The Aboriginal people needed someone to champion their cause and to navigate their way through the tumultuous waters of injustice. Their man was Charles Fredrick Maynard. He was an Aboriginal activist who protested against the assault on Aborigines' rights at local meetings, and lobbied the Sydney and regional press. In 1925 Maynard launched the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association. The group was shaped in a way that was similar to the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which Marcus Garvey had created ten years earlier. This group had become a significant political movement among poor African Americans living in New York and other US cities. Maynard’s group grew to a membership of 500 people, but could not maintain the support needed to continue beyond 1927.
The group demanded that children no longer be separated from their families. They advocated that all Aboriginal families should receive inalienable grants of farming land within their traditional country, that their children should have free entry to public schools, and that Aborigines should control any administrative body affecting their lives. Maynard participated in debates with missionaries and public figures who were proposing changes to the administration of Aboriginal affairs. The Depression weakened the group’s capability to continue its campaigns into the 1930s.
Also on the scene was Charles Perkins who was a prominent figure who fought for the Aboriginal people’s freedom. In 1963 he was a founding member of Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) group at the University of Sydney, eventually becoming president. Perkins most famous actions as an Aboriginal activist was in the 1965 Freedom Ride. Perkins wanted to address criticism that Australians were quick to champion the work of the US Civil Rights Movement but slow to do anything to end racism in Australia. On 12 February 1965, he led about 28 others on a 14-day, 3200-kilometre Freedom Ride of rural New South Wales. Their aim was to raise awareness of discrimination against Aboriginal people and to try to redress it. They targeted towns such as Walgett, Moree and Kempsey, which had the reputation of being racist, and included others, such as Lismore that were supposed to have better records.
“And yet a great deal has changed for the better. Charles Perkins fascinated the press in the 1960s because he was a rarity, an Aboriginal leader who could clearly communicate to both black and white Australians a message that emphasised freedom, dignity, and human rights. Since then, there have been many leaders, not only in the directly political sphere but also communicators through art, film, song, dance, and writing. Charles Perkins and Margaret Valadian were the first Aboriginal people to gain university degrees; now many more have followed.”
Prof Ann Curthoys at the National Museum of Australia Wednesday 4 September 2002
The group demanded that children no longer be separated from their families. They advocated that all Aboriginal families should receive inalienable grants of farming land within their traditional country, that their children should have free entry to public schools, and that Aborigines should control any administrative body affecting their lives. Maynard participated in debates with missionaries and public figures who were proposing changes to the administration of Aboriginal affairs. The Depression weakened the group’s capability to continue its campaigns into the 1930s.
Also on the scene was Charles Perkins who was a prominent figure who fought for the Aboriginal people’s freedom. In 1963 he was a founding member of Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) group at the University of Sydney, eventually becoming president. Perkins most famous actions as an Aboriginal activist was in the 1965 Freedom Ride. Perkins wanted to address criticism that Australians were quick to champion the work of the US Civil Rights Movement but slow to do anything to end racism in Australia. On 12 February 1965, he led about 28 others on a 14-day, 3200-kilometre Freedom Ride of rural New South Wales. Their aim was to raise awareness of discrimination against Aboriginal people and to try to redress it. They targeted towns such as Walgett, Moree and Kempsey, which had the reputation of being racist, and included others, such as Lismore that were supposed to have better records.
“And yet a great deal has changed for the better. Charles Perkins fascinated the press in the 1960s because he was a rarity, an Aboriginal leader who could clearly communicate to both black and white Australians a message that emphasised freedom, dignity, and human rights. Since then, there have been many leaders, not only in the directly political sphere but also communicators through art, film, song, dance, and writing. Charles Perkins and Margaret Valadian were the first Aboriginal people to gain university degrees; now many more have followed.”
Prof Ann Curthoys at the National Museum of Australia Wednesday 4 September 2002