Reading About Racism

Reading about racism: The legacy of Australia's colonial past and what we can do as historians.

As professional historians, we understand the contested nature of history and our role in researching, recording and writing about the past in an ethical and balanced way. We are also aware of the myriad and often subtle ways the past shapes contemporary society. As the Black Lives Matter movement has recently highlighted, we all have a role to play in educating ourselves about race and how it influences the work we do. 

The list of resources presented here is curated to assist professional historians who are keen to learn more about Australia’s Indigenous past and its contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.This is not an exhaustive list and suggestions for inclusion of other works are always welcome. Please email mail@phavic.org.au.

Black Lives Matter in Australia

• We need to go beyond empty gestures if we’re going to end Aboriginal deaths in custody. Cheryl Axleby and Nerita Waight

• Australia's hidden history of slavery: the government divides to conquer. (Waskam) Emelda Davis

• Black Lives Matter and Archives in Australia. Rose Barrow Cliffe

• The chokehold of slavery on settler memory. Barry Corr

• Powerful speech at Black Lives Matter rally Sydney. Majeda Beatty

• 80 years ago, Violet was stolen and forced into unpaid work. She says the PM is wrong: It was slavery. James Purtill

Guidelines for practice

• Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies. AIATSIS 

• First Peoples: A Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries. AMaGA

• Decolonizing Methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. Linda Tuhiwai Smith

• Guide to writing and speaking about Indigenous People in Australia

Archives

• Indigenous Archives Collective. Connecting people working with Indigenous knowledge sources in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums 

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network Inc. Protocols to guide libraries, archives and information services in appropriate ways to interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the communities which the organisations serve, and to handle materials with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content.

• Transformative Praxis - Building Spaces for Indigenous Self-Determination in Libraries and Archives. Kirsten Thorpe

• Your neutral is not our neutral. Archival Decolonist

• Indigenous Referencing Prototype - Non-Indigenous Authored Works. Archival Decolonist 

• Distrust in the archive: reconciling records. Sue McKemmish, Shannon Faulkhead and Lynette Russell

• Explore AIATSIS Online resources including information about language, policy and legislation, frontier conflicts, native title, truth telling and biographies of individuals

• The Koori History Project created by Dr Gary Foley

• Trauma informed archives presented by archivists Nicola Laurent and Kirsten Wright

Reports & online resources

• Deaths inside. Indigenous Australian deaths in Custody 2020. The Guardian

• Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Indigenous Law Resources

• Bringing Them Home Report. National inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families

• First Australians. National Archives of Australia

• Decolonising Historical Maps. Dr. Bess Moylan

• Mapping the Sites of Frontier Massacres. Lyndall Ryal

• Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia. University of Newcastle

• The killing times: a massacre map of Australia's frontier wars Guardian Australia

• Archival Decolonist [-o-]

• Minutes of Evidence project | Minutes of Evidence

• Tasmanian Aboriginal place names. Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre

• Aboriginal Culture Culture Victoria

• KHT Online Koorie Heritage Trust online resources

• Walking Together - Events ABC

• First Peoples - Bunjilaka Museums Victoria

• Explore. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

• Share Our Pride. Reconciliation Australia

• Australian Frontier conflicts Compiled list of books researched and written by historians since 1981, covering frontier conflicts across Australia

• 'To infuse an universal terror' A reappraisal of the Coniston Killings by Bill Wilson and Justin O’Brien

• IndigenousX Indigenous media with a rotating twitter account (@IndigenousX), hosted by different Aboriginal people across Australia 

• New Cardigan newsletter for GLAM professionals June edition 

Critical Writing 

• Sister girl: the writings of Aboriginal activist and historian Jackie Huggins. Jackie Huggins

• Black Lines: contemporary critical writing by indigenous Australians. Michele Grossman (coordinating editor)

• Talkin’ Up to the White Woman. Aileen Moreton-Robinson

• Sand Talk: how Indigenous thinking can save the world. Tyson Yunkaporta

• Welcome to Country. Marcia Langton

• Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture. Bruce Pascoe

• Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire management could help save Australia Victor Steffensen

• Finding the Heart of the Nation Thomas Mayor

Life Writing

• Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia. Anita Heiss, editor

• My Place. Sally Morgan

• Orphaned by the Colour of My Skin: A Stolen Generation Story. Mary Terszak

• Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and Music. Archie Roach  

• Jack Charles: Born-again Blackfella. Jack Charles

• Growing Up African in Australia. Maxine Beneba Clarke, editor

• The mish Robert Lowe

• Song Spirals Sharing Women’s wisdom of Country through songlines Gay’Wu group of women

Creative Writing & works of fiction

• The Yield, Swallow the Air, After the Carnage Tara June Winch

• Too Much Lip.  Melissa Lucashenko

• The Drover’s Wife. Leah Purcell

• The White Girl. Tony Birch

• Carpentaria. Alexis Wright 

• Terra Nullius. Clare G. Coleman

• The Blak Brow Blak Women’s Edition

• False Claims of Colonial Thieves Charmaine Papertalk Green and John Kinsella

• Blakwork Alison Whittaker

Further Reading 

• January 26, what you can read, view and do. Anita Heiss

• Black Book Challenge. Anita Heiss

• “Tahwattya (Hello)”: Remembering Tasmania's Indigenous History Through Blak Books. Jie Eccles

• Ten Twitter accounts you should be following if you want to listen to Indigenous Australians and learn

• For too long the truth of our history and Indigenous stories have been denied and whitewashed. Merinda Dutton and Teela Reid 

Reading from beyond Australia

• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor. Layla F Saad

• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. Reni Eddo-Lodge

• White tears, Brown Scars. Ruby Hamad

• 'An Extraordinary Moment': Angela Davis Says Protests Recognize Long Overdue Anti-Racist Work

• The fury in US cities is rooted in a long history of racist policing, violence and inequality. Clare Corbould

• The 1619 Project. New York Times

• White Fragility: why it’s so hard for White people to talk about racism. Robin DiAngelo

• Superior: The return of race science by Angela Saini 

Ways to support 

• The Revolution Starts By Cutting Carrots: How To Show Real Solidarity After Invasion Day. Tim Buchanan

• Decolonizing solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles. Clare Land with foreword from Gary Foley

• Educator resource: ‘But I am NOT ABORIGINAL I don’t know how to do this stuff!’ 

• How to be a good Indigenous ally. Summer May Findlay.

• The EQI’s guide to being an ally this NAIDOC week. The Equality Institute.

• Indigenous Issues Can be Daunting - here are 10 positive ways to engage. Triple J Hack.