It's been less than a month since disturbing CCTV footage of a now-deceased Indigenous Australian woman's treatment in custody rattled Australia.
22-year-old Yamatji woman, Julieka Dhu, was locked up by police as a result of unpaid fines. Despite telling police that she was in huge amounts of pain, officers believed she was "faking it," calling her a "junkie" according to reports.
After being sent away from hospital the first time, she died of complications relating to septicaemia and pneumonia, en route to the hospital again.
Footage shows Ms. Dhu being dragged around roughly and dropped on her head while unconcious.
Now, Australian musician Felix Riebl has released a powerful musical anthem dedicated to the young woman. The accompanying video makes use of news footage relating to the coronial inquest for Ms. Dhu's death, as well as the CCTV footage itself.
Featuring the Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir, the song "Ms. Dhu" contains such powerful lyrics that rail against institutional racism and police brutality in Australia, such as "Every black death in custody's a blight on our soul," and "will we ever see a cop locked up for negligence?"
Riebl, who is best-known as frontman of the band The Cat Empire, told the ABC "[Dhu] wasn't treated like a person."
The song and video were created in close consultation with Ms. Dhu's family and of the proceeds from the song will go to the Dhu family.
Topics Activism
