The floodlights were on at Victoria Park on Tuesday night as hundreds joined Nicky Winmar to remember one of the most iconic, powerful and courageous moments in Australian football on the turf where he made his stand 30 years ago.
In round four of the 1993 AFL season, a then-27-year-old from Western Australia turned to a Victorian crowd, lifted his St Kilda playing jumper and pointed to his skin in defiance of the racial abuse he had received from the stands that afternoon.
The image and legacy of the moment has endured in the game and country's memory.
At the Ngarra Jarra Noun (Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung for Healing) Ceremony, organised by former Essendon star Nathan Lovett-Murray and esteemed event coordinator and Yorta Yorta man Jason Tamiru, words were kept short by the family members, community leaders, Elders, champion Indigenous footballers and Winmar himself, making way for cultural celebration and ceremony.
"It's time for all this to stop. Enough is enough," Winmar said in his address to the crowd.
"I'm black and I'm proud."
"I'm black and proud" ✊
- Nicky Winmar pic.twitter.com/7mMQpJQvpE
— AFL (@AFL) April 18, 2023
A small group later parted away from microphones to share their stories of life and football to contextualise the ongoing impact of Winmar's actions.
One after one, appreciation for that moment and what it meant to greats of the game who played alongside, against and after him were expressed.
"He left a legacy that we will carry on forever," Essendon champion Michael Long said.
"Thank you for what you've done."
Former Collingwood livewire Leon Davis said: "We're strong, black and we're very very proud".
"Enjoy it and celebrate it."
Winmar's Saints teammate Gilbert McAdam was also subjected to racial abuse from the crowd during the 1993 match.
In the years since McAdam said the scars of what he was subjected to remain when he thinks of that afternoon.
"I don't like it because it brings back old memories for me," he told National Indigenous Times.
"I sort of take a backseat (to Winmar)... because with me, I've been through racism all my life.
"I copped it when I was playing in the SANFL before I got to the AFL. So for me, it brings up our wounds and it's not good for my mental health. But tonight, it's been terrific because it's been a healing process tonight."
While speaking in the circle McAdam championed the many First Nations footballers who have excelled in the past three decades.
He reminded those listening that Winmar, the first Indigenous man to play 200 VFL/AFL games, paved the way for so many since to do the same.
Gavin Wanganeen, Lance Franklin, Adam Goodes, Shane Edwards, Michael O'Loughlin, Andrew McLeod and Eddie Betts have gone on to boast a 300 game career, with Shaun Burgoyne one of just five men in VFL/AFL history to go past 400.
"We've accomplished a lot in 30 years, I'll tell you that right now," said McAdam.
Later in the evening, the crowd was invited onto the ground as current Collingwood president Jeff Brown and club captain Darcy Moore spoke and stood in solidarity with Winmar.
Prior to St Kilda's match against Collingwood in Adelaide on Sunday, the Magpies released a formal apology to both Winmar and McAdam for the abuse they received in 1993.
Racism in football remains an ongoing issue. In recent weeks, a number of players have been subjected to vilification on social media as well as from supporters in the stands.
