Around the world citizens have taken to the streets to protest race inequality, police brutality and deaths in custody, which was triggered by the graphic scenes on TV of American man George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis, on May 25.

Over the weekend tens of thousands of protesters attended, Black Lives Matter rallies around Australia, with social distancing laws and the threat of a COVID -19 second wave, causing a huge concern.

In Grafton, around 270 people attended the Black Lives Matter rally, on Sunday, with the those who attended spreading out across Market Square.

The event started around 10.30am and finished at midday, with community members invited to speak.

Event organiser and Grafton resident Aleisha Cook said that she organised Sunday’s event in solidarity with America, who have lost many African American people including George Floyd.

“In Australia we have also lost our own, and I just wanted to put something on here in the Clarence and get the word out and try to get people to speak,” Ms Cook said.

“I got in touch with a few people about the Black Lives Matter rally and it spread through word of mouth.

“Clarence Valley Aboriginal Liaison Officer, John Skinner is a family friend and he helped us out.

“The police were 100 percent behind it from the start and I was happy about that,” she said.

Coffs Clarence Police District Chief Inspector Jo Reid and Sergeant Dallas Leven of Grafton Police were also in attendance at the BLM rally.
Chief Inspector Reid said that she was really pleased at how Sunday’s rally went.

“It was a good crowd that turned up,” Chief Insp Reid said.

“We were involved with it right from the start and we met with rally organiser Aleisha Cook because we wanted to help her plan a safe and peaceful event.

“We needed to be a part of that conversation too – it’s not an “us versus them” mentality, these issues are broader than that and it’s a whole of community approach to try and make better outcomes for Indigenous communities.

“For us, obviously the focus is in the Clarence Valley, but this movement has traction beyond that. But we are really pleased with how it went and it was lovely to hear the different perspectives from all generations and all backgrounds today – which I think really added to that whole of community approach,” she said.

Chief Inspector Reid said that the Black Lives Matter rally is an emotive topic and they were expecting to see a lot of emotion and a lot of passion and some anger, at Sunday’s event.

“This is a struggle that we acknowledge has been going on for a long time and we acknowledge that pain as well,” she said.

“But we wanted to show our support – we can all do better and we can all do better together and we’re not afraid; we don’t want to step away from that, we want to be involved.

“When I spoke to the crowd today, I said that we have made a lot of positive inroads with the Aboriginal community and we’ve built those relationships better than they were 10 years ago and we want to make them better again in the next 10 years.

“That’s what it’s all about, so that the outcomes are positive across socially, educationally, health wise and then with the criminal justice system, so that they’re all linked and they’re all linked to the community, so that’s why we all have to make the effort,” she said.

Break out Box
Mark Cook (father of the event organiser Aleisha Cook) said that he attended Sunday’s event to support his daughter, who did an amazing job of organising the event.

“It’s bad what’s happened (to George Floyd) and we’re all united, we’re all here together, it doesn’t just happen to black people, it also happens to white people as well,” Mr Cook said.

“My children are not all white or all black – they’re mixed.

“It’s shocking, but the police force in Grafton do a terrific job with the kids, to the best of their ability – without the brutality.

“There are sometimes when they have to (use more force) when they’re dealing with the drug scene and that sort of stuff, but other than that they do a terrific job working together with the Elders,” he said.

Mr Cook said that Sunday’s rally was a peaceful event with those attending being respectful of each other, which is exactly what they wanted.

“There’s no need to be abusive about anything. Being angry doesn’t get you anywhere – the stronger man is the one who just walks away.

“There was no violence or anything like that – it was a good event,” he said.