Four days in July

April 30, 2010
Issue 
Jimmy Wave Hill, a veteran of the historic Gurindji walk off, with Richard Downs, leader of Alyawarr walk off. Photo courtesy of

Have you heard about the campaign called “Four Days in July”? Well, you are about to. From now until July 6 we are planning to ask: “Will you join us in Alice Springs for a better future? Just four days in July, that’s all we are asking.”

Such a small thing to ask but imagine the momentum: it won’t stop at Four Days in July, it will be historic, people will talk about it for years to come. They’ll talk about:

• Connecting. We all know everything is connected but we continue as if we have all the time in the world, as if the universe revolves around us as individuals, as if it is “just us” instead of “justice”.

And then there is connecting with our country, feeling like we belong, accepting, understanding, losing the guilt and the cringe factor that we all know is there, but we never acknowledge and harnessing that accumulated energy so we can move on together;

• Communicating. Together; women and men, children, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, refugees, migrants, people; people talking to each other and then taking information back to their own communities;

• Sharing our knowledge, our understanding of how things work, our concerns;

• Learning about true sustainability: of the earth, of our lifestyles, of our futures and of how the colonising factor impacts on all of us and what those impacts are;

• Being. Just being yourself, being at peace, being proud, being comfortable in your own skin;

• Recognising the power of people when they come together as one, the power of four days multiplied countless times.

As the Aboriginal author Lila Watson says, “Is your liberation bound to mine?”

This is just the start. My guess is you will be hearing lots more about Four Days in July so watch this space.

[Sue Gilbey is a member of the Stop the Intervention Collective South Australia. For more information, visit 4-days-in-July.org.]

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