![]() ![]() Growing up Aboriginal in Australia editor Anita Heiss explored identity issues in her 2012 book Am I Black Enough For You? Credit: Amanda James These amusing and heartbreaking accounts of having their Aboriginality questioned, maligned and silenced is an all-too-common feature of the childhoods represented here. Some of the contributors describe themselves as "beige", "caramel" and (using the logic of their non-Aboriginal playmates) "grey" (because that's what happens when you mix black and white together, right?). The yarns here are arranged in alphabetical order, to allow core issues and themes to arise and dissipate giving individual voice to form a solid and powerful collective that looks to challenge racist stereotypes and embolden "Blak" People.Īnita Heiss stamped herself onto Australia's psyche when she wrote Am I Black Enough For You? in 2012, and it is not surprising that identity issues stand at the core of these life stories. The struggle for an Aboriginal voice and true representation is as alive and potent today as it ever was. ![]() Since the publication of Living Black: Blacks Talk to Kevin Gilbert in 1977, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and yet, some would say, not a lot has changed. Miranda Tapsell contributes a hilarious account of dressing up as Baby Spice, rather than the expected Scary Spice, for a blue light disco. ![]()
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