The project is off to a good start—I’ve already met with 12 people and had numerous conversations more with all sorts of great people about what I’m doing here in Australia. This blog is going to be a brief update about who I’ve met with so far (in order) so you all can look forward to either forthcoming podcasts or more formal blog posts where I write more in depth on specific topics. Sumarlinah: The first person I met up with here in Australia is Sumarlinah who is very invested in the realm of refugee rights, visitation, and activism. They are a part of WACA and have been doing detention centre visitation for many years now. We are going to be making a mini-series of podcasts together specifically focusing on detention centres here in Australia. I’m very excited to work with Linah on this project! Salli: Salli is also a prominent person in the field of refugee rights and activism. Also a member of WACA, Salli is involved in rallies and direct action. A few months ago she was banned from doing detention centre visitation (boo!). Salli was the first person that I talked to months ago (via phone) who wanted to help me in my project endeavor here in Australia. She has been instrumental to connecting me with some of the people you see on this list who I have talked to. Jenell: Jenell and I had a chat about their work in the detention centre and asylum seeker space. They are a member of RISE (Refugees Survivors and Ex-Detainees) and have visited Manus Island. Jenell also talked to me about how over the last few years things have gone from bad to worse and that the situation for people in immigration detention is reaching a dire point (this has been reinforced by my other conversations too). Stay tuned for more about this in an upcoming blog post. My last weekend was spent in Violet Town, Australia which is about two hours north of Melbourne. I was invited out by Annette and her partner, Andie. Annette is a social worker with an incredible background in so many areas—just a few to mention though is as a community leader, youth organizer, foster parent, and artist. I was struck over and over again by the immense passion that Andie and Annette have for building community—they truly lead through example. Nett and Andie were incredibly generous and hosted me for the weekend while also setting up different people for me to talk to. The following conversations were all in Violet Town and made possible by Nett: Chris: Uncle Chris is an aboriginal man who spent many years traveling to every prison in Victoria and delivering a specialized three day program aimed to reconnect incarcerated indigenous people with their culture. Though the program ended many years ago, we also conversed about his current work as an Aboriginal Community Support Worker who now is working to close the health gap for aboriginal people and communities. Jacqui: Jacqui is a historian of Australian Cultural History, which, of course, includes the history of aboriginal/Torres straight islander people. She was able to give me a great sense of important historical pieces of the puzzle that were part of settler-colonization of Australia. I learned about the White Australia policy, the Stolen Generation, and the Intervention. Also, like the vast amount of U.S. native American tribes, I was struck by the fact that there is no broad brush stroke necessarily for “indigenous people” in Australia as there are hundreds of different mobs, groups, etc. which makes the government policies that are often “one-size-fits-all” even less applicable. John: John is someone who has lived experience in an aboriginal community (though not aboriginal himself). He lived and worked in Alice Springs and has seen first hand the effects of the Intervention, which he believes was a positive policy. John was the caretaker for three aboriginal men with Intellectual Disabilities. He shared some of his insights into becoming a part of an aboriginal community and learning about some aspects of the culture. Vera: Vera is a white woman who was the partner of an aboriginal man, Bob Maza, in the ’60s when interracial relationships were illegal. Both Vera and her partner Bob were activists for aboriginal rights and went on to have four children together. Vera then talks about raising her children and about how they have gone on to become indigenous leaders. Joe: Joe was the general manager of Koori Employment Enterprises and also later for the Aboriginal Corporation. He is currently working as the Equity and Participation manager for GV Health in Shepparton. Our talk ranged widely but we touched on what Joe has seen in his work with aboriginal people and their communities and the specific challenges that first nations people face. That concludes my wonderful weekend of being in Violet Town. I then returned to Melbourne for a few key talks with incredibly inspirational people here: Peter & Marisa: These two are good friends who have run the Doin’ Time show on the independent community radio station 3CR for many, many years together. In our talk I came to understand the wide range of people the pair has talked to as well as the vast amount of issues and topics they have addressed over the years. I highly encourage everyone to go and listen to a few of their podcasted radio shows which I’m including below in the resources section! Rob Hulls: Rob Hulls many years ago went north to do aboriginal legal aid in Queensland. From there he was elected to the local council. The rest is history as he served many years in all levels of government (local, state, and federal). He has an impressive record having helped establish the Charter of Human Rights and also establish the Koori courts (courts specifically for indigenous people in a justice process). Then a few years ago, in 2012, Rob helped to found the RMIT University Centre for Innovative Justice where he works currently. The Centre does really great work: “The Centre for Innovative Justice researches, translates, advocates and applies innovative/alternative ways to improve the justice system, locally, nationally and internationally, with a particular focus on appropriate/non-adversarial dispute resolution, therapeutic jurisprudence and restorative justice.” Take a moment to check out their website (see resources section). These are the conversations that I have had so far and I’m looking forward to many more. Obviously there is so much more to be said about all of these but hopefully many of these topics will all be fleshed out further in the podcast and future blog posts. I will work hard to address many of the topics that have been touched on by the amazing people I’ve already had a chance to talk to! I would also like to include every week a bit of a resource list for everyone so that you can at least see some of the things that are influencing me and my thinking while I’m here in Australia. Resources:Detention Centres/Asylum Seekers/Refugees:
• An article about the most recent changes (on top of many already made) for visitation in detention centres. • Podcast: The Messenger. This is about Abdul Aziz Mohammed who is a refugee in the detention centre on Manus Island (though Manus Island detention centre "shut down" a couple of months ago). • An article by Salli on activism for asylum seekers/refugees, “Please Fight Strong” Indigenous Incarceration/Racism: • “Shockingly, around 90% of Indigenous people incarcerated in the Northern Territory have hearing loss, which may have influenced their trajectory or compromised their communications with the justice system.” Read more here. • Black Lives Matter in Australia: ‘Incarceration is a way to destroy a community' • Does Australia have a racism problem? Other: • 3CR Doin' Time show • Centre for Innovative Justice • Podcast: Talking Innovative Justice
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This is meant to be a brief update to just let everyone know that I am alive and well in Australia!
I took off on January 1st from New York's JFK airport and had a 14.5 hour long flight to Shanghai. Then a 4 hour layover and finally an 11 hour flight to Melbourne. That was the longest plane trip I have ever taken in my life! So far I am just settling in here—I've only been here two days. The first day featured a great array of challenges: changing money to AUD, trying to buy adaptors for Australian outlets, calling my bank so they wouldn't shut down my debit card, getting a transit card, and lots of other wonderful (okay, not really) tasks that one must do in order to get by. Luckily I haven't had too much jet lag and am already deeply enjoying the beautiful summer weather here! As far as the project there isn't too much to report. I'm meeting my first person tomorrow for an informal interview—they're in the asylum seeker/refugee arena and I'll probably be learning a lot about detention centers and immigration from them. I've also been in contact with many of the people I've networked with here in Melbourne to let them know I've arrived. Finally, on a cultural note, I didn't realize that most Australians take holidays until well into the middle of January. So, unfortunately, there are a lot of people out and gone so in some ways I feel like the project is at a standstill... But, not to despair at the very beginning. I am optimistic to see where this all will go—after all it is quite the adventure and adventures never go quite as you plan them. More to come soon, photos too! |
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