Editorial
Across the nation at the weekend tens of thousands of people made their voice heard in a united call to end violence and racism.
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In doing so these people defied the wishes of the Prime Minister and health experts, who warned against people attending these rallies in numbers during the coronavirus pandemic.
In our editorial for Saturday's edition of the Illawarra Mercury we labelled the court challenge to halt the protest in Sydney on Saturday as a "misfire". Thankfully the Court of Appeal found in favour of the protest and allowed it to go ahead unimpeded.
On Sunday, it was Wollongong's turn. A crowd of over 1500 people attended the city's rally on a cool and overcast Sunday.
For those who attended it was an incredibly powerful and moving moment as the crowd stood respectfully listening to the speakers address the rally.
When asked to take a knee, the crowd did so as one. When the moment came to raise their right hand in a show of support they did so as one.
The crowd listened to the speakers in perfect silence apart from when the moment dictated they voice their support of the person addressing the microphone.
And the crowd itself was a broad spectrum of our community, all ages, young and old.
Most of the crowd wore face masks and there was hand sanitiser on offer for anyone who needed it.
Sure protesting in a pandemic is not ideal, but when you can go to the local shopping centre or next week attend the footy, it's hard to justify not allowing people to join their voice in harmony on such an important issue.
A small contingent of police officers stood right at the back of the gathering, just watching on and letting the people exercise their right for peaceful protest.
This was a chance for our city to add their voice to the global call for an end to racism and our voice was heard loud and clear.
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