Thousands at Black Lives Matter Protest in Byron Bay
A Peaceful Protest for Black Rights
By Kate Love
Over 5,000 people marched through the streets of Byron Bay for a Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday, standing up for the rights of Aboriginal people in police custody.
The march passed off peacefully with the chant of “Black lives matter, no more deaths” reverberating across the Bay. The protest started with a gathering at the Byron Bay Recreations Ground with speeches from local Indigenous leaders, youth and Lismore magistrate David Heilperm.
It was a powerful experience to stand in the crowd and hear the stories of Indigenous people who have been affected by systemic racism. A disproportionate number of Indigenous Australians have died while being held in prison or under the arrest of police.
I Can’t Breathe
Signs which read “I Can’t Breathe” were raised as a letter was read from the family of David Dungay Jr, who gasped those words before he died in Long Bay jail in 2015. So far, there have been no convictions despite the hundreds of Aboriginal deaths in police custody.
Since the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed in the US, Aboriginal deaths in custody have been spotlighted. Since 1991, some 432 Indigenous people (and possibly more) have died in custody in Australia.
Some campaigners expressed frustration that it had taken Floyd’s death on the other side of the world to bring attention to the plight of Aboriginal people, who suffer lower life expectancy and are more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous Australians.
Deaths in Police Custody
The march flowed up into Main Beach park where the crowd fell silent and took the knee to mourn George Floyd and Indigenous deaths in custody. The protest was a powerful demonstration of our community’s desire for change in our justice system.
Byron Bay joined protesters across the country, drawing attention to racial profiling, police brutality and Indigenous people who have died in custody since a royal commission into the issue was held in 1991. The crowd held their hands on their hearts and beat together as one.
There were more speeches from the local Indigenous community, a powerful spoken word poem, songs and a traditional dance by the Bunyarra Culture Collective.
The message from the campaign organisers for the Black Lives Matter protest was that this is a time to start the conversation, to stand together for Indigenous rights and to bring about change.
We pay our respects to the Bundjalung nation and its elders as we are based on Bundjalung country in the Byron Shire.