Not a date to celebrate

It’s January 27th and I thought about posting yesterday.

Realistically though, the 26th of January isn’t a day for white people to be talking. It’s a day to be quiet, to listen respectfully and try to understand why it’s not a date to celebrate.

I used to celebrate on January 26th. It was Hottest 100 day. It was a day off. It was a day when everyone else I knew was celebrating and I wanted to be a part of it. I’m not saying this to excuse myself. Nor am I saying it to exceptionalise my changing attitude. I guess, more than anything I’d like to highlight my ignorance and take it as a beginning, because we all have a lot to learn.

I think back to what I was taught at school. Perhaps it would be more accurate to identify what I wasn’t taught. While being shown images typifying the antiquated and racist vision of the ‘noble savage’, I was taught about Indigenous people as a dying people. I wasn’t taught that they were the oldest living culture on Earth. I wasn’t taught that they very much weren’t dying but were in fact at the time of my schooling struggling and fighting for the rights to their land. Even at the time of the Mabo decision, I was not taught about the historic significance of this decision.

That’s a lot of ignorance to make up for and it’s not a job for just one day of the year. But on January 26, a day variously known as Invasion Day and Survival Day, we are asked by First Nations to listen to what they have been trying to tell us white people for years.

So yesterday I listened.

I listened to Greens Senator and proud DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe talk about the concept and practicalities of ‘Pay the Rent’; a concept that seeks to address the financial disparities that come with dispossession and intergenerational trauma.

I listened to Noongar woman Claire G Coleman discuss, in her book Lies, Damned Lies the ongoing trauma of so-called ‘Australia Day’ as each year trolls and commentators alike force Indigenous People to justify their existence.

I listened to Kamilaroi Uralarai woman Frances Peters-Little describe the 50 year history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra and the ongoing struggle for land rights that is being fought today.

And I listened (and watched) Gamillaroi/Torres Strait Islander woman Nakkiah Lui brilliantly satire notions of possession and put forward ideas around Indigenous struggle in her comedy Preppers.

These are four incredible woman from across the many nations that make up so-called Australia. That’s another thing to listen and learn; what country are you on? I’m on Dharug & Gundungarra Country.

These are incredible people to listen to and there’s many more. I’ve attached links to the podcasts, author sights and channels where you can find the things I was listening to, but don’t let that stop you finding your own.

And remember the most important part: we’re being asked to listen. Listen and try to understand.