On June 6, 2020, thousands poured out onto streets across the nation, protesting the killing of George Floyd in the USA.
An estimated 20,000 rallied for the Black Lives Matter cause in Sydney, in the midst of the state’s COVID-induced public health orders.
The city’s response was organised by Dunghutti man Paul Silva.
Silva’s uncle, David Dungay Jr, , in circumstances similar to Floyd’s.
Silva remembers the moment he saw the viral video that sparked the global movement.
“I was sitting in my hometown of Kempsey scrolling on Facebook when I came across the video … I decided to click on it and I saw a Black man being held down by police officers saying that he couldn’t breathe,” he said.
“At that moment I automatically turned it off due to the fact that it brought back a lot of intense memories of what happened to my Uncle in Long Bay Correctional Facility.”
David Dungay Jr’s story was thrown into the spotlight by Floyd’s murder, alongside many other stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died in custody.
“From 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement continued for some time until ,” said Mr Silva.
“As organisers, we believed that it was the first time that the public in Australia had eyes on what was happening in our communities, in our backyard, in regard to the 500 plus Aboriginal deaths in custody.”
The cost of fighting
Thousands of protesters kneel and salute at a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney. The new laws could see certain protestors face jail time. Source: AAP
Mr Silva says advocating for ending Indigenous deaths in custody, and organising the Black Lives Matter movement in Sydney, comes at a serious cost.
“Myself and other comrades on the front line got so much backlash … , we got threats to our families, to us individually,” he explained.
Driving from Kempsey to Sydney for the 2021 protest in the Domain, he got a text from an unknown number.
“I received a text on my personal phone calling me a ‘black c**n’ and a ‘racist’. Being the person I am, I pulled over and I texted back, saying it was inappropriate and disgusting,” he said.
What he got back was a violent death threat directed at every attending member of the protest. He immediately contacted the NSW Police, and then the Australian Federal Police.
“I sat with the AFP until the early hours of the morning … finding this guy’s whereabouts, to see if he was really a threat,” he said.
“That’s one of the prime examples of what it is really like to organise these events, you get the good but you get the bad too.”
Mr Silva also recounted the experiences of friends who were subjected to home invasions as a result of their advocacy.
The Dunghutti man worries that there is growing ill-will in the community, referring to the rising popularity of neo-nazi groups.
“We live in 2023, and it’s crazy to see them on the street and in the media. I attended my local park yesterday with my two boys and we saw a Nazi symbol just sprayed on a seat,” he said.
“I can’t believe we live in a society where that’s allowed. We know what that symbol means and what it represents, and it isn’t OK.
“It’s not enough to just ignore it, we’ve been ignoring it for too long … If you’re sitting back and ignoring it, you’re part of the problem.”
The problem persisting three years on
New figures released by the Productivity Commission this week show the rate of Indigenous deaths in custody at their equal worst since records began in 2007.
There have been 544 such deaths since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down its recommendations in 1991.
“Australia is a crime scene. They have blood on their hands,” said Mr Silva.
“Drastic action needs to be taken not just to stop Aboriginal deaths in custody but in terms of police brutality, racism and discrimination in healthcare facilities and hospitals, in workplaces.
“The sad reality is that we have people in power who can do something, who can stop these deaths, but they don’t do anything.”
In 2020, Mr Silva and other families of those who’ve passed in custody wrote to then prime minister Scott Morrison pushing for action on the matter.
“Everything was left unanswered,” Mr Silva said.
‘Part of my Uncle’s legacy’
Mr Silva lost his Uncle eight years ago. He’s watched the number of deaths increase dramatically and remains committed to getting justice.
“It makes me more determined to stop them from happening. I have been fighting for justice, and the justice we want as a family is for the person responsible to be criminally charged and held accountable for the actions, to be thrown in jail and serve a sentence,” he said.
“The reality of that happening isn’t likely, I’ve had to come to terms that we may never get justice.
“There are times I’ll be sitting at home spending time with my family, and I’ll get a message or call from family asking questions about the deaths in custody process. I’ll always give them the best advice I can to support them and help them move forward.
“At times I want to give up, but it isn’t worth it. I keep pushing, and I’m determined to do so because I believe every little bit of justice we get is part of my Uncle’s legacy.”
