supported by our organisation,” Cambage said.
“It had been weeks since the protests and little black squares on Instagram and I wasn’t seeing anything public from Basketball Australia.
“I dropped the bomb, switched my phone off and two hours later the girls were boycotting practice in the morning.
“I think maybe I am starting to rub off on them a little bit. I was very moved.”
Cambage, who has spoken before about the racial prejudice she has endured, still feels Australia is a “whitewashed country”.
But it’s a country she dearly loves, and believes change can happen.