My name is Cienan Muir, I am a proud Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri man living on the lands of the Kulin Nations. I pay my respect to my Elders, lands and community and I pay respect to the Elders, Lands and community of the Kulin Nations for allowing me to take my journey here.
Last year, I organised and hosted the first ever Indigenous Comic Con (@IndigiconA) to come to Australia. At the same time developing my own small platform, INDIGINERD, to help myself deliver this event.
I’ve been apart of, and hosted, a few panels around Indigenous representation in media, particularly the pop culture realms.
I’m a comicbook reader. I’m a D&D player. I’m a Gamer. I’m a cosplayer. I’M AN INDIGINERD.
Over the next week I will be exploring all things popculture.
Racism exists in Australia. It exists in our institutions and in our public spaces. There are those who oppose it, but there is also a lot of racism among our self-proclaimed ‘white allies’.
Racism is insidious. It impacts on people’s health, their education, housing and employment opportunities, and their sense of self and safety living in Australia.
We look at Aboriginal prison rates and label Aboriginal people as criminals rather than looking at racism in policing or in sentencing.
As we are only a week or two away from Harmony Week (yes, it’s a week now), I’d like to tell the story of the greatest Harmony Day poster ever designed. And by ‘greatest’ I of course mean the absolute fucking worst most condensing piece of shit imaginable because of course it is.
To understand this story, it’s important to remember that the government department that is responsible for Harmony Day is the same one that Peter ‘won’t somebody PLEASE think of the white South Africans’ Dutton was in charge of for many years.
Harmony Day exists only in Australia and solely for the purpose of ignoring the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the basis that Australia doesn’t have any racial discrimination so instead of fighting racism we get to celebrate living in harmony…
For those saying we should be magnanimous about the passing of the queen, a reminder that the queen inserted herself into the lives of Indigenous people here multiple times. She wasn't a bystander to the effects of colonisation and colonialism, she was an architect of it.
Demanding Indigenous people be respectful about the passing of someone who intentionally made our lives worse is outrageous. It's worth considering what she *could* have done - and didn't - to effect change.
At so many times across the 20th century, she could have intervened and reset the relationship between Indigenous people and 'the crown', because she had more than ceremonial power to do so. She did nothing.
Yesterday when I took over @IndigenousX I was nervous about whether I'd manage today. It would have been my brother David's 63rd birthday, and I was worried I'd be too upset or too many things. The reason RUOK day is so annoying is that there's often no solution if you're not.
Talking to one of my older sisters just now, was the checkin you do not in a calendar format, but because god, it's David's birthday and we miss him. We know our other sister will be with him soon, and we're sad about that too, and mapping what we can do now, for her, now.
I'm mentioning this cos that's relationality, and maybe I'll never be 'ok' again by a reset measure. Asking me if I'm okay won't change it. I wish my sister would make 60, but wishing or checking in to see how I'm going won't make it happen. Talking from inside the grief is 'ok'.
Ever worked with someone who sees you as facilitating their success? You know what I mean, they like what you do because it makes them look better or helps their cause. This is a conversation that we need to have about the convergence of #BlackCladding and #MyBlackFriend.
Decades ago in academic conferences (and also today) it was bringing an Aboriginal person onto a panel speaking about research, where they clearly had no real investment or interest OR they weren't allowed to speak about their experience - acting as props. #IndigenousProps
In govt, in business, in unis, in schools, in medical services, when this happens, they're buying authority and authenticity, but with no real cost and without meaning. It really is window dressing, but there's actually a cost to people doing it. And everyone else.
(SOS) When my brother, who died recently, wrote his book Bold (stories of older queer ppl), he featured his and other Black voices. He knew how rare it is to have older queer Black voices cos the stats aren't great. But we aren't stats, and for those of us still here we need...
...to be made to feel that we belong, that we are cherished, that we have a place and a right to all of the things the rest of our community has.
I often write (and think and rant) about stats being important. But Indigenous people aren't statistics. Our role as community is central, we should be central because we're connected. Tacking on letters at the end of LGBTIQ+ to feel like you've included us isn't it.