Thread by @AzieDee

The comments on this thread are INFURIATING. It is people (mostly Black Americans) saying that Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal people), Torre Strait Islanders, and Melanesians are not allowed to self-identify as black.

Let me give you a quick lesson on why they can and do.

https://twitter.com/churchcunt/status/1315042396158263301

First Europeans arrived in Australia in 1606, permanent settlement by British started in 1788. They identified indigenous people, whose skin was black, as black people. So in our racial system, they are black. They were called black and refered to themselves as black just like us

https://twitter.com/valeriavianee/status/1315438413043118080

Present-day Aboriginal Australians, Torre Strait Islanders and Melanesians come in many different shades, like American black people, bc of same traumas that caused intermixing here. They were subjected to genocide, then slavery, then apartheid/segregation, and now incarceration.

They have a huge Black Lives Matter movement that started w Trayvon Martin case. They’re dealing with black deaths in custody at the hands of law enforcement. As well as very high poverty rates, over-criminalization, poor access to education, etc. you know, black people problems.

How do you fight over which colonized group has the right to use the term that the colonizers gave them and which doesn’t? It makes no sense. And then you have white people piping in with terms like “Negroid vs Australoid” like this is a damn 1850s Encyclopedia.

https://twitter.com/ademharakat/status/1315535885543202816

And isn’t the first time I’ve seen this abuse directed at out black brothers and sisters in Australia. I think it is mostly out of ignorance, but we must do better. My black aboriginal friends are very hurt and confused by this behavior. We must do better in our solidarity.

https://twitter.com/DIB2200/status/1315452750956814336

And while I have your attention here are two Black people you should know. First, is Vincent Lingiari. He staged a walk-off from a forced labor camp in Western Australia. They were being “paid” in tea and flour. This was 1966. He persisted until they got justice in 1975.

Secondly, Eddie Mabo. He was a great leader for Aboriginal/Torre Strait rights. He fought for equal schooling (many places had no schools, and in 1992 was plaintiff in a case that overturned a 200 year legal precedent that said black people were savages and had no claim to land.

If you want to learn more, I suggest you follow these Instagram accounts:
@ blakbusiness
@ blackfulla_bookclub
@ ascensionmag
@ abcindigenous

I’m sorry I had to make a correction and repost a few of these tweets. But it’s all there now!

*CORRECTION - it was Wave Hill in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Also it’s TORRES Strait. I forgot the s. I’m sorry! I’m sleepy.

This is incredible! In 1977, Aboriginal Australians were invited by Africans to take part in the Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria. Because they are BLACK.

TY so much for sharing @_inmost

Wow! This is blowing up in an unexpected way.

Thanks to everyone who has responded w amazing info/dialogue.

My thread is extremely brief. I didn’t even get into the fact that they are First Nations with NO treaty. Or talk about the “Stolen Generation”. So much history!

Here are some great Twitter accounts to follow to learn more about Black Australia then and now.

https://twitter.com/totigerlilly/status/1316551508998135813

Also this book is INCREDIBLE.

books.google.com/books/about/Da…

As is this one!

And both have youth additions as well, for young people to learn too.

books.google.com/books/about/Ma…

I’d also like to shout out the gallery/studio in Kununurra, WA. These Aunties & Uncles make gorgeous work with traditional ochre paints. Can be seen in exhibitions around the world. Here are two paintings I own by Kitty Malarvie and Peggy Griffiths.

Insta: @ waringarri_arts

Here is Kittey Malarvie (Jaru) hard at work (on my painting 😭😭😭) and Peggy Griffiths (Miriwoong) looking fabulous in the dress that won her a National Indigenous Fashion Award this year in the Cultural Adornment and Wearable Art category.

Insta: @ waringarri_arts