Tag Archive: indigenous

Women of the World (WOW): #Snippetgood (1)

Filed under: influential reading material — Leave a comment

March 23, 2017

ELAINE BROWN

There is no such thing as a part-time revolution.

We’re not here for black liberation but for all liberation.

We didn’t come here for a better life,
or religious freedom [like migrants to US],
we came kicking and screaming.

We provided the conditions for people to bring about the revolution –
gave them free education, a free breakfast, access to a free clinic…
they have the human right to food, to health care –
we gave them the experience of something worth fighting for.

Are we breaking the glass ceiling to be oppressors ourselves?!
No. We have a common enemy.
Can’t see ourselves in competition with anyone else.
What is our agenda as women?
To find solidarity with the others who are suppressed.

PAOLA BALLA

Learn how to situate yourself.

Do not let your feminism drive your racism.

Mind and heart, mine is a matriarchal tradition –
you experience yourself as a part of others.

Activism is radical self-care.
It is a form of activism to thrive, not just survive.
Art is not living but living can be art.

“The world will crumble one day.
It’s ok. We know how to be poor.
We know how to live without electricity…”
– Rosie Egan

NAYUKA GORRIE

(of WOW/speakers)
To see your reality reflected back you.
Very powerful.

How much of my gender came out of a book? A ship?
The convent that beat my grandmother?
We need to consider: how is gender colonised?

Your black body is never quite yours in this country.
Hyper-sexualised vs. not attractive at all. Strong vs. not strong at all.
Used for labour (work) vs. in labour (baby)
A shaved head means either a Britney melt down (dysfunctional)
vs. fundraising for cancer (held up as a role model) –
What other personal reclamations can I make of my own body?

Keep this flesh vessel tight [runs regularly].
Doing well is resistance.

Tags: Aboriginal, hope, indigenous, stories, voice, wellness, women of spirit

Comment

Sovereignty @ ACCA

Filed under: influential reading material — Leave a comment

March 11, 2017

Just in case you missed it – the Sovereignty exhibition at ACCA was stunning.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We need to keep leaning into the truth that colonisation isn’t a “once upon a time…” story of something that happened long ago and far away but is still happening here and now. On land that was never ceded – what does being “Australian” look like or mean? You see in the piece by Clinton Nain Water Bottle Bags something beautiful made of found objects: plastic bottles, emu eggs, emu feathers, electrical cable, wire, string… a mix of what is natural and man-made, a mix of traditional and contemporary. What does it mean that the contemporary is waste, or is it in the hands of the custodians? What does traditionally acquired knowledge – a different understanding of the world and how to engage it have to teach us? This exhibition provoked this reflection and many more. See more photos and read the (highly recommended!) Sovereignty publication on the ACCA website:

To be sovereign is in fact to act with love and
resistance simultaneously. Uncle Banjo Clarke, the
late Gunditjmara statesman, said we must ‘fight
hate with love.’2 If there is a thread that connects
all the artists across the wide diversity of practices
represented in Sovereignty it is this deep love for
family, for truth telling and for beauty.

– Paola Balla –

Sovereignty

ACCA is proud to present Sovereignty, an exhibition focusing upon contemporary art of First Nations peoples of South East Australia, alongside keynote historical works, to explore culturally and linguistically diverse narratives of self-determination, identity, sovereignty and resistance.

Taking the example of Ngurungaeta (Elder) and Wurundjeri leader William Barak (c.1824–1903) as a model – in particular Barak’s role as an artist, activist, leader, diplomat and translator – the exhibition presents the vibrant and diverse visual art and culture of the continuous and distinct nations, language groups and communities of Victoria’s sovereign, Indigenous peoples.

Bringing together new commissions, recent and historical works by over thirty artists, Sovereignty is structured around a set of practices and relationships in which art and society, community and family, history and politics are inextricably connected. A diverse range of discursive and thematic contexts are elaborated: the celebration and assertion of cultural identity and resistance; the significance and inter-connectedness of Country, people and place; the renewal and re-inscription of cultural languages and practices; the importance of matriarchal culture and wisdom; the dynamic relations between activism and aesthetics; and a playfulness with language and signs in contemporary society.

Sovereignty provides an opportunity to engage with critical historical and contemporary issues in Australian society. The exhibition takes place against a backdrop of cultural, political and historical debates related to questions of colonialism and de-colonisation, constitutional recognition, sovereignty and treaty.

Curators
Paola Balla and Max Delany

Artists

Brook Andrew

William Barak

Lisa Bellear

Jim Berg

Briggs

Trevor Turbo Brown

Amiel Courtin-Wilson / Uncle Jack Charles

Maree Clark

Vicky Couzens

Destiny Deacon & Virginia Fraser

Marlene Gilson

Korin Gamadji Institute

Brian Martin

Kent Morris

Clinton Nain

Glenda Nicholls

Bill Onus

Steaphan Paton

Bronwyn Razem

Reko Rennie

Steven Rhall

Yhonnie Scarce

Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR)

Peter Waples-Crowe

Lucy Williams-Connelly

Tags: Aboriginal, identity, indigenous, interconnectedness, land, place, truth

Comment

Value 4: Seeking justice for the poor

Filed under: the art of discipleship — Leave a comment

September 28, 2016

We are running a fortnightly bible study following our community dinner looking at the exegesis (interpretation) of the bible passages that underpin each of our community values. You can read the list of Values here so you know what’s coming up next.

These values can be relevant whatever context you live and work in just make the Word you own.

Value 4: Seeking justice for the poor

We value God’s priority for the poor and seek to prioritise the marginalised of Footscray. We do not want to just show mercy, but instead offer our lives, in voice and activity, with those who we seek to serve.

Biblical basis: Jeremiah 22:16, James 2: 1-5

Let’s read the value together… what words/phrases stand out?

Who do we think are “the poor”?

Those who are poor in heart? in spirit? or without money? It’s those who are poor in spirit that are worst off = those who feel empty. When you eat you’re full. If you don’t eat you’re empty.

We need to be helping one another more.

Read the bible. What words/ideas stand out?
What can we learn from the bible about living the Value: Seeking justice for the poor?

Jeremiah passage brought to mind people such as Donald Trump and Gina Rinehart…

Who gets behind and left out? What kinds of people?

What does it mean to “have a huge head-start in the faith stakes”?
Know how to be grateful.

Jeremiah 22: 16-17

“Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people,

who makes a fine house but destroys lives,

Who cheats his workers

and won’t pay them for their work,

Who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion

with spacious rooms and fancy windows.

I’ll bring in rare and expensive woods

and the latest in interior decor.’

So, that makes you a king—

living in a fancy palace?

Your father got along just fine, didn’t he?

He did what was right and treated people fairly,

And things went well with him.

He stuck up for the down-and-out,

And things went well for Judah.

Isn’t this what it means to know me?”

God’s Decree!

“But you’re blind and brainless.

All you think about is yourself,

Taking advantage of the weak,

bulldozing your way, bullying victims.”

The Word became flesh and blood,

and moved into the neighbourhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,

the one-of-a-kind glory,

like Father, like Son,

Generous inside and out,

true from start to finish.

The Message

James 2: 1-10

……..Sisters and brothers, if you really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, how come you still play favourites? If people walk into one of your meetings and you make a fuss of the ones dressed up to the nines and looking a million dollars, ushering them to the best seats in the house, while at the same time turning up your nose at those dressed like battlers, down on their luck, telling them to stand out in the foyer, aren’t you practicing apartheid, segregating God’s children? You’re as crooked as a judge who bases your sentence on the length of your skirt!

……..Get this straight in your minds, dear friends. God has turned the world’s opinion polls upside down. Those who have been deprived of what the world values have a huge head-start in the faith stakes. Their names are at the top of the list of those who God has chosen to inherit the riches of the kingdom. All who love God have an equal share in God’s promises, but you’re insulting some of them by means-testing your welcome.

Reflection time… followed by sharing time.

Who are “the poor” in Footscray?

Offer our lives – in voice and activity…

what ways are we doing this now?
what ways could we start?

Tags: bible study, community, hungry, inclusion, indigenous, justice, loneliness, poor, welcome

Comment

Pulling together the threads – Mark Brett

Filed under: influential reading material — 1 Comment

September 25, 2016

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 9 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

Line through Papua New Guinea, literally nations were “dividing the world between them”.

Roger Williams, Baptist theologian, a dissenting voice to the Doctrine of Discovery model – wanted to respect Native Americans, house church on Rhode Island for 6 years. Had to go to England at one point – needed a patent or would be annexed.

The Treaty of Westphalia was the end of the 30 Year war. No right to divide the world in two. Move from Empires to a rise of nation states.

If we think of the Treaty of Waitangi as an interfaith covenant, what are the implications of that? The phrasing of the words “you will acknowledge no other gods above me” implies an acknowledgement of other gods existing. There is a danger when uniformity is a presumption. What kinds of covenants can we imagine between polities (e.g. could a treaty have some reference to God or Creator Spirit with Bundjil and representatives of Bundjil’s land)? Any covenants (treaties) would need to be local. Can Christian churches model this?
Made under sovereignty of God (not state/federal Government)?

Entering a treaty under State/Federal terms legitimises them and their system, it’s not being legitimised ourselves.

Being hard isn’t the same as being not worth doing.

What does “local” mean/look like to people who know who they are/where they’re from.

Lutherans practiced a vernacular theology – learned the language of those they lived with whereas as other denominations refused to learn the language (and used theological grounds for that) you have to learn/imposing my theology…

Tags: Aboriginal, identity, indigenous, living, spirit of God, spirituality

Comment

Aboriginal sources and Aboriginal sovereignty – Joanna Cruickshank

Filed under: influential reading material — 1 Comment

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 8 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

Terrific to be part of the Minutes of Evidence project – collaborative performance sparking conversations about structural justice.

British colonisers ran a “Paper Empire” – numbers, counting surveillance… combined with counter-archives (other ways of knowing) can be used to create sources/proofs. Presumption of colonisation (denial of sovereignty) complicit and absolutely imbued in statutes and policies.

“…powerfully committed to hunting grounds” the Committee couldn’t break or deny this connection to Country… this is why the regional system of Missions was put in place. The testimony of these men changed the political “solution”/outcomes. Although 50 years later the missions were closed after all and people were centralised.

On the subject of children being taken away, missionaries testified that: Those on the Missions knew of all the children in their District when a white couple adopted a girl then no longer wanted her – they were going to send her to Sydney, the Aboriginal people on the Mission appealed to take her in. There is no such things as orphans… every child had two parents. 100s of letters written by Aboriginals exist speaking to self-determination, religious freedom and for rights.

Political activism was happening pre-1920s. Is it racial prejudice that dismisses testimony of “pining away” or “affection” for the land as irrational/emotional but this speaks to the depth of feeling of cultural belief/commitment, assertion of rights, sovereignty and justice. Not able to recognise the implications of what you ‘see’ in front of you but providing testimony of it jsut the same.

Tags: Aboriginal, belonging, indigenous, land, questions, story, truth, voice

Comment

A Paradoxical Hospitality – Robert Hoskin & Naomi Wolfe

Filed under: influential reading material — 1 Comment

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 7 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

Provide space for another person to find their own lifestyle (not adapt to that of the host) – this might be called a fearful emptiness.

Moved – relocated – dislocated – dispossessed… went from hosts to guests.

Mamaa – places where the Creator Spirit brings Christ and Wanjina together.

Our first learning: How to wait.

There’s a time to move. Can’t go at our speed but the speed the people decide.

Leaves crackle when you burn them, this announces that guests are coming.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples need to be affirmed and respected as hosts of their own country.

TOWARD A NEW TABLE FELLOWSHIP

Proud of my aboriginal heritage and being a part of the church.

Chasm (barriers to hospitality):

difference
misunderstanding
racism
sex
past
fear
…

Bringing people together:

similarities
past
hope
food
conversation
…

Join in moments of sorrow and celebration. Spent all our budget on food. Need to create spaces that bring people together and give them a chance to say, “Well, actually, I’ve been wondering about this…”

Hospitality across all cultures and all faiths.

Let us learn from you, instead you come and learn from us.

People started demanding and expecting hospitality… anxiety, misguided enthusiasm, on own terms/time, urgency, desire to ‘fix’… our elders are fragile and tired… who cares for the carers?

It’s not that we don’t want to talk/engage but we need time. Reconciliation can’t work by a drive-through approach.

Indigenous Unit is told ‘this is your job’ – it can often be overwhelming. People aren’t aware of what else is going on for our community.

These are the realities of our lived situation.

Trauma caused and trauma received.

Churches (and institutions) need to learn their own story – people go on experiential trips to the outback/red centre. Important to understand that you are on country here, now and always.

We need good and sustainable gatherings.

A time for everything – Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

Need to meet and share – get hospitality right.

Why binaries not working/helpful? Why working on Strong Spirit? Losing heart and tired.

Don’t understand the grace of Aboriginal people offering hospitality on a crime scene.

“You don’t look Aboriginal, what kind of food is this? why aren’t there more chairs? you aren’t dressed very aboriginally…”

People bound up in their own needs, expectations and demands.

Tags: Aboriginal, hospitality, indigenous, land, strangers

Comment

The Purposes of Constitutional Law – Asmi Wood

Filed under: influential reading material — Leave a comment

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 1 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

Purpose: How to get somewhere

Constitutions: Tell us what to do and how to get there

Why?: Need to ask, where are these taking us to? What are we going to do with it?

The German word grundnorm (basic norm) combines big + what is normal.

American Constitution says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal…” this is a basic norm of their constitution and yet there was slavery at the time. What is constitutional for one group is not for others.

Is constitutional recognition worth fighting for in the Australian context?

If you are given a legal personality this gives you a legal identity/makes you an entity (you can transact). Constitutional recognition would give Aboriginal people legal personality.

Here we use a Westminster/Western model of constitution – a link back to the UK. White men put the document together – it represented their idea of society then and for the future. Section 128 allows for the constitution to be changed (function for change provided for in its creation).

What are the founding values and guiding principles?

Cooper vs. Stuart Crown gave 40 acres then wanted to take 7 acres back – appealed to the Privy Council in the UK. Land that was not “cultivated” was considered not claimed.

Aboriginal people are currently mentioned in only 2 sections of the Constitution. For the purposes of counting in the Census they will have a value of “0” (zero) and in the Exclusion Clause which allows for Parliament to make laws specific to race (applying to anyone not white). This is legalised discrimination. The law makers had the view that Aboriginal people would disappear – either by dying off or being bred out… we are still here!

Following WW2 there was a movement to say collectively we cannot allow for the extermination of an entire people. Some human values are UNIVERSAL regardless of what some countries and governments might do. UN developed International law which includes a convention against racial discrimination “No legal or moral authority for laws based on race”. Australian law has vetoed land purchase in Queensland, High COurt MABO decision recognised Native title in 1992 > Aboriginal people exist. There is a fundamental clash between the constitution and the law – it is at odds with itself and it needs to be synchronised.

How are we getting there? What will we do when we get there?

I want to see… language, law, culture, spirituality, kindness, interconnectedness to land and animals, respect for neighbours, storytelling and learning… survive.

Recognising is the first step. We can’t have a conversation if you can’t see me.

The State of Victoria is looking into making a treaty.Section 109 of the Constitution allows for laws that are inconsistent but if it comes to a ruling Federal law would prevail. If the vehicle we take is a treaty – what is in it? protecting/including what?

When applying law there is a sense that we should be able to go back to the original ‘intent’ of the law (read it in context) – it is a legal fiction that we can know or that we do know what that is. “Democracy” when it arrived was for landed white men, then all white men, white men and white women, now voters (excluding prisoners)… what democracy means has changed over time.

Te Tiriti O Waitangi and Pakeha-Maori Conversations: What Hope for Change? – Maria Bargh

Strong Spirit in Community Development – Grant Paulson

Repentance and Treaty? – Ray Minniecon

Primal Faith and Ancient Treaty: Precedents on the Abraham Trail – Norm Habel

What might the Australian Church look like in the face of the sovereignty of the First Peoples? – Chris Budden

A Paradoxical Hospitality – Robert Hoskin and Naomi Wolfe

Aboriginal sources and Aboriginal sovereignty – Joanna Cruickshank

Pulling together the threads – Mark Brett

Tags: Aboriginal, indigenous, reconciliation, reflection, truth

Comment

Strong Spirit and Community Development – Grant Paulson

Filed under: influential reading material — 1 Comment

September 24, 2016

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 3 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

What are the drivers and transcendent values that inspire us?
What are the pathways to change?

9830410 We live in a polemic/binary time… issues like gay marriage, immigration… seem to have no middle ground – you are either for or against. Tolerance for diversity is at an all time low.

This way of arguing gets used manipulatively too… if you aren’t with me you’re against me – in ways that close the conversation down… what are some examples we can think of?

faith and justice
recognised and sovereignty
for the intervention or for child abuse

It is an Aristotelian idea: 2 ideas – thrash them out = one truth

Previously you had to be broad spectrum because you couldn’t afford to alienate anyone. Now the ways we access media and communications, we get exactly what we want to hear – an echo chamber…

hard to hear voices from the edges
hard to hear, listen, and engage different ideas
minimal dialogue and openness to being convinced

Need a strong spirit to imagine a non-polemic future… how do we change without losing our souls? aboriginal-spirituality

What is lost and found in translation? Getting a (white fulla) education… what do I lose of my own culture and identity?
Industrial revolution and reason vs. everything has sacred significance.

Government talks to a small slice of who we are and how we understand the world.

I want to explore the sacred internal emotional resources that sustain and empower people:

Land, language, law, kinship, ceremony – 5 areas that make up a Strong Spirit.

Polemics can replace cultural identity… what do you do when a section of your strong spirit has been lost or damaged?

Identity not fused with the fight… not defined by or stuck in the fight. Overcome by the oppression/pain of where we are.

conservation (what we don’t want to lose)
restoration (actions to restore/share/teach/pass on)
innovation (new and adaptive ways)
respect (is our work underpinned by mutual respect?)

Strong Spirit audit tool: what have we got/not got?

We need to remember who we are.
When our weapons for warfare start to look like our colonisers I start to worry.

(not just post-colonial reactions)

CAR AS A METAPHOR FOR TREATY/CONSTITUTION

Can’t rely on vehicles as they are (old and rusted car), won’t get us the whole way (breaks down) we need a new way of getting there (highly modified car).

walk on country
reconnect with people and place
“I’m going back in my memory” (one word that means this), where are you going?[at the kitchen table, able to reflect and be present at the same time]
pilgrimages
dardirri (deep listening)
yarning circles
dinner table
dreams
poems

Tags: Aboriginal, indigenous, land, spirituality, voice, wellness

Comment

Repentance and Treaty – Ray Minniecon

Filed under: influential reading material — 1 Comment

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 4 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

Knowledge puffs up (self), love builds up (others) – Ray’s Dad… and 1 Cor 8:1

What do we know we know? What do we know we don’t know?

Tags: Aboriginal, indigenous, land, peace, reconciliation, resistance

Comment

Primal Faith & Ancient Treaty: Exploring Faith and Treaty Precedents on the Abraham Trail in Genesis – Norm Habel

Filed under: influential reading material — 1 Comment

On the weekend of 24-25 September Whitley College hosted a conference called Constitutions and Treaties: Law, Justice, Spirituality – these are notes from session 5 of 9. We acknowledge that this gathering, listening and learning occurred of the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations and offer our respects to their elders past and present, and all visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visitors present.

Need to recognise culture AND faith. Deal was made with me and with the land. Parity not vassal treaty. Joshua violated the treaty.

What if churches dared to take the lead and make an apology – a sacred apology?

Primal is the one we share. Abraham recognised the Creator Spirit… El Elyon – Maker of Sea and Sky. Abraham made a treaty with the indigenous people of Canaan.

sacred-apology-norm-habel

Tags: Aboriginal, creation, faith, indigenous, prayer, reconciliation, sorrow, spirituality

Comment

Follow Blog via Email

Tag Archive: indigenous

ELAINE BROWN

There is no such thing as a part-time revolution.

We’re not here for black liberation but for all liberation.

We didn’t come here for a better life, or religious freedom [like migrants to US], we came kicking and screaming.

We provided the conditions for people to bring about the revolution – gave them free education, a free breakfast, access to a free clinic… they have the human right to food, to health care – we gave them the experience of something worth fighting for.

Are we breaking the glass ceiling to be oppressors ourselves?! No. We have a common enemy. Can’t see ourselves in competition with anyone else. What is our agenda as women? To find solidarity with the others who are suppressed.

PAOLA BALLA

Learn how to situate yourself.

Do not let your feminism drive your racism.

Mind and heart, mine is a matriarchal tradition – you experience yourself as a part of others.

Activism is radical self-care. It is a form of activism to thrive, not just survive. Art is not living but living can be art.

“The world will crumble one day. It’s ok. We know how to be poor. We know how to live without electricity…” – Rosie Egan

NAYUKA GORRIE

(of WOW/speakers) To see your reality reflected back you. Very powerful.

How much of my gender came out of a book? A ship? The convent that beat my grandmother? We need to consider: how is gender colonised?

Keep this flesh vessel tight [runs regularly]. Doing well is resistance.

Sovereignty

Curators Paola Balla and Max Delany

Artists

Entering a treaty under State/Federal terms legitimises them and their system, it’s not being legitimised ourselves.

Being hard isn’t the same as being not worth doing.

Provide space for another person to find their own lifestyle (not adapt to that of the host) – this might be called a fearful emptiness.

Moved – relocated – dislocated – dispossessed… went from hosts to guests.

Mamaa – places where the Creator Spirit brings Christ and Wanjina together.

Our first learning: How to wait.

There’s a time to move. Can’t go at our speed but the speed the people decide.

Leaves crackle when you burn them, this announces that guests are coming.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples need to be affirmed and respected as hosts of their own country.

These are the realities of our lived situation.

Trauma caused and trauma received.

Churches (and institutions) need to learn their own story – people go on experiential trips to the outback/red centre. Important to understand that you are on country here, now and always.

Don’t understand the grace of Aboriginal people offering hospitality on a crime scene.

I want to explore the sacred internal emotional resources that sustain and empower people:

Land, language, law, kinship, ceremony – 5 areas that make up a Strong Spirit.

We need to remember who we are. When our weapons for warfare start to look like our colonisers I start to worry.

Need to recognise culture AND faith. Deal was made with me and with the land. Parity not vassal treaty. Joshua violated the treaty.

What if churches dared to take the lead and make an apology – a sacred apology?

Primal is the one we share. Abraham recognised the Creator Spirit… El Elyon – Maker of Sea and Sky. Abraham made a treaty with the indigenous people of Canaan.

Friends & links

Pages

Monthly archives

We didn’t come here for a better life,
or religious freedom [like migrants to US],
we came kicking and screaming.

We provided the conditions for people to bring about the revolution –
gave them free education, a free breakfast, access to a free clinic…
they have the human right to food, to health care –
we gave them the experience of something worth fighting for.

Are we breaking the glass ceiling to be oppressors ourselves?!
No. We have a common enemy.
Can’t see ourselves in competition with anyone else.
What is our agenda as women?
To find solidarity with the others who are suppressed.

Mind and heart, mine is a matriarchal tradition –
you experience yourself as a part of others.

Activism is radical self-care.
It is a form of activism to thrive, not just survive.
Art is not living but living can be art.

“The world will crumble one day.
It’s ok. We know how to be poor.
We know how to live without electricity…”
– Rosie Egan

(of WOW/speakers)
To see your reality reflected back you.
Very powerful.

How much of my gender came out of a book? A ship?
The convent that beat my grandmother?
We need to consider: how is gender colonised?

Keep this flesh vessel tight [runs regularly].
Doing well is resistance.

Curators
Paola Balla and Max Delany

We need to remember who we are.
When our weapons for warfare start to look like our colonisers I start to worry.