Give voice to Cassius and say Yes...

Every state and territory next week will held a picnic for the Love, Unity and the Voice for the voiceless, all except Western Australia and Queensland because those states are considered too racist to even try to persuade people some of us are silenced daily and need a voice to decide about their own affairs which we all who have it take for granted.

When I ask many mainstream people about their opinion about the voice, they say they don't care, they are not interested in politics. I tell them, you pay taxes so you are involved in politics and you have a voice why you don't use it? And they say because I don't need to. And that is the difference between us. Most of us have a voice in our affairs and we do not care. The First Indigenous people do not have a voice and we do not even care to give it to them, does it seem right to you?

So I ask my fellow Australians, did you hear about Cassius and they say no. So I tell them the story of what is happening in our Western Australia more than they think and if they would give voice to Cassius. After listening to the story they say they would. Would you?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Upon a Time in Perth Western Australia

 “Look here,” Cassius elbowed his classmate, pointing excitedly at the image on his i-pad:

“I will work there once and listen to messages from deep space.

“What is it?” Danton grabbed the i-pad to examine closely the white round structure in the middle of the bush with a forest of strange looking receivers.

“Give it back!” Cassius snatched it back angrily: “It is the biggest telescope in the world. I went to see it with my dad, our mob comes from there you know., up Narrogin way.”

“Boring,” Danton made a long face on his angry friend and reached for his own i-pad: “Look at this, Haast’s eagle, a monstrous raptor with a three meter wingspan my dad told me it lived millions years ago in New Zealand and I was born there.” He bumped his chest and gave a short Maori war cry.

Cassius jumped from his seat and crouched, spreading his arms wide pretending to be a mythical bird thumping the floor rhythmically with his feet: “This is a creator from Dreamtime story our night sky was different then, the stars we know were yet to be born.”

The kids around them started to laugh and some of them put their hands up: “Miss, Miss Cassius is out of his desk again. He is dancing funny.”

The elder female teacher who was helping a student up front with his project on the Last Ice Age looked tired and irritated: “Cassius stop it or I'll send you to the principal's office again.”

Cassius sat down and shouted back: “Miss I am researching as you asked.” He grabbed his i-pad and lowered his gaze back on the screen.

“Researching what?” The teacher approached his desk and he quickly grabbed Danton’s i-pad showing her the Maori image of the mythical Haast’s eagle: “It said here it lived in ‘Ediacaran’ period.”

“This is a science lesson Cassius, concentrate on facts, you can talk about mythology in your next session with your English teacher.” She looked down at Cassius and Danton who just lowered their gazes back on their i-pads shrugging. When she moved away Danton whispered to Cassius: “I barely understand her accent, she is not even from Australia.”

The teacher moved back to the front of the class and pointed at the boys she was helping with the project before: “Max, read what you have written so far.” But before Max could start, a few girls from the middle giggled and put their hands up: “Miss, Miss Cassius said he can’t understand you because you speak funny.”

The teacher sighed and clicked at the whiteboard on the front of the classroom to reveal a big map of the world pointing at the middle of Europe:

“I was born here in Poland, many scientists come from there.”

Max put his hand up: “My father was born in Germany and my mum in Scotland.” And the girls shouted over each other: “I was born in China and I was in England Miss.” The teacher smiled towards the girls: “We live in Australia Cassius, everyone comes from somewhere else and we all speak with different accents and it is ok.”

She nodded at Max who proudly stood up and read from his notes: “Early hominids scavenged at kill sites with otters the size of lions, perhaps the first species driven to extinction by the ancestors of modern humans. All the apex predators of the Cambrian seas were giant worms who sucked prey into its digestive system past six spirals of jagged teeth…” The class shuddered imagining the giant worms when the bell rang at the end of the session and the teacher quickly packed her files: “Where do you go for the next session?”

“We have finished for the day Miss, there are no replacement teachers so they gave us extra study time at home or we can study in the library.” Max replied keenly and she smiled at the pale thin boy in glasses with a crop of red hair: “ You will do well on the end of the year exam, just keep it up.” The teacher waited for the students to grab their files and locked the science lab quickly hearing the mobile ringing in her bag she smiled to herself. She quickly waved to the girls at the reception on the way out: “Congratulation Hana, hope it is a boy.”

Driving off the teachers car park she noticed Cassius with another boy walking slowly out of the High School gate. Two dark figures with their school bags hanging loosely from their hunched backs. They shuffled across the crossing lost in their own world without any consideration towards her. She tapped the fingers impatiently on her steering wheels observing their dark serious faces obviously engaged in conversation as they crossed in front of her, totally oblivious to her. There were no other cars on the crossing at that time. Finally they reached the other side and she moved on watching them stroll along the suburban houses towards the shopping centre she assumed. She had seen some youngsters there smoking in the corners sharing some dubious substances. Why can they not thrive to be good scientists like Max? The boys she can teach and understand? Students at Poland were different, more like Max not like Cassius. They made her feel like a failure. She gave them her last glance and hurried toward the hospital.

When she stepped into the maternity ward her fair tall son walked across the room with a newborn baby in his arms:

“Meet your grandson, we named him Jaroslav after his grandfather.”

Hana took a tiny baby with a sliver of black hair and long almond brown eyes into her arms and smiled at her daughter in law resting in the bed: “Samira he looks like you.”

She giggled from the bed while her golden bracelets shimmered: “Maybe next one will be blond and blue eyed after your son.” Hana quickly covered her embarrassment: “He is beautiful Samira just like you.” Her son sighed with a mischievous twinkle in his bright blue eyes: “She is taking my sister to Poland this year for Christmas and she dreams of her to find a proper Polish boy there, isn’t you mum?”

Samira giggled again: “Good luck with that Hana, I think her heart is set on that South African boy next door.” Hana smiled and reached into her bag to pass a little present to Samira: “This is for Jaroslav, a golden pocket watch passed to the eldest son through generations.” Samira opened the parcel to reveal a long golden chain and her son touched it laughing: “I remember it my dad telling me it was your most precious possession during the war, I am afraid mum when Jaroslav grows up the time will be chipped under his skin together with bank details.” Samira opened her arm to embrace Hana who bent over her bed and let herself be hugged and whispered to her ear: “Gold never gets out of the fashion we value gold in India, thank you mum.”

On the way out of the room she turned around to see a happy couple chatting to each other while admiring their newborn son: “I think he will be an astronomer like you.” Samira kissed her husband who replied, stroking his baby boy's head gently: “They are building the biggest telescope in the world next to Narrogin. When he grows up he can be a head astronomer there.”

Hana quietly closed the door behind her and rushed to catch the lift downstairs that was filled up with nurses chatting nervously between themselves: “There is an emergency on the third floor all hands on deck.”

She followed them out and reached the busy corridor with operational teams rushing in all directions. Suddenly there was a shout: “Let us pass.” She pressed her body towards the wall to make space while two stretchers were wheeled into an operation theatre of two motionless boys bodies covered in blood.

Hana shuddered at the sight of torn up face and open head injury on the first body and how her accent will be more prevalent after speaking Polish the whole week. 

She entered the science lab a few minutes after the bell.

All students were already there except Cassius. They handed her their scientific reports except Danton and Cassius of course but she was not surprised at that. She stopped at Danton’s desk and he slowly opened his school bag and handed her the finished paper signed by Danton and Cassius. She looked at him surprised and he nodded: “ I wrote down all he told me on our last walk from school. He knows so much about the past.”

She glanced over the page and her eyes caught a few sentences: ‘My father taught me about the Ediacaran period being so distant in time that even its night sky was different, many of the stars we are familiar with are yet to be born.

Stories of our ancestors preserve traces of the lost long past too. New Zealand’s Haast’s eagle, a monstrous raptor with a three metre wingspan that was capable of snatching a child, is remembered in Maori stories. Dreamtime stories of the big eyed creatures arose from the nasal openings in the skulls of dwarf elephants which once roamed Australia.

The journey back to the long lost past offers both hope and fear. Life is already changing in response to human caused climate change. For example, after 200 m years, glass sponge reefs have returned, thriving in oxygen depleted seas. In 2016 a bacterium was discovered near a plastic recycling facility in Japan, the first known life form to be entirely plastic.

But the remote past also brings warnings, our ancestors said. We might expect global warming of the Eocene period by the end of the century. The Antarctic forest and sea levels rose by ten metres, swamping the homes of a billion people. Change is coming and humankind’s future requires sacrifice from all of us, my people of Noongar and Yamatji nations believe in it and I believe in it too…

“It is brilliant,” Hana sighed: “Where is he?” She looked around and suddenly realised the students were more quiet than usual. “In hospital,” Danton whispered quietly and pointed at a big paper cut star placed on Cassius desk: “I hope he comes back so he can work in that big observatory when he grows up, he said it is the biggest in the world but I do not believe him.”

“It is,” Hana nodded and picked up a pen from her pocket to write a little message in the heart of the star: “To Cassius for his speedy recovery from his teacher and his classmates.’ Then she passed the pen to Danton: “I think we should visit him then and give him your card.” He looked at her excitedly when grabbed the pen: “Can we Miss?” All students excitedly lined up to sign the big star while she called the principal office to enquiry about the visit. She was told to stop by the office after the science session was completed.

‘

“He passed away this morning Hana from his injuries, didn’t you hear the news?” The Principal opened the door and she looked at him stunt: “We are organising counsellors for his classmates and advise all the teachers refrain from talking about racism.”

She looked at him confused while he continued: “The police were here yesterday and warned against unfounded speculation about whether the killing was racially motivated, police have already charged the 21 years old man and just because he is white like us I mean…anyway Australia has strict laws around discussing ongoing court cases.” He coughed uncomfortably while ushering her out of the door: “Just concentrate on your science lesson and leave the matter to the police and the court.”

“He was just walking home from school, for goodness sake, I mean it could happen to your son or mine,” a Noongar teacher of Aboriginal languages

She looked around the classroom at other teachers sitting around the long table with their steaming coffee cups in their hands.

They looked down on their laps and she laughed ironically: “Of course your children are not Aboriginals.” She opened her mobile and clicked on the video: “I received this footage this morning from my cousin, it happened to her son. It showed a young Aboriginal boy being ambushed by two young white men while he was walking to school yelling racial slurs at him and kicking him violently while he was covering himself on the path his school books spread all around him.”

“This is what happened to Cassius?” Hana pointed at the image and a sudden silence fell around. She quickly finished her coffee and rushed out of the door as the bell just rang. On the way back to the science lab she noticed Danton next to a drinking fountain in the corridor. She grabbed his arm and forced him to sit at the bench outside urgently: “Tell me what happened to Cassius?”

Danton coughed uncomfortably trying to release himself from her grip: “My mum said just stay out of it and not to share what I saw, we are Maoris not Aboriginals but those vigilantes attack anyone black especially rats.” There was an older teacher passing by and caught Danton’s pleading eyes: “Why are you not in your class Danton?”

Danton looked at Hana who released her grip and he quickly ran away. Then she stood up and looked at her colleague: “I just wanted to know what happened to Cassius, I saw them both walking from the school the day it happened.” The teacher leaned over and whispered to her ear: “From your accent it is obvious you are new to this country and new to this area and the school, it is not the first incident and neither the last, Aboriginals are over represented as both victims and perpetrators of murder in Australia though they are less than 4 % of population it is the fact.”

Back in her science lab she told the senior class to research the details of the Cassius incident. After the students read out their findings in solemn voices out loud, you could feel the pin drop in the room. Everyone felt the heaviness of the injustice in the air and it happened in their country, in their city, in their neighbourhood, in their school…

A 15 years old Aboriginal boy of Western Australia’s Noongar and Yamatji nations died unconscious in a hospital bed, attached to a ventilator. His head, shaved by medics, was marked with heavy gash. He was walking home from school when a car pulled up next to him and passengers jumped out and assaulted him yelling racial slurs. He was battered with a metal pole and his injuries were so severe that he died ten days later. Police has charge 21-years old with the murder. The police issued a statement afterwards: ‘He was an innocent victim of a violent attack.’

On Christmas eve Hana was holding her newborn grandson while decorating the Christmas tree in the living room. She stood on her tiptoe to reach to the top of a tree to place a tinsel star on it while her son was playing on the piano and singing: ‘The star was born in Bethlehem...’

Her daughter in law was watching a Bollywood movie on SBS channel on TV when the news came on with the Prime Minister’s support creating a ‘voice to Parliament’ a consultative body, to advise the federal government on matters related to indigenous affairs. ``Turn it off, who wants to listen to the news on Christmas.” Her son shouted at Samira who quickly obeyed and joined Hana next to the tree.

“I think it is time for feeding Jaroslav,” Hana passed her the baby and they disappeared together in the bedroom. Jaroslav stopped playing and she asked him: “Albanese promised to hold a referendum on 'the voice' before his government’s three year term is up, will he do it?”

“From when you are interested in politics mum,” her son winked at her and dissipated in the kitchen to taste her Christmas poppy seed and traditional cakes. She followed him while he explained: “If he manages to pull it off and Nationals are already saying they will not support it, its passage requires a yes vote from a national majority as well as a majority of states.”

“Why wouldn't Australians support it?” Hana asked: “It is mostly symbolic but it would give them a voice and a little more to say on policies aimed at them?”

Her son shrugged and opened his mobile : “This is the presenter you like when you are watching Great Australian Outdoors or Back Roads.”

Hana pointed at the photo of a young handsome man: “That is Tony Armstrong.” Her son nodded and pointed at the tweet below the photo: “He tweeted a picture of the message which called him ‘abba scum’ and an ‘uneducated dog.’

She looked at him and he shrugged again: “Mum, Australia is still a very racist country if we like to admit it or not, it is the fact.”

Samira brought Jaroslav back and Hana wrapped him lovingly to her chest watching out of the window for the first star to appear whispering to his tiny ear: “That is Cassius’s star.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 STOP RACIAL ABUSE IN OUR STATE AND SAY YES TO THE VOICE. YES VOICE DOES NOT DIVIDE US BUT IT IS THE FIRST STEP TO UNITE US. DO NOT LISTEN TO HATE AROUND YOU BUT LISTEN TO YOUR HEART. YES TO THE VOICE, the voice of LOVE AND UNITY AND CASSIUS STAR!