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Imagine this: you’re living your life surrounded by your family and elders. You’re living freely on your land, you’re speaking your mothers tongue. Your culture is alive and thriving, and has been for thousands of yours. And then one day, you see some white sails
Over the next few decades your life and the life of your family dramatically changes. Your waterholes are poisoned, you’re captured and made to work for these strangers who have guns and are threatening you. Your children are dying after being infected by some unknown sickness
Your women are raped, men shot and killed. Your land has been taken away and you’re forced to moved away from your home and into the homes of people you don’t know. In the decades to come your children are stolen from you. If you’re one of theses children, your name is taken away
And you’re given a new name, maybe your name is even replaced by a number. If you’re too old, they still take you but this time they train you in how to be a “domestic servant”- the house slave.
Our Language is now being taken away and if you don’t speak this foreign language known as English your punished. Our men have been taken and forced into chains and taken to prisons.
New laws are introduced and now there’s a curfew, you’re not allowed to be in town after dark, unless you have a ticket with permission. You’re also not allowed to walk on the same side of the road as non-coloured people. You even have to use different entries and exits
The history books don’t have anything in them about our existences, the law states we weren’t here. Society, the government, even the police make you feel like you’re less than because well... the laws states it.
Our laws... our constitution. There were laws in place that allowed the stealing of our children, the were laws in places that allowed shoot to kill orders on us. We have never done anything wrong in order to receive the punishment we have been dealt.
All we want is be SEEN and HEARD. Imagine having lived here for more than 65’000 years and your existence denied for years.
The pain and suffering that we have endured, and we’re still not included in the constitution, the fundamental principles on how this country, our country, is governed. But you know what- for us mob we don’t need to imagine it because we’re living in. Welcome to 2019 #straya
