January 26 is Invasion Day, a day when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the continent commemorate in unceded sovereignty their steadfast resistance to the colonial violence of “Australia”. It is also the anniversary of the 1838 Waterloo Creek Massacre, during which as many as 300 Gamilaraay people were killed by police and settler civilians.
Tzedek Collective stands alongside First Nations people in anti-colonial solidarity. We are brought together by the knowledge that our lives exist on — and are sustained by — stolen lands. Jewish presence on this continent dates to colonisation in 1788, and subsequent negotiations of our place in this settler-state have relied on the genocides, displacements and thefts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their Countries.
Paying the Rent is a commitment to make ongoing financial contributions to First Nations people and organisations, as a means of restitution for the ongoing and illegal occupation of Country. We can engage in the Jewish practice of Tzedakah — often translated as “charity”, but more accurately meaning “justice” — today and every day by Paying the Rent. If you don’t have the financial means, volunteering your time, and sharing knowledge, resources and campaigns with your circles are also great ways to contribute.
Invasion Day is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to Indigenous sovereignty, justice and land back. Colonialism is not an event, but a structure of dispossession; our resistance must be twice as committed and enduring, today and every day. This always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
For more information, start here:
https://indigenousx.com.au/invasion-day-is-coming/ https://commonground.org.au/learn/australia-day
Gadigal Country in-person events: Invasion day rally https://facebook.com/events/977635449508259/
Yabun festival https://facebook.com/YabunFestival/
Elsewhere in the colony and online:
https://sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2022/01/21/national-invasion-day-rallies-adapt-face-covid-19
https://commongrace.org.au/jan26_events_2022
https://junkee.com/invasion-day-2022-rallies-where-to-donate/319730 https://antar.org.au/survival-day
Paying the Rent suggestions:
https://blackrainbow.org.au/
https://www.alsnswact.org.au/
https://indigenousx.com.au/
https://deadlyconnections.org.au/
https://chuffed.org/project/beyond-bricks-bars-tgd-decarceration-project https://paytherent.net.au/
https://www.sistersinside.com.au/
https://dhadjowa.com.au/pages/
Further reading on Paying the Rent:
https://paytherent.net.au/whypay/
https://decolonizingsolidarity.org/2015/05/20/pay-the-rent/