RIP Ollie MC

Ollie MC was an activist and hip hop artist, whose wheelchair was seen from the stage, to the streets, rallies and the coffee shop. Determined and unforgettable, he bore witness to the struggle for truth and justice.

When you met Ollie, he made an impression. His talent with beats, rhymes and fighting and soulful lyrics stayed with you. His energy, cheekiness and ridicule of the corrupt, stayed with you.

But most of all, his example made an impression. Ollie MC was theory and practice.

He locked on, wheelchair bound, to Melbourne’s child detention centre at a Free The Refugees Action. The Victorian police capsicum sprayed him. Ollie lambasted them, and the inhumanity of mandatory detention was heard on TV and radio stations for a week.

Ollie put his body on the line to protest gas mining in pristine Aboriginal land in the Kimberly, in north West WA, last year. Like many of us, Ollie was inspired by the Occupy movement, and performed at Occupy Perth, lifting spirits and morale.

In the last month of his life, Ollie went to Cambodia with his partner Izzy Brown from Combat Wombat and collaborator Frances Evans, and did performances and recordings with Cambodian kids in collaboration with the United Struggle Project, in Buddhist Schools, and NGO This Life Cambodia.

Ollie died tragically, too young, in a car accident on December 29 in Wangaratta. His voice and messages live on through his music , leaving us his legacy of truth and inspiration in the fight for justice.

[More information on Ollie MC. To find out more about the United Struggle Project, visit www.unitedstruggleproject.org.]

Video: Ollie MC and Izzy Brown (from Combat Wombat) perform at Occupy Perth last year. Izzy Brown.

Video: Ollie MC's song 'Navigate the Crosswind'. upstartrecordings.

Video: Music clip jointly produced by the United Struggle Project and the This Life Cambodia NGO. Izzy Brown.