here's an article from the Black People's Union relating to the referendum, they backed the no vote
https://www.blackpeoplesunion.org/articles/conning-us-into-recognition
it feels weird being on the same side as racists, but I did support my comrades in BPU by voting no. yes there's a lot of upset and intense emotions around this, but we can't kid ourselves into thinking this performative reformist bullshit would have made any material difference to Indigenous communities.
Indigenous people weren't asking to be recognised by the racist constitution.
dont lose sleep over nothing comrades, get active in your communities where-ever you can and fight for real change.
Imo the Voice was a toothless tiger.
No treaty, no authority, no nothing. It was a progressive feel-good project with the window-dressing of doing something while achieving literally nothing.
Aboriginal people in Australia have always had voices and they have always been disregarded and even openly ridiculed by the settler-colonial state.
What does a platform achieve to address these critical problems that are fundamental to the state? Nothing.
There have been Aboriginal advisory organisations to the Australian government plenty of times. What did the government do to heed their input? Precious little, at the best of times.
(As a side note, I am often engaged in disability and mental health spaces. One thing that always rubs me the wrong way when politicians and mahogany suite types talk about marginalised groups is discourse around "giving them a voice". Gtfo. These people already have voices and they always have. This magnanimous posturing is just self-flattering nonsense and it whitewashes the inherent problem for marginalised groups, namely that the issue isn't that they need others to give them a voice but instead they need others to listen, and it conceals the truth that these groups have faced active indifference from those who choose not to listen by making the situation out to be as if prior to "giving them a voice" there was nothing being spoken from them which excuses what the powerful have done to those who are marginalised.)
The Voice was going to be very unimportant, by design. We should respond to this situation and the outcome, either way, by recognising this as a fundamental fact and treating it with the focus that is due to something unimportant.
Treaty, now.
beautiful comment, thank you mate!
you reminded me of a conversation I had around when the voice was announced (it might have been a lecture). Aboriginal people have been so completely obliterated that they dont have treaties amongst themselves. Any pittance forced on them by the colonial government completely ignored this fact.
when Europeans arrived there were 100s if not 1000s of groups across the continent, a ceremonial body made up of two people (a man and a woman no doubt, how sweet, it's almost like a performative little show for white people to gawk at) was never going to be any other than a farce.
Anyway I've just woken up so i'm filled with bitter rage, and my original point was to try and remind people not to give up hope.
solidarity, fuck the colony.
Tom Tanuki did a three part series highlighting the Yes/No/Undecided camps from a left perspective in his recent videos if anyone wants to get a good understanding of the discourse around the recent referendum and the progressive/radical opposition to the Voice to Parliament:
https://youtube.com/@TomTanuki
I've really been appreciating what Aotearoa Liberation League has been putting out in their social media. They are radical and postcolonial in their perspective and they're worth following if you want to keep updated on issues from the perspective of Aotearoa (so-called New Zealand):
🇳🇿 🔥 :nz-please-burn:
:xi-plz:
luckily global warming will take care of that one
Imperial core going fascist as the contradictions continue to heighten, as was predicted.
Angloids gonna Angloid
Oops the whole world has gone full nazi
At least ACT are so balls out crazy Liz Truss types that they'll shit the bed for the Nationals pretty much immediately.
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