Moruya Black Lives Matter rally participants outside Eurobodalla Shire Council Chambers. Photo: Region Media.
A small but determined group of young people gathered in Moruya on Saturday to join the Black Lives Matter rallies across the country. Gathering at 10 am outside the Eurobodalla Shire Council offices, they marched through town, waving placards, briefly stopping outside the Moruya Police Station to speak to the assembled group.
Participant Marama Bownsdone said that today’s protest was an impromptu gathering, but organisers hope this will help get the message out for a bigger rally next Saturday.
“We just felt we had to get the message out somehow. We tried posting information about the rally today on local Facebook community pages but they were taken down by the moderators. This was frustrating but not surprising,” Ms Brownsdone said.
“There were only about twenty of us when we walked down Vulcan Street today and we expected to get heckled, but people were winding down their windows and putting their fists out in support.
“There were a lot of Canberra cars as well as NSW cars, they were all beeping and waving. Having that support from non-indigenous Australians is really empowering.”
“Right now, we want to capitalise on the unfortunate events in the United States and use that platform to highlight that 432 Aboriginal deaths in custody is unacceptable,” Brownsdone said.
“We can take this opportunity to highlight the injustices here in Australia while the whole world is watching.
March participant Ashley Darby said they hope next week’s march will be bigger. “We will have some more time to get organised and get the word out,” Ms Darby said.
Organisers are planning to meet outside the Eurobodalla Shire council chambers at 9 am on June 13. Materials will be available on site for people to make their own signs and the march will head off at 10 am. Social distancing will be encouraged to observe current health directives.
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