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Ray’s family members were thanked for sharing him, an acknowledgment of the cost on family life of having such an absorbed, committed and passionate advocate as a father. That's it. Following a long time of worsening health, he was hospitalised for pneumonia, then returned home and died in his sleep. On April 23 2015 Ray Jackson, Aboriginal leader and socialist feminist warrior, died at home in Sydney. Like Ray Jackson, Rule, insists that the problem cannot be passed off as a few racist cops and prison officers. Ray Jackson died peacefully in his sleep on 23 April 2015, shortly after attending a meeting of the Indigenous Social Justice Association. The prison’s use of a head restraint called a “spit hood,” was clearly a factor in Wayne’s death by asphyxia. Yemen devastated while the world looks away, Keeping alive my family’s socialist roots, Navajo Nation’s uphill battle against Covid-19, Democrats and the myth of the lesser evil, Massive Mobilization: The Only Sure Way to Defend the Election. He knew that when the oppressed and exploited join together, we have the power make revolution, globalise it and bring an end to theft and injustice everywhere.”. There was Ray with baby after baby. He was a regular face at protests against black deaths in custody, attending in his characteristic black hat and bag adorned with social justice pins. The interview took place at Ray's home in Waterloo, 14 October 2008. On Friday 1 May, the Redfern Community Centre overflowed with Ray’s family, friends, allies and admirers. He was a Wiradjuri, and he was a worker. Indeed, his voluminous collection of ephemera and neatly organised files would be an invaluable resource if bequeathed to a public library and digitised. Ray never found his family. Harris posted to the Facebook page for Ray’s memorial event: ‘May Your Fighting Spirit now Roam Free and May You Also ‘Rest In Total Peace’ Our Dear Friend.’. Ray initiated the Association in Sydney. Ray Jackson (27 March 1941 – 23 April 2015) was an Australian Aboriginal activist and Wiradjuri elder. Every little bit counts. This began an enduring relationship, based on a shared commitment to changing the world and an understanding that those most abused by this predatory, ruthless capitalist system would lead. One of his young granddaughters, whose head barely reached above the podium, spoke with a quaver but resolute courage about the confidence Ray had expected from and instilled in her, and which impelled her to address the crowd. United against a common foe. A Darumbul woman from central Queensland, Amy McQuire is the former editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker magazine. Ray’s signature cap — covered with badges solidarising with Palestinians, refugees, the LGBTIQ community and demanding sovereignty for First Nations people — was the centrepiece. Ray also participated in the wider Aboriginal struggle and there probably wasn't a protest that he hadn't attended. For other persons with this name, see, Ray Jackson at a 2014 rally for Aboriginal boy, TJ Hickey, ✪ BLACK INDIANS OF TODAY: REMEMBERING THE TRAIL OF TEARS PT 1, ✪ The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition. Foley shares with Ray two granddaughters and proud unionism as a member of the National Tertiary Education Union. View other recent people: Max Prado, Konrad Steffen, Quentin McCord Thank you for saying goodbye to Click here to say your final … They were fighting for compensation from James Hardie for the contamination and deaths they suffered. His computer, TV recorder and telephone were in action at all hours. However, Ray was not enamoured with Stalinism, and he eventually quit the CPA. For Ray, the right to escape persecution and danger—from war-torn, impoverished, and climate-ravaged countries, straight-laced closets and gender straightjackets—was unchallengeable. Ray reached my life too from his mid thirties. This marked him as a leader, not a victim. Today, Latoya Aroha Rule, a Wiradjuri and Maori woman, whose brother Wayne Fella Morrison died two years ago while on remand in Yatala prison, travelled from South Australia for the event. [1], Ray Jackson was a member of the Stolen Generations. That mind, that heart, were irreplaceable. Following a long time of worsening health, he was hospitalised for pneumonia, then returned home and died in his sleep. Jackson was also involved in pushing momentum for justice around the Bowraville murders, protests around the NT intervention, and was on the committee for the Sydney protest against the forced closures of Aboriginal communities in WA. The Celebrate People’s History poster is available in Australia for $10 — all proceeds to deaths in custody families. Later that year on Palm Island, Queensland, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley arrested Mulrunji Doomadgee and beat him to death. Ray was drawn to the Communist Party by its leadership in the union movement and its history of organising in solidarity with Aboriginal struggles—such as the historic 1966 strike at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory by the Gurindji stockmen, house servants and their families against their horrendous working and living conditions. He loathed those white activists who displayed deferential liberalism. I use WIKI 2 every day and almost forgot how the original Wikipedia looks like. Friends of Greenway is a community group that started a campaign which has now spanned years. On Friday 1 May, the Redfern Community Centre overflowed with Ray’s family, friends, allies and admirers. When Radio Skid Row reporter, Em Couch went to interview Cathy Nisbit from Kogarah Community Services about her work, Cathy wasn't sure if she considered herself an activist. He should have the last word: “The liberation and rights of Aboriginal people are tied up with the rights of the working class, because we have a common enemy, a common master — the capitalist system. Mickie Quick, from the Maritime Union of Australia (Maritime Union), designed the 2018 poster tribute to Ray Jackson, marking the third anniversary of his death. But he didn’t just work on issues around Aboriginal deaths in custody. Would you like Wikipedia to always look as professional and up-to-date? The ‘family side’ and the ‘political side’ came together on Friday. What you probably didn't know is that the project started with a handful of passionate people. I was not aware of the FAREWELL last Friday but wish to publically add my tribute to this great and tenacious fighter. You reached into so many lives, I’m grateful mine was one of them. FSP and RW worked with Ray as an FSP Comrade and as cohorts in the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA). I’ll miss Ray’s emails, which arrived intermittently. International readers can order posters from justseeds.org.. The…, The Cycle Re-cycle Club, sometimes known as the Nunnery Bike workshop, is a group of volunteers who spend their time fixing old bikes. Jackson confronted police annually in enabling the TJ Hickey January marches from Redfern where he died to NSW Parliament in the heart of the City of the Sydney. He offered steadfast support to Aboriginal families faced with the loss of a relative in police custody, in prison, or at the hands of police violence. If a copper so much as verballed a black kid, we'd get a call and be out at the police station, no matter where it was — at the latest — a day later, interrogating them. We have to speak with one voice and strike with one fist.”. Frank is a volunteer at the centre and sees his work there…, If you live in the inner west, chances are you have heard about the Greenway Project. Familiar images of Ray in his badge-covered hat speaking at protests in Redfern-Waterloo, in front of the NSW Coroner’s Court, and at numerous other events were shown. 'I just never thought of an activist as having painted nails and wearing lipstick,' she said. The source code for the WIKI 2 extension is being checked by specialists of the Mozilla Foundation, Google, and Apple. Ray, that ‘proud man’, was a father, ‘pop’, great-grandfather, as well as a friend, confidante and moral guide to his six children, their children and their children’s children. But Ray left us a priceless and indestructible legacy. Jackson said that instead of his biological mother receiving a war widows pension, the Australian government removed her four children (including Jackson) from her custody due to her Aboriginality. He would attend the scenes where people had died at the hands of police, and represent the deceased's families when dealing with the police and authorities. As an internationalist, he connected the oppression of Australia’s First Nations to the abuse of peoples everywhere. A special memorial show about Ray Jackson, First Nations warrior, advocate to end aboriginal deaths in custody and the co-founder of Indigenious Social Justice Association(link is external) Sydney, awarded a human rights medal from France. 'We don't…, For the past year, a team of Radio Skid Row producers have been walking the streets of Sydney…, The iAmActive team includes: Executive Producer: Nicola Joseph Reporters: Em Couch and Isobel Deane…, The idea for the iAmActive project was inspired by the demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt during…. From a dizzying height, Ray looked down on his world: the Aboriginal inner city. Like a lot of community workers,…, Paddy Gibson is an organiser with Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS) and has studied the impact on those in the 'prescribed communities'. But Bassi could not imagine what it would take to be Ray’s ‘brain’, he told us, and he could ‘never be’ Ray’s heart. He passed after attending a regular meeting of the ISJA Sydney. He was a dogged, humble and inspired fighter. New Matilda is a small, independent media outlet. Born to a Wiradjuri mother, he was taken away at the age of two after his father was killed fighting in Papua New Guinea in 1943. Yemen devastated while the world looks away, Keeping alive my family’s socialist roots, Navajo Nation’s uphill battle against Covid-19, Democrats and the myth of the lesser evil, Massive Mobilization: The Only Sure Way to Defend the Election. Ray Jackson (Aboriginal activist) (1941–2015), Australian Indigenous rights activist; Ray Jackson (musician) (born 1948), British mandolin and harmonica player; Ray Jackson (American football) (born 1962), American football player; Ray Jackson (Australian footballer) (1910–1968), Australian rules footballer; See also. Definitely an old school activist, Ray devoted decades to the campaign to Stop Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Ray said, ‘He was killed on the Kokoda Track and instead of giving his wife a war widow’s pension, the bloody government came and took his children away.’. [3], Jackson was one of Australia's most prominent and knowledgeable campaigners on the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody. In a recent article, Ray told the story of his early life. Farewell, Ray. Its Melbourne chapter formed in 2004 when Ray distributed an appeal from Gail Hickey to rally on the anniversary of the death of her teenage son, TJ. He had just turned 74. Jug Agius was one of them. His granddaughter found him in bed that day in his Waterloo flat. Indict killer cops. Weekend of intersectional salute. He also saw justice for Aboriginal people as inextricably bound to the freedom struggles of all who are exploited and oppressed, whether for their race, their class, their gender, sexuality, disability or any other attribute. But is the Democratic Party the solution? I visited him there once, finding a bookish, cosy flat, crammed with Ray’s folders. Thanks for such a posting, in honour of his life. Renowned for militancy and internationalism, the Maritime Union (Ray’s union when he was a young waterfront worker) was the perfect venue to celebrate his legacy.

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