Lots of music in February, so this bulletin includes links to two very different musical acts. We are also very pleased to be able to confirm the start of the ANTaR ACT book group in March – more details below.
Apology 10th Anniversary
Tuesday 13 February marked 10 years since Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to the Stolen Generations in the Australian parliament. To mark this, the Healing Foundation (http://healingfoundation.org.au/) held a concert at Federation Mall, with reflections on the significance of the apology between the performers. A highlight was Archie Roach singing Took the Children Away, still so powerful showing the pain so many experienced. You can see a video of the song here: https://youtu.be/aywDT6yHMmo .
Indigenous Showcase at Multicultural Festival
Canberra’s Multicultural Festival celebrates the many different cultures that are part of the Australian community, and includes an Indigenous Showcase, put together by the ACT NAIDOC committee. This year the time allocated was less than previous years, which was disappointing, but a very excited crowd enjoyed Baker Boy’s performance on Saturday night. A completely different musical experience – watch Baker Boy here: https://youtu.be/dxjFNvwZUhA .
Yerra Canberra Business Yarning Circle
The most recent Canberra business yarning circle was held on Friday 9th February (click here to watch a short clip of the yarning circle). Established in 2015, the yarning circle is a forum that provides mentoring and advice for new Indigenous businesses. It is held by Yerra, an Indigenous majority managed and owned consulting, IT services, and recruiting business (https://yerra.com.au/about/). The managing director of Yerra is Indigenous entrepreneur Dion Devow, who was named 2018 ACT Australian of the year for the yarning circle and his enterprise Darkies Design, which collaborates with Indigenous designers and artists to produce Indigenous-themed clothing and print media (click here to see Dion’s Facebook page).
ANTaR book group
In 2018, ANTaR ACT member, Valerie Albrecht, will host a book group to discuss a range of books by Aboriginal authors, on the second Wednesday of every month. The first book is Am I Black Enough For You? by Anita Heiss, with the discussion on Wednesday 14 March, 7-9 pm, at Belconnen Arts Centre, supper provided. The full program is available here. If you can make it, please email info@antaract.org.au or call 0406 052 339.
ANTaR ACT monthly meeting
The next monthly ANTaR ACT meeting will be on Monday 5 March, at 6pm, in the Snug Room at King O’Malleys, Civic. Come along to find out more about what we are planning for 2018, including advocacy around a range of issues related to the local concerns for the Change the Record (https://antar.org.au/campaigns/justice) and Family Matters (https://antar.org.au/campaigns/children-out-home-care ) national campaigns. Any questions, please email info@antaract.org.au.