Invasion Day Reflections – compromise and be compromised!

Being relatively low on cash means no regular access to the Internet at home in lieu of things like having a roof over our heads, being able to eat healthy and nutritious food, buying train tickets to and from work, etc. This in turn means that I post less, although I did get a wagging finger about not posting more from a kind-of-secret-admirer on a recent trip to Sydney, so I’m back to blogging when I can through my mobile phone. Desperate times do call for desperate measures! I’m also back on facebook, but instantly remembering why I chose to go off in the first place. Anyway, Australia Day (often referred to by ATSI Australians as Survival Day or Invasion Day) happened yesterday and boy was it a sh*t fight! Here are some of my reflections:

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In the lead up to Invasion Day there was quite a bit of facebook activity, particularly from the blackfellas I know. I’ve gotta say that most of it was quite sad, angry, upset – there continues to be a lot of unresolved grief related to the original invasion of our continent on 26 January 1788.

I think sometimes it’s quite easy to not understand this anger, sadness and despair when you hold a particular privelege and do not appropriately acknowledge that privilege, and so I have conversely seen quite a lot of posts on facebook and comments around the place, calling for our people to essentially move on and either join the celebrations or celebrate our survival (this is from both Blacks and whites).

Whilst I acknowledge that celebrating our survival is a good thing, I don’t think it is particularly helpful to tell a grieving people that this is what they HAVE to do – first and foremost it is EXTREMELY dismissive of our grief and the ongoing ramifications of that grief, which manifests itself in the gross disadvantage you see in Indigenous Australian communities today. I also think that dismissing the grief and advising people to celebrate survival is a moot point when the rest of the nation continues to celebrate it’s national holiday on the day the continent was violently invaded, to the detriment of it’s First Peoples – the day should be moved and we as a people should never give up calling and protesting for a change of date.

I guess, really, what I want to say to all the people who are saying to blackfellas that they should get over being angry or just embrace Australia Day (this is aimed at those who are ATSI and also those who claim to support ATSI struggles for justice) is to STOP COMPROMISING. It’s like giving in! Our anger is being judged by a standard that the Invaders have set for us and we are being found lacking. Well, why don’t we set our own parameters?? I say it’s okay to get angry about Australia Day, I say that it is okay to call for the date to be changed, to remember the wrongs – if we don’t maintain the fight and remember the wrong, how will we ever know if we are moving forward from it?

In my opinion, when you compromise like that, when Blackfellas and those supposedly on ‘our side’ say to celebrate whatever you want and join in Australia Day it allows the flexibility to have those who are just waiting for the opportunity to oppress us more, do so. Those insidious racists and right wingers use your words to justify their rationale for keeping Australia Day on the day of invasion. They use your compromise to continue to not take seriously Indigenous calls for treaty, sovereignty and a better quality of life, and that my friends IS WRONG. Further, I feel like by compromising like this it not only allows people to dismiss the real struggles, but it also allows people to over-simplify the issues at hand. Whilst everyone can sit around and talk on their facebook about race relations in this country, or use Australia Day as the only day to make a comment about injustice, I would like to see more people actually put their money where their mouth is (so to speak). DO SOMETHING, like ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING – don’t be lazy, don’t compromise! Look at your privelege in this country and realise that if you aren’t on the bottom of the heap then you do ‘live off the backs of Blacks’ (as my father would have put it).

And with that, I want to post up this video. Firstly, because it is from a brother whom I respect for his courage and ability to not only speak out, but to put those words and thoughts in to REAL ACTION – and secondly, because it explains why Australia’s national holiday should be moved to a different date.

Peace!

A poem I wrote…

I wrote this poem back in 2007, not long after my mother passed away. I still miss her terribly…

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“i miss her so much my heart literally aches”
is what she would say,
to those closest to her.

and that is what she felt
deep down that feeling of heart sore
was constantly there in the background
causing tears to well in her eyes,
causing her to feel and to think

and none could give her relief
from her emotions
from her grief
except for One
so she turned to Him
into His comfort
and shivered there
watching with unblinking eyes
waiting

~ Untitled, by Eugenia Flynn

Raise your children RIGHT!

Word to the wise: Raise your children, particularly your daughters, RIGHT and prevent this sort of thing from even beginning!

In my work with young Aboriginal people I found that this was way too common and that there is a predatory nature to young men as a response to this kind of display from the young females. I also found that young women were acting like this to attract the young men – such a vicious cycle! Stop it now by raising your children with better role models of good healthy sexuality:

Latest teen Facebook craze described as ‘haven for pedophiles’

A new Facebook trend that features teenagers posing naked with only hats covering their genitals has horrified safety experts.

According to a Herald Sun report, there are countless Facebook pages that have sprung up showing male and female teens in provocative poses.

It’s believed the trend started at a Queensland high school before becoming an online fad.

The original page has been locked and shut down however now there are spin-off pages, including location specific sites and male and female only versions as well as groups condemning the phase.

It’s believed blog was created with all the uploaded pictures raising the possibility of all the photos being stored on someone’s computer.

Cyber safety campaigner Susan Mclean says the sites are a “haven for pedophiles”

“It’s no use saying ‘it’s just fun, it’s harmless fun,’ the consequences can be quite severe,” she said.

“It is going to end in tears and those pictures – it’s not like sending it on your phone to your boyfriend who may or may not send it on – this is on www (world wide web).

“They’re on public sites, anyone can see them and people are posting them with their names, they’re proud of the photos.”

Not only does posting photos a risk future employment, it also poses a risk of child pornography charges.

According to McMclean: “Children under the age of 18 all over Australia are routinely being charged with child pornography offences.”

Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg says it shows that teenagers aren’t getting enough cyber safety education.

“You’ve got the perfect storm here. You’ve got the immature teenage brain with the technology which is in the moment and of the moment,” he said.

“Combine those two things together and you have precisely the sort of behaviour you’re going to get and without any regard at all to the implications for the young person in the future.”

It’s believed Queensland police are monitoring the trend.