Rosemary Omar – on ancestry (whakapapa), restorative justice, and keeping personal that which was private and precious

Savage attacks are deeply unsettling. Individuals, and their families are tested. Media may be hungry for stories. Our whakapapa – our, sometimes complex, lines of identity – may not be recognised. And then your child’s teacher might say, simply, “Just be here! Sit here in your own space!” Systems take over and your opportunities to work for the common good may be stifled. This conversation talks to the experience of Rosemary Omar and the loss of her son, Tariq, in the 2019 mosque attacks.