Thread by @IndigenousX

Today I will unpack some of the work that is being done by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics. The enormity of this is something that should be understood by those outside the academy because these institutions are not all they seem on the surface.

Some universities have been unwelcoming to Blak students, let alone academic staff. Having a place in the academy is something hard fought by mob and this fight continues in trying to ensure cultural safety and respect for the work being done by mob for mob.

Being acknowledged and cited is a constant battle for Blak academics because they are up against non-Indigenous academics that have built their careers on the study of us. “Us” being the abstract research project.

It is fitting to start off with this brilliant insight from @drcwatego who says, “The foundations of our most learned institutions were built upon the premise that the Aborigine was not human.”

indigenousx.com.au/chelsea-bond-t…

The fact is - Blak academics have to fight tooth and nail for their place in the academy still, for their research to be funded, for their cultural lens not to be invalidated by non-Indigenous academics and for discussions about race to be centred in their work.

The body of work already produced by @drcwatego is compelling. She has interrogated the health system and its complicity in poor health outcomes while also drawing attention to the racism that has underpinned it from the outset.

Make no mistake - she is not here to go softly - she is coming for the institutions within the colony that - through racism and it’s consequential oppression - have caused poor health outcomes for mob. She is resolute in her purpose & that is something that frightens the academy.

She has said:
“While building an Indigenous health workforce is vital to improving health outcomes for our mob, we cannot talk about the health workforce without talking about power and how it operates in the colony.”

indigenousx.com.au/moving-beyond-…

Now I know that academic papers and journal articles are not always the most accessible. Outside of the academy, access is limited and costly but with Blak academics, they are generous by making their work accessible in publishing with Blak media also as seen in thread above.

One thing that is clear in the work of Blak academics is that it is purposive and that they are inherently tied to their responsibility that is connected to their indigeneity.
We have seen it in the work produced by Blak academics.

. @mdavisqlder wrote in 2006 in a piece entitled ‘A culture of disrespect: Indigenous peoples and Australian public institutions,’ that (paraphrasing) public institutions fail to comprehend and respond to our culture and our notions of lore, spirituality.

She is right - the examination within her piece highlighted the abysmal political and judicial response to issues affecting us - particularly deaths in custody.
Her body of work since this date speaks to her drive to address these issues for the benefit of mob.

Here we find ourselves having the same conversations because expertise of Blak academics is not given adequate credence to policy and law.
Blak academics are not in the academy to do research for research sake - they are there to effect change, to improve outcomes for mob.

One of my most formative interactions with a brilliant academic was in my first year of university and I was in a unit on ‘whiteness’ and Aboriginal academic Sue Green (Townsend) was up the front and she would pose questions to the room to engage us in discussion.

The room was predominantly white, with a lot of exchange students from the US eager to understand race dynamics here, but through interrogation of race here in AU. She managed to take the blinkers off these students who had thought of the issue as skin deep and individual.

They left the class with an understanding of the power dynamics of race, the issue of sovereignty and the importance of centring First Nations and to see that race is deeply embedded in institutions that reinforce the supremacy of whiteness.

This Blak academic managed to have intense, heated discourse on race in the classroom without calling on me to give the “Blak perspective” and she did it with the work of other Blak academics. She introduced me (and the whole class) to the work of @QAmity and that was a gift.

This is essential reading, I cannot emphasise this enough:

booktopia.com.au/the-white-poss…

As a lawyer, one of the most personally influential academics that I have comprehensively read the work of is @LarissaBehrendt - she has a body of work that is awe inspiring. She is a staunch justice advocate & has been the intellectual spring board for countless campaigns.

But one thing I have so much respect for is the accessible discussions in her program - Speaking Out:

abc.net.au/radio/programs…

Having Blak academics lend their thoughts, research and opinion in accessible ways is so impactful. With so much discussion had in the public sphere without us, having Aboriginal expertise is paramount to having our views listened to:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

There is so much incredible research being done in health, education, law and policy, social work, economics, science and technology and so much more. The work done by Blak academics needs to be priority funded, it needs to be weighted so that it goes to core policy changes.

Who are some Blak academics you have learnt from? What did you learn? What was the impact?

I will do some topic subset threads in the coming days of what research is happening so you can read it (if you have access to academic journals).