The mother of an Aboriginal man who died in custody in South Australia will address a Black Lives Matter gathering in Katoomba on Sunday, July 5.
Caroline Andersen moved from Adelaide to Katoomba 18 months ago. The death of her son Wayne Fella Morrison in 2016 is the subject of a coronial inquest, ongoing for nearly two years.
Mr Morrison had been involved in a brawl at the Yatala Labour Prison, when prison guards restrained him and tied his ankles, put a spit mask on his face and placed him face down in a prison van to move him a short distance to another area of the prison. When he was removed from the van just minutes later he was not moving and turning blue, Ms Andersen said, and was placed on life support in Royal Adelaide Hospital, dying three days later.
Prison guards in the van have all refused to provide statements to the inquiry about what happened in the van.
Ms Andersen has decided to speak at Sunday's gathering to generate awareness of hundreds of years of injustice towards Indigenous Australians.
"Kids are being killed by police officers and corrections officers and no-one is being held accountable for the deaths," Ms Andersen said.
"We want answers and no-one has given us answers."
She will also read a statement from the family of David Dungay, an Aboriginal man who said "I can't breathe" multiple times before he died while being restrained by five prison guards in a Sydney jail in 2015.
Ms Andersen will also encourage people to get involved to help create change and provide support for Indigenous families.
The gathering will be held at 11am on Sunday, July 5 on Katoomba Street, outside the old library.
