On a sunny Saturday morning, about 100 people congregated in the main street of Blacktown to march in solidarity with Elijah Doughty's family, and protest against injustices experienced by Aboriginal people.
The event was organized by members of the Fighting In Solidarity Towards Treaties (FISTT) Movement, and other members of the community.
Despite Blacktown having the largest population of Aboriginal people in Sydney, organiser and Bundjalung woman, Natalie Short says that this was likely the first Aboriginal rally ever held in the area.
“We all sat around one day and thought, 'let’s do this.' We thought, 'Blacktown needed it', we thought, 'Western Sydney needed it',” she said.
“A lot of people were sad and very impacted by Elijah’s death, and the circumstances that surrounded it.”
An Aboriginal flag was signed by supporters with messages for the Doughty family. The organizers will send the symbolic keepsake to their home in Western Australia.
“They aren’t alone in their struggle, alone in their fight and we’ve got their back,” Ms Short said.
The group also aimed “to draw attention to the Don Dale boys and the torture of those young boys, and the culture of protecting the workers instead of protecting the boys.”
Speakers at the rally included Aunty Jenny Ebworths, Aunty Jenny Munro, Les Coe, Patty Gibbs, Aunty Shirley Lomas and a representative of death in custody victim Rebecca Maher’s family.
Youth from the Blacktown area also got up and spoke about ways they experience racism and ways that they stand up against it.
FISTT representative Lynda Coe said that they would stand beside the Kalgoorlie family for as long as necessary for "justice to be served." FISTT sent the family a message on Facebook expressing their support.
“It just felt right for people to put something together that represented people on that day. It was a heart warming moment that we could present something to the Kalgoorlie mob,” she said.
“It sent a very strong message right across the country that Western Sydney stands in solidarity against mistreat of our people and ongoing injustice.”
