Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!

Thanarru ngajubintharri!

It is NAIDOC week so this post is dedicated to blackfullas everywhere.

I love the theme this year. Get Up. Stand Up. Show Up.

This is something I still really struggle to do but I'm getting better. It's not easy to speak up when you are the minority and there is a very real chance you're going to put yourself in danger. So for all the sista girls and budda boys fighting the good fight you are absolute fucking heroes!

And for this post I thought a lot about what I wanted to say and in the end I just decided to have a whinge because why not! I'm gonna keep it light-hearted so don't feel like you have to leave, just grab a cuppa and let's all whinge together.

First things first, you can talk to me about anything you like! Yes I am a blackfulla, but I have a range of interests. We do not need to talk about that one blackfulla you know who's actually a real good bloke who's very knowledgable and cultural. I get that you think this is a way to relate to me, but it's weird and feels very forced and disingenuous.

Can you imagine what it would feel like if I was having a conversation with you and came out with:

"You know I used to work with this one white guy. He was really nice and very knowledgable about his mob. Knew all the words to every AC/DC song, his family were big into footy like way back when it was still the VFL. Spoke proper English too, not Boganese"

See? It's a little weird. I like a whole bunch of things, we don't need to talk about my mob or culture or struggles or anything even related to that. In fact I would prefer not to because while it might be a nice change for you it's a near daily occurrence for me.

So if you are struggling to come up with things to talk about here are a couple of suggestions:

- footy (not Bailey Smith that one's a little too raw still 🥲😂)

- TV shows

- music

- holidays (real or imagined)

- what you did on the weekend/plans for the weekend

Saying that feel free to ask questions about things IF you are actually interested in my point of view. If it's just so you can argue feel free to shove your questions up your hole. I had someone ask me about my Amnesty International volunteering not because he was interested but because he wanted to argue about how ineffective it is. Amnesty was one of the most rewarding yet draining things I have done so I had no energy left to indulge in knob-heads.

Oh, while we're at it! Please fight the need to say "I have this Aboriginal friend who agrees with me about...."

Yeah nah mate, we all know you lying. You are entitled to your opinion so fucking own your own opinion! Don't make up some Aboriginal friend who believes the same ignorant nonsense that you do.

Also, backhanded compliments are not compliments!

Case and point, about 10 years ago I was sitting on a bench in the city and some random sat down next to me and started talking to me. He asked me what I do, what I'm doing in the city, where I'm from (none of his fucking business at all) and learned that I am a blackfulla from Roebourne... His response was "oh, you know you're so much more civilised than your mob" and the dickhead couldn't understand why I got upset with him! 😑

Didn't know this troglodyte from a bar of soap and he was the one coming and asking me all sorts of questions that were none of his business and genuinely thought he was giving me a compliment! And you know what I did? I told him I didn't have the time or patience to explain to him what a fucked up thing that was to say, I walked away and called my mum and cried on the phone, full on fat tears down my face crying because I was so upset and so sick of this bullshit.

I have to work extra hard to be seen as the same as everyone else because I am Aboriginal. And yet, as soon as I "mess up" or act human at all I am reinforcing just how lazy, stupid, angry, whatever, whatever Aboriginal people are. So I can't ever just be human, I have to be better all the time just to be considered "human"

FUCK👏🏾THAT👏🏾

But I feel like things are getting pretty heavy now so let's get back to the light-hearted stuff.

I'm really annoyed the Doggies are having a shit season compared to last season

I'm annoyed that Basil Zempilas is the mayor of Perth

I'm annoyed at fuel prices right now

I'm annoyed I'm never going to have sex with Scott Adkins...

...yeah that one sucks harder than me having sex with Scott Adkins 😜😂

Happy NAIDOC week everyone!!!