Archie Roach in “It’s Not Too Late” sings “it’s not too late to turn it round, we have to find some common ground… not too late for peace and love.
Team member Jacinta Foster-Raimondo attended this morning’s first dawn service at Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op. This is what she writes: This morning’s first dawn service at Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op. was so poignant and so powerful… I cried.
CEO Simon Flagg cried too, as he spoke to the large crowd of First Nation People, their allies and friends. He was so buoyed by the large crowd and the tangible support…. so was I.
His message was simple.
This is not verbatim, but in essence Simon was saying, we are not blaming anyone, we want unity, we want to find common ground, we want to walk forward in love and respect, we love Australia, we love everyone who has made Australia their home, we want to celebrate Australia Day…. but this date triggers us.
To me it’s so simple and so clear.
The day cannot be a celebration, when this date symbolises persecution, displacement, discrimination, grief and mourning…. resulting in generational trauma. Not one of us would deliberately schedule a party on a date that was triggering to our family and friends or marked the anniversary of a tragic event/s in our/ their lives. We would rightly think that was insensitive.
We don’t celebrate ANZAC day or Remembrance Day, rather we commemorate these days with respect and love.
Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it’s not real or not true.
We don’t know, what we don’t know, however once we know, we have a responsibility to do better.
No one is saying don’t celebrate our beautiful country or the spiritual, physical and environmental harmony and diversity that make it and us so unique.
There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus in Australia. The powerful Smoking Ceremony is full of symbolism but one of its most poignant of symbols is the use of gum leaves… to represent the many mobs of First Nation people and the many wonderful ethnicities that have made Australia home.
Archie Roach in his song “Let Love Rule” speaks to a time when we can, ‘hold on to each other and love will see us through. That’s my prayer too. By Jacinta Foster-Raimondo.
HuG 