I can’t describe the feeling of having to prove my Aboriginality. Am I lucky? Or unlucky?
I use the word “lucky” to describe my ability to obtain my confirmation of Aboriginality letter, but I think I just haven’t found the right word to describe my feelings about having to prove my identity to the university where I work.
We need safe housing for Aboriginal women and children. And we can’t wait for an election
The Barkly region is a hot spot for family violence and child abuse. The community is crying out for a strong response but the resources they have are inadequate, writes @IndigenousX host Fiona Hamilton, a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman of the Trawlwulwuy Nation, a writer, artist, family violence educator and activist. She is a survivor of family violence.
Death by racism: bigotry in the health system is harming Indigenous patients
“I’ve seen Indigenous patients treated with suspicion and denied pain relief. We need cultural awareness programs on all levels of the system”, writes Colleen Lavelle, a strong Wakka Wakka woman, mother of four, with an inoperable brain tumour.
Australia: just call it for what it is
The judicial system in Australia targets Indigenous people more than any other group. Indigenous people are racially profiled, are killed in custody and are more likely to receive custodial sentences than their non-Indigenous counterparts. In fact, Indigenous people in Australia have higher incarceration rates than during apartheid South Africa. We continue to gaol Indigenous people for non-payment of parking fines as a result of mandatory sentencing that was instituted to target this very group of people within society.
Diverse Black voices part of Sydney Festival
"By putting a whole range of projects together that mark out some kind of broad perimeter that Aboriginality can exist inside of, it’s offering more than a tick-the-box example, or a single way of thinking of our world. We’re pulling Aboriginality out in lots of different directions because we are more diverse. And no one else gets to define who we are. We get to define who we are," says 2017 festival director Wesley Enoch.
The Fake News Frenzy: it compromises the information that Blackfellas rely upon too
Social media users are perfectly aware that they’re ensconced in a bubble, and prefer it that way. It is a wilful ignorance. Conflicting perspectives, regardless of their substance, are flatly rejected or simply blocked. Self-affirmation is the objective. And in a climate of socioeconomic disenfranchisement and political disaffection, that participation imparts a measure of agency. This is the much vaunted democratising affordance of social media, and a cruel irony.
Why are we ignoring 18D?
All the talk of getting rid of 18C in the Racial Discrimination Act is centred around this idea that it shouldn’t be illegal to offend or insult someone. The conversation usually tries to clear of mentioning that it has to be specifically because of their race, colour, or ethnic origin, and it definitely never goes so far as to examine, or in any way acknowledge, the myriad of exclusions for 18C presented by 18D.
