Public Notice: I'm tired!
Hey my dudes,
It’s funny how it only takes one rainy day and some boy drama for you to realize how fucking tired and run down you are. The last few weeks I’ve mentioned some really cool highs, not to mention my workiversary (fuck yeah, go me!) but it’s starting to hit me that’s it. It’s just me now. If you send me an email or a DM or a phone call it’s just me getting back to you and to be honest, I’m really sucking at that aspect atm (sorry all my clients who I haven’t gotten back to). We all know it’s different times but I feel like there’s almost a weird expectation that because we are isolating that we are always ‘available’.
The truth is a persons energy exchange is something that should be cherished and protected. Previously I’ve tried to do everything and get back to everyone because I would love to genuinely connect with everyone in that way. But I’m just physically, emotionally, culturally and spiritually tired.
This time of year even without COVID19 is wild for First Nations people. First we have Reconciliation Week which to me is a bit of a shit week. Like, I get it. But the very foundation of this week and what it represents is built on the basis that Australia actually had a decent relationship with First Nations people to begin with. This to me is a bit of stretch, historically. If there was a relationship, we would have 250+ treaties in place already. But skip forward 250 odd years and the aim of the game for Reconciliation Week is to go wild and get as many Aboriginal people in to do workshops and what not, and then for some businesses…. Completely ignore the fact that Aboriginal people are dying in custody, are being taken from their parents, and being racially abused as they try to do what use to be a simple task like getting some toilet paper.
Then we have Mabo Day on June 3. Amazing dude, amazing family, amazing everything. Except the fact that Native Title process is one of the most painful processes where Traditional Owners have to ‘prove’ it is there land. Pause. Please go back to Reconciliation and the basis that a relationship had to exist to begin with for it it be reconciled.
And then we have NAIDOC Week, this was our jam. NAIDOC Week, the time we get to come together and hang out without 73 first cousins(not even kidding, pretty sure that’s accurate for my family).
Then chuck in end of financial year and we have ourselves a really busy few months where everyone wants a piece of this brown sugar.
Now I’ll be the first to admit, in fact I’ve literally had rants about it and it’s also something I mention in my TEDx Talk (You can view that here- lil flex) that when it comes to First Nations culture that we definitely need to be in the drivers seat. But let’s be clear… We don’t want to be the uber driver that just picks up randoms and takes them to their destination. Every individual, every business and every University or Educational institution needs to do their own work.
Now again, I’ve built my brand to be one that tries to share as much as possible and educate as much as possible through the content I willingly put out. However, with that comes great responsibility and fucktonne of emails and DMs from people who genuinely want to be better. (Side note, thanks for wanting to be better).
This past month alone, I have received 30 emails from students wanting to interview me for their university assignment. Thank you, I’m flattered. I mention this to shine a light on the subject or energy exchange and worth. Now, the thing is being Aboriginal is pretty special. We have access to a cultural connection like no other. We have 65000+ years of stories, medicines, dances, languages all of which are our cultural intellectual property. We are storytellers and who wouldn’t want to know about that. I mean except for of course our Governments and institutions for the last 250 + years.
Now let me use the analogy of a heart surgeon. Heart surgery usually takes about 3-6 hours… I know that because I just googled it. Easy. Would you expect a heart surgeon to perform heart surgery for free? I certainly wouldn’t. I’ve done some time walking through the supermarkets and this whole time, no matter what day I go, I have never found fruit and veggies, petrol, meat even Tim Tams for ‘Exposure’ amount of dollars.
Now it’s not the students fault that they are seeking free advice, we’ve all been there. But there needs to be some accountability from the institutions. Even with teachers, if I had a dollar for every teacher who reached out to me asking how they can teach Aboriginal art in school I could retire.. Almost. Granted how can they teach their students if they have never had any education around First Nations people and art themselves?
We are expected out of the goodness of our heart to engage with teachers to help plan lessons for their students because they were never taught an appropriate framework. Some have never even had a conversation with someone who identifies as Aboriginal until now. We are providing our time and our intellectual property for free.
Now I’m trying to stop this from getting too ‘Woe is me’ because that’s not my point. Energy exchange and the expectations placed on First Nations people are. Not only do we not know everything about everything but sometimes we also don’t want to share everything about everything with complete strangers while our cries for help as falling to the cold, harsh floor.
It’s fatiguing not to mention people take the time to put out content for you to specifically engage with and the simple click of a button on google.
But because I want this to not just be a rant, I also want to add some key take aways to look further into.
Watch my TEDx Talk. I kinda fucked it up cause I was super nervous but there are some points around us being in the positions of power. Plus, I’m wearing a fucking pink power suit.
If you’re reading this and you have any power over curriculum of all or any levels. Change it. Allow budget to be used to engage with local elders, local artists etc rather than trying to get a ‘Quick’ (several hours of back and forth) question answered.
Relationships. Let me ask you this question. If you took a girl to dinner that you just met and there was a line to get into the restaurant. Would you try have sex with that girl while you were in line before you were even offered a glass of water by the waiter? I hope not. My point there is that you need to build a relationship and a strong foundation with someone before you try make it a transaction. Take us out, wine and dine us and then maybe we’ll open up about how genocide killed most of our people and our languages and this is how we can make the future better.
Don’t be mad if we don’t get back to you. ‘Ghosting’ the new craze… Trust me I know what it feels like (LOL) But that’s not always a reflection on you. When it comes to anything cultural. It’s tiring. There is such weight on our shoulders to share information. I don’t always want to be that person. Usually if I want you to know something, I’ll share it on my social media. If I don’t, then I don’t usually post it.
I want to acknowledge that most of the time people mean well and they are just trying to navigate this crazy world too. I see you doing work. But again, google. And if you’re in University you’re probably paying a fucktonne of money for your cause so start calling out the institutions if they themselves haven’t engaged respectfully with First Nations elders and authorities of knowledge to provide the course with adequate resources.
So yeah in conclusion, a rainy day, a bit of boy drama and literally trying to decolonize every fucking aspect of your life and the systems around you will make you realise how tired you are.
Keep it real my dudes.
Comment below if you’re dying to have me on another rant.
Rach
