A night of conversation across the nation
Posted on the campaign blog ,
April 30th, 2008
On April 29, over 350 local groups of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians met in cafes, pubs, community halls and living rooms across the nation to begin a conversation of turning reconciliation into reconcili-action.
Sharing stories was the focus of the night, with experiences and understanding crucial aspects of the discussions that took place.
We encourage you to share your experiences on how your GetTogethers went and the feelings and discussions that emerged out of them in the blog below.
Thanks for being part of the solution.
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Here's a summary of one of the Sydney GetTogethers.
At the Waverley Bowling Club in Sydney over 50 of us gathered to share our stories and reasons for attending as well as our hopes and aspirations for a reconciled Australia.
Allan Madden, a local Gadigal Elder kicked off the night with a welcome to country and hosts Ed and Krystal started the conversation.
A key theme that seem to emerge from the night was of Australia's attitude towards its Indigenous people compared to the rest of the world. Examples from Canada, New Zealand and South Africa were discussed and Australia, despite its 'developed' international status was deemed to be lagging far behind in terms of the status, respect and understanding of Indigenous people on both a community and governmental level.
People discussed the energy, hope and reinvigoration felt from the apology followed by the uncertainty of what to do next and what follows 'sorry'.
The subtlety of racism and power that it still holds over modern Australia was talked about including the reality of coming to terms with our history and moving on from being a 'country of denial'.
As one attendee noted, the three key aspects to come out of our Waverley GetTogether were education, influence and respect - all of which were necessary to move forward together as a community and nation.
Stories were shared and emotions were heartfelt. The evening ended with music from local band the Happy Hippies as well as Redfern Aboriginal guitarist Leroy Cummins and his mother Marlene who performed a rousing song called 'the pension day blues'.
Last night was much more than just a conversation, it was a coming together of people united around an issue that we as Australians are still struggling to come to terms with. It was an important step to move forward together on the road towards reconciliation in Australia.
Ed and Krystal are keen to take this first meeting further and meet again to work out how we as a local community as well as part of the wider population can work together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to continue our conversations and work together towards reconciliation.
57 comments
April 30th, 2008
My gathering was small but the energy and desire for real change was palpable. As a group we discussed ways of engaging with the local Aboriginal community, that as a nation we are still grappling with our history, to the point of denial. Whilst "Sorry" was wonderful this required formal recognition, through Treaty and Constitutional change. It would be great to see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture taught in schools from Kindergarten to Year 12 (Compulsory). I gave one member a copy of Carpenteria By Alexis Wright and this will be discussed at our next meeting. The Group will be meeting again in June. One way of learning (to better inform ourselves and each other) is reading works by Indigenous authors, providing us with a new way of learning about how we all fit within the social fabric of Australia from a black perspective. As an Indigenous woman of Torres Strait Islander descent, I was incredibly proud to host last night's event and honored to meet such a fantastic group of people committed to putting the ACT back into Activism.