Watch Sampa The Great perform at the Black Lives Matter protest

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched and protested throughout the country, not just in solidarity with the protests in the United States that have erupted in the last week in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, but to call for justice and an end to police brutality and systemic racism here as well. June 6th 2020 marked some of the biggest protests in this country ever, and many have taken to social media to share footage and photos of what was a historical day.

SAMPA THE GREAT was one of the many speakers on the day, and spoke to protesters gathered at the Melbourne rally about her own experiences with racism in this country. In a speech that she has since shared on social media, Sampa said “As Africans on the continent, we know how it feels to be under colonial rule as those systems are still the choking us ’til this day."

My soul is soo full from being able to use my voice.

?✊? pic.twitter.com/UT6aSIb5Th

— Sampa The Great (@Sampa_The_Great) June 6, 2020

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Sampa The Great also performed two songs for the crowd, 'Freedom' and 'Final Form' taken from her critically acclaimed 2019 album, The Return. Journalist Madaeline Hayman-Reber captured some of the performances which show Sampa joined by her sister, Mwanjé.

Sampa The Great and her younger sister perform. pic.twitter.com/f7K4VDSuSJ

— Madeline Hayman-Reber (@MadelineHayman) June 6, 2020

Recently, Sampa The Great also shared a new video of a performance she, Mwanjé and longtime collaborator Taudra did for Africa Day. She also has debuted a new documentary earlier this year all about the creative and personal process of her making The Return, which she won the Australian Music Prize for at the start of this year.

The Return is out now.

Words by Emma Jones

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