Today 26th May is the National Day of Healing (formally Sorry Day) - for all Australians. It is not an official holiday, but rather an opportunity for Australians to acknowledge the wrong that had been done in the past to Australian Indigenous families.
Sorry Day has been the annual focus of the Journey of Healing for the stolen generations. That Journey will go on until the Bringing Them Home report is implemented wholeheartedly. We cannot stop while several thousand Indigenous people are still searching for family members from whom they were separated.
But the stolen generations cannot heal in isolation. Their healing depends on, and contributes to, healing among the wider Indigenous community. And healing among Indigenous Australians depends on, and contributes to, healing in the non-Indigenous community.
We need to understand why Indigenous culture is unable to thrive alongside Western culture in Australia. The stolen generations have shared their stories on Sorry Days, and that has opened the eyes of many to their history. Now more of us need to follow their lead.
If healing is to come, it will come through a grass-roots movement of people who feel each other's pain across the gulfs which divide us, and commit themselves to work for justice. The National Day of Healing aims to help build that movement.
The hope is that everything that has taken place on past Sorry Days will take place on the National Day of Healing, and much more. The hope is that many people will use it to show that we can overcome the tragic situations facing Indigenous Australia. Other countries are making great advances, so can we. It all depends on how much we care.
As in past years, there are events in every State and Territory. We want to rouse a conviction in the country that we can all find the healing which will enable Indigenous culture to thrive, and that Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians can build a new relationship of trust and respect.
There is also an online pledge book to sign and show your support.
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