This thread is some of my foundational reading that has not only validated my views as a Gamilaraay woman - but it has reinforced my knowledge. Coming from a matriarchal clan - women have been my foundational knowledge keepers and teachers. This list is no different.
This book by @LarissaBehrendt was what settled my inner turmoil as a law student navigating the dichotomy of law and lore.
This right here - from ‘Aboriginal Dispute Resolution,’ by Larissa Behrendt:
Now I have already insisted you read this one by @QAmity - for good reason. It interrogates race, sovereignty, possession through a cultural lens.
All. Of. This.
This book by Dr Anne Patel-Gray is one I go back to because of the depth it interrogates the issue of racism and it’s origins on this land.
I have particularly found it useful in its analysis of the part of the Church in what took place on this land and what continues to take place (out of home care).
This one will probably be a favourite among the sistahood - this book is one that is a gift to us, a gift to discourse and a call to action for white feminists to address the inherent racism in the feminist movement. @QAmity
I could have an entire thread on this book , I swear, such important work!!
Also in this body of work by Blak women is this paper by @drcwatego
‘Talkin’ Down to the Black Woman’ which is in the Australian Feminist Law Journal. Worth getting a copy here:
Another thing that strikes me is the endless work of Blak academics who not only do the work to analyse the impact of law & policy on our peoples but to invest so much emotional labour into to process so it is cultural, it is consultative & it is done with accountability to mob.
An example of this is the Intervention Anthology edited by @AnitaHeiss and Rosie Scott.
There are a breadth of perspectives and forms of expression within.
The chapter by Pat Anderson is insightful.
In all of this brilliance of Blak women in the colony - we continue to fight for space. Blak academics, particularly women, have to fight to be cited, let alone have their research and evidence form basis of policies and law.
This country lets itself down in its determination to deny the brilliance of the Blak woman. In failing to centre the knowledges of Blak academics, particularly women, this country fails to be on the cutting edge of anything and instead stares down the barrel of mediocrity.
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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.