This post is a collection of the black voices I have been listening to during the BLM movement recently. Their voices that have taught me so many things, opened my eyes by sharing their lived experiences.

Personally I have studied a lot of history throughout school, university and you learn a lot of history through studying fine art. I have learned that a lot of people just do not know things about history and it is unacceptable to live a privileged life and not understand how. I have a lot more to learn and I understand that it is so privileged to learn about racism and prejudice rather than to live through it.

This post focuses a lot more on Indigenous lives in Australia as I believe it is often overlooked in our society by many people.

I have collected these resources in one spot with credit to all of the creators and links for you to expand your understanding and follow their journeys. As a white woman in Australia, I do not believe it is helpful for me to talk, but to give more exposure to the black voices that shouldn’t have had to wait so long to be heard and taken seriously.

For white people and this movement, it has been perfectly rounded up by rachel.cargle

“The work doesn’t end when white people FEEL better about how they’ve shown up.
The work continues until this country has made it abundantly clear through all systems and all spaces that black lives indeed matter and reparations have been made.”

Activists to take note of

Viola Davis @violadavis

Academy-Award winning actress, philanthropist, and CEO/Co-Founder of @JuVeeProductions.

Viola created and posted this video on the explanation of Systematic Racism. She has done a million of other great things but I wanted to share that this is something that most of us know exists. This video really lays everything out clearly for white people to understand. I’ve linked the YT video because IGTV links don’t work well on my site, but here’s the link to the original post with 12.1M views and 10K comments on Instagram's IGTV.

This is worth a watch, share it with your family and friends.

Reading Resources from @ClimateFive

This post is originally from the @ClimateFive Instagram page here.

Aboriginal Lives Matter. Read Blak writing, support Blak art, learn Australia’s Blak history, engage with the present. Check the LINK IN BIO: bit.ly/readBLM (case sensitive) for an easy to access, full list of books ranging from fiction, non-fiction history, autobiography & poetry that you can order online today. Please note all books listed in these tiles are written by Aboriginal authors with the exception of Decolonising Solidarity.
For even more book resources follow:

@magabalabooks, @keeairapress, @blackinkpress, @aiatsis_ and @blackfulla_bookclub
This IG Post was made in collaboration with @wormsbooksclub which is an Aboriginal led book club based in Narrm/Melbourne.

Indigenous Female Excellence

Tiddas 4 Tiddas is an initiative by Kamilaroi sisters @marlee.silva & @keelyysilva. They share Indigenous Australian stories, businesses, creatives and important announcements and initiatives on their platform. I have recently started following since the BLM movement has gained traction here in Australia. I wish I had of known about this account earlier but I had been ignorant and never acknowledged that I was missing something like this. I am now making the effort to realise that I need more accounts that celebrate indigenous lives on my feed! The Tiddas 4 Tiddas account has grown like crazy just recently and I hope it keeps growing, the girls are doing such great work!

Check out the Tiddas 4 Tiddas podcast with Mamamia here.

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For White Allies

For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies by Courtney Ariel

This was a great read and should be read by as many people as possible. It is not enough to just not be racist. This article can make you aware of the things you may actually be doing without realising even if you do not consider yourself a racist. We can always do better.

“Being an ally is different than simply wanting not to be racist (thank you for that, by the way). Being an ally requires you to educate yourself about systemic racism in this country. Read Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me and Claudia Rankine’s Citizen and so many other great books and articles that illuminate oppression and structures of white supremacy and white privilege. Use your voice and influence to direct the folks that walk alongside you in real life (or follow you on the internet), toward the voice of someone that is living a marginalized/disenfranchised experience.”

Also suggested by Courtney Ariel:

Article: “White Debt” by Eula Biss. New York Times, 2015.
Podcast: On Being with Krista Tippett: Eula Biss, “Let’s Talk About Whiteness”. 2017.