Eight minutes and 46 seconds … a length of time that will reverberate down history. George Floyd was killed by a police officer kneeling with all his weight on his neck for 8:46. Floyds death at the hands of this Minneapolis police officer sparked massive protests and demonstrations across America and around the World. The ‘Black Lives Matter’ and the ‘I Can’t Breath’ movement exploded across the divide of races and boundaries.
The movements brought the spotlight in Australia not only to Floyds death and the mounting death toll of African Americans at the hands of the US police … but also to the hideous numbers of Australian indigenous ‘deaths in custody’ … four hundred and thirty two since 1991.
On a Global scale last Sunday’s Cairns protest, against aboriginal deaths in custody and to show solidarity with the George Floyd protestors in the US, wasn’t Globally significant. However, to the people of Cairns … from all races and walks of life … it was worth risking Covid-19 to have their numerous voices heard.
The event in the centre of Cairns was all of … emotional, vociferous, passionate, meaningful and imperative. It was a pleasure to document despite the fact that I would rather it wasn’t necessary.
Below are a small selection of the images I made at the protest … a lot more may be found on my Instagram feed at … https://www.instagram.com/brian_cassey/
and my Facebook page at … https://www.facebook.com/brian.cassey1
Images © Brian Cassey
