Death in Custody
A blackfella
hung himself
today,in his cell.
Another victim of genocide?
They're doing very well!
Did they bother to check
on his welfare at all?
Did they call in support?
Did they make that phone call?
Not very long ago...
a young woman complained
...chest pain.
They said she was drugged
and she may have been
but they failed yet again.
In the night when her heart stopped
nobody came.
She was not respected...
she'd been 'on the game'.
Their 'duty of care'
was nowhere.
The figures are fearsome,
the proportion too high.
Blackfellas in cells:
White fellas in cells...
it would make you cry.
Do they ever bother
to ask themselves why?
Since invasion they've focused
on eradication,
all but wiped out our People
while forming this nation.
They used guns and then poison
in water and flour,
took our Land and our children...
they had all the power.
Oppressed?
Dispossessed!
In a race where respect
is a vital condition,
denied the right to self-respect
and pride in our tradition,
Understand where we're coming from.
...Where do we go?
...What hope for the future?
I really don't know!
Dedicated to
the Aboriginal Nations
of Australia,
with respect.
Graphic:
cairnsunlimited.com
By cherryk
© 2009 cherryk
(All rights reserved)
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