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08 July 2019 05:59:38
Many of us know that acceptance, inclusion and respect between Australia in black and white are possible because we are the test of the march and the breathing.
Take my family for example. We are proud of the Torres Strait Islanders, but we also have German and British ancestors.
We are an incarnation of multicultural Australia.
My great-grandmother arrived in this country as a refugee from World War II, raised in Nazi Germany. She struggled, but fell in love and married a proud man from the Torres Strait Islands. The rest belongs to the story.
My other great-grandmother, or Aka as we called her in our language, is from a large family from the island of Moa, a Kaurareg woman who pbaded on her knowledge of the land and culture.
Our family gatherings have seen traditional island cuisine rub shoulders with the notorious potato salad and pumpernickel bread from Nana.
In my family, blacks and whites live together, respecting our indigenous traditions and history.
But Australia is not like us.
Our family does not have labels for each other, neither black, nor white, nor mestizo, but the rest of Australia often has trouble understanding us.
Growing up, puzzled peers often asked me why my sister had light skin and dark skin. For us, it was obvious: Mum's skin is brown and Dad's skin is white.
We often compare notes about the extent to which skin color really changes the way people treat you in this country, which shows that we are far from really understanding and respecting ourselves.
Our people are poorer, sicker, and fill our prisons with astonishing speed.
Our babies are more likely to die, our children more likely to end their own lives.
It can sometimes be thought that this is what it means to be black in this country.
I was about five years old when I first thought that brown skin could be a bad thing.
I was sitting in the backyard of our suburban home, looking up at the Queensland sun, when I saw the word "sorry" written in the sky.
Mom explained that it was an excuse for stolen generations. According to her, it is at that time that the government removed from their family children like me, of mixed ancestry.
I was horrified and immediately feared to get caught.
The thrill of seeing a plane writing letters in the sky was gone, replaced by the fear that something was wrong with the color of my skin.
Mom badured me that things had changed, that I was fine, but she did not hesitate to tell the story of the dispossession and misery of our own family on the land that & # 39; They called home for generations.
The scars of colonization are deeply rooted in our family. Like many others, we have suffered from domestic violence, alcoholism and poverty.
For the most part, my family's story is incredible, strength and survival. It's probably my biggest source of pride.
Every generation has pushed for new opportunities, a better life for their black children. I think it worked – one of my brothers is about to get an engineering degree, the other will soon become an economist and my sister is studying to become a psychologist.
We are always proud of the people of the Torres Strait.
NAIDOC Week is a proud story, celebrating what we have already accomplished over the past 65,000 years on this continent and our survival over the last 200 years in Australia, as we know it.
This week, all Australians are invited to walk together to reflect on the culture, history and strength of First Nations people, but for many of us, we are already doing a lot more.
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity to make indigenous peoples' voice heard, an opportunity to reflect and unite, but in all areas of Australian life, people are already looking for a future reconciled.
This year's theme – Voice, Treaty, Truth – examines the work that remains to be done because, despite the progress we have made as a nation, critical reforms remain unattainable.
For many indigenous Australians, this is an unfinished task: a voice in Parliament, a meaningful treaty and a truth about the founding of this country and the costs it has cost our families.
Because whatever the progress of families like mine, Aboriginal Australians need to be more involved in the conversations and history books of this country.
Isabella Higgins covers aboriginal affairs for ABC News.
For the NAIDOC week, from Sunday, July 7 at noon to Sunday, July 14 at noon, the ABC home page will be dedicated to Aboriginal design, ABC stories and programs during a takeover of ABC's home page. The latest news will always be available on the ABC News homepage.
Topics:
Native-Native-and-torres-strait-island,
Aboriginal culture,
Aboriginal politics,
Australia,
Torres Strait Islands-
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