Charles Perkins
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Charles Nelson Perkins (born 1936 in Alice Springs , Northern Territory , † October 19, 2000 in Sydney ) was an Aboriginal political activist , football player and coach. He was the first Aboriginal person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Australia in 1965 .
Life
His mother was from the Arrernte Aborigines and his father from the Kalkadoon . He lived in a police-controlled camp in Alice Springs with eleven brothers and a sister. At the age of ten he lived away from his family in a youth home, St. Francis House in Adelaide . He traveled to England as a football player. When he returned to Australia in 1960, he played in the New South Wales top division until he retired in 1965. He began his studies in 1961.
He was married and had two daughters and a son.
He was buried with a state funeral because of his services to the Aborigines.
politics
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When a political movement against the prevailing racism developed in Australia in the early 1960s, the Aborigines tied in with the American civil rights movement Freedom Ride , which had emerged in the southern United States in 1961. The marginalization of Aborigines in events, swimming pools, cinemas and hotels sparked protests. The Student Action for Aborigines , in which Perkins was one of the leading figures, took a bus to Moree on February 20, 1965 to carry out an action against the 40-year ban on Aboriginal people in the swimming pool there. This protest received national and international attention, and the student group carried out further actions in Lismore , Bowraville and Kempsey before returning to Sydney. These measures made Charles Perkins well known and the generally recognized national leader of the Aborigines.
When the referendum on the admission of the Aborigines to the census was held by the Australian Parliament in 1967 , Perkins was the organizer of the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs , which led this referendum to a success with a rate of 90.77 percent approval.
He was named Senior Research Officer of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs in 1969, Chairman of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs , the first Aboriginal local federal government in 1981 , and Chairman of the Aboriginal Development Commission in 1981 and 1984. He was one of the harshest critics of Australian government policy. In 1989 he was appointed chairman of the Arrernte Council of Central Australia and in 1993 he was elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission for the central Northern Territory as well as deputy chairperson of this commission.
Awards
Perkins has received numerous awards for his services:
- Jaycees Young Man of the Year (1966)
- Aboriginal of the Year (1993)
- Officer of the Order of Australia (1987)
- Honorary Doctorate from the University of Western Sydney (1998)
- Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Sydney
Since 2001, the University of Sydney The Dr. Charles Perkins Memorial Oration and Dr. Charles Perkins AO Memorial Prize awarded. The National Trust of Australia named him Australia Living National Treasures .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ National Archieves of Australia Charles Nelson Perkins
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perkins, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Perkins, Charles Nelson (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian academic, Aboriginal political activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Alice Springs , Northern Territory |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 19, 2000 |
| Place of death | Sydney |