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Indigenous Australian Senator Makes Black Power Salute, Calls Queen Elizabeth II ‘Colonizer’

Indigenous Australian Sen. Lidia Thorpe called Queen Elizabeth II a “colonizer” and raised her hand in a “black power” salute while pledging allegiance to the queen during her swearing-in ceremony Monday.

Thorpe, who took the oath of office alone after missing the primary ceremony last week, was forced to redo the pledge after failing to pledge her allegiance correctly to England’s monarch, who serves as Australia’s head of state.

“I, sovereign Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonizing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” Thorpe said in a video of the ceremony.

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After the ceremony, Thorpe retweeted a photo of her standing with her arm raised and tweeted the phrase “Sovereignty never ceded.”

Thorpe, a member of the Australian Greens who represents Victoria, referred to Australia as a “colonial project” last month and claimed the national flag does not represent her but rather colonization from the 1780s. {snip}

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