Celebrating Lohri with the Sikhs

I am off this afternoon, with Sikh friends, to celebrate Lohri - 

a Punjabi agricultural midwinter festival..

Putting words into understanding and action: The Lexicon of Sustainability

A short film by Douglas Gayeton and Laura Howard-Gayeton explaining the project. Animated and edited by Pier Giorgio Provenzano

In the upcoming series Joel Salatin, Will Allen, Wes Jackson, Richard Heinberg, Alice Waters, Michael Abelman and many others explain the principles behind the lexicon of sustainability.

To learn more ... and even get involved visit www.lexiconofsustainability.com.

Aboriginal sovereignty was never ceded: Michael Anderson

“Aborigines, you are with us or against us - make your choice”

By Michael Anderson

Goodooga, northwest NSW, 

22 December 2011 

- - 

A number of significant, very concerning incidents have occurred since arriving back in Australia from my  trip to London. The Internet site austlii.edu.au that had the Pacific Islanders Protection Act of 1872-75 up has pulled it down after I had revealed that the actual wording of the 1875 Act was altered by person (s) unknown who in effect altered the intent and law that it established here in Australia.

Then to hear through the main stream media that the federal government had given ultimatums to the NAIDOC Committee not to use the 40^th anniversary of the Aboriginal Embassy as its theme for 2012, clearly sends signals that they are under pressure and seek to avoid a confrontation on the question of Sovereignty.

It was further revealed that a key Aboriginal organization within the Australian Capital Territory who had agreed to be an auspicing body for any funds raised for the 40^thanniversary of the Aboriginal Embassy had their computers hacked by person (s) unknown at the same time as they were having printed out their bank details and then for the information to disappear from the computer as it was printing out.

On the far north coast line of NSW at Pottsville, an Aboriginal man who had been occupying vacant crown reserve has been advised that he will be evicted from the place. In the past 12 months he said that he had been running cultural camps for Aboriginal children and youth so that they can continue to have knowledge of their country and what that country means to them as a people. I am now advised that the council and police were coming to evict him from this place today (22 December). This  appears to developing into our first battle ground in the fight for our sovereign status and rights as the real sovereigns of the soil.

In the last twenty four hours Anderson it has become very clear to me that in the lead up to the 40^th anniversary of the Aboriginal Embassy, I have been put on notice that people who have been close to the Aboriginal Embassy all these years are planning a confrontation on the question of the anniversary becoming a focus on sovereignty and not the Embassy. This is concerning, considering that the first intention of the Aboriginal Embassy was to raise and maintain the protest of our people nationwide that sovereignty was never ceded, rights to our lands was our inherent right that we have since time immemorial.

If this is going to be the case then we must now gather together and unite to put down this antagonism against our movement, no matter whether they are Aboriginal people or not. Sovereignty is the key to our future as a people. Right now we are losing our children to the welfare departments, the criminal justice system, our culture is now owned by the white ministers of the state. In Western Australia, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs is not just the minister, he is also the CEO of the Western Australian Aboriginal Planning Act 1972. In the federal arena, the Labor government refuses to deal with a bill proposed by the leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbot, that will give ownership and management of the Cape York rivers system and remove the wild rivers law created by the Queensland state Labor government.

It is sad to be given this warning but I think our people can stand up to the detractors and those who seek to keep the divisions amongst our people, but we are on the edge of achieving the one thing that has kept us going all these years. This is our country, our lore/law and no Aboriginal collaborators or government junta will stop us from fighting our fight. We will stand up against those who oppose us and if you are Aboriginal and seek to interfere then we will know who you are and will condemn you to the white invaders. This is a case of you are either with us or against us. Make your choice.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Contact Michael 

ghillar29@gmail.com

0427292492 or (02) 68296355

Further reading

"Indigenous sovereignty-never ceded": sovereignty, nationhood and whiteness in Australia

Aboriginal Sovereign Treaty '88 Campaign

Challenging land title issues arising from Aboriginal Sovereignty

WGAR News: Sovereignty never ceded: 

A key theme of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy's 40th anniversary

Robbie Thorpe on Sovereignty
Making the Bicentenary

Aboriginal Sovereignty: reflections on race, state, and nation
Review by Cheryl Saunders in the Australian Humanities Review

Aboriginal Tent Embassy 40 Year Tribute + Agenda for the three days + travelling from Melbourne

Do you want more information on what is happening
at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra
from January 26?
The Agenda is below.
To stay in touch, please go to Treaty Republic
and to
Aboriginal Tent Embassy 40th and to Aboriginal Tent Embassy.

More about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy here.



If you are in Melbourne and interested in travelling to Canberra,
please email
misseaglesnetwork(at)gmail(dot)com
As well please go to
Melbourne to Canberra ~ 
Aboriginal Tent Embassy 40th January 2012

Job vacancy for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officer in Melbourne East

Passed to The Network by Sharon Partridge:

Inner East Melbourne Medicare Local

Melbourne East GP Network (ABN 86129637412), trading as Inner East Melbourne Medicare Local

PO Box 127  Blackburn  3130

13/317 Whitehorse Rd  Nunawading Vic 3131

T 03 8878 3779   F 03 9894 3119

E mcray@iemml.org.au

W www.iemml.org.au

This email is confidential.  If you are not the intended recipient, any use of the information is prohibited.  If this email is received in error please notify us immediately by return email and delete the email and any attachments.

Inner East Melbourne Medicare Local  accepts no liability for any damage caused by this email or its attachments due to viruses, unauthorized access or alteration.  Unless otherwise stated any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the IEMML.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Dear Colleagues

I would be grateful if you could please circulate the attached position description to your networks.  The position is for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officer.  It is a part time 7 month position, with view to extension.

Applications close on 31^st January 2012.

People of Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander origin are strongly encouraged to apply.

Kind Regards

Merissa Judkins

Healthy Partnerships Coordinator

Canberra Jan 26-29 it's all happening: Aboriginal Tent Embassy 40th Anniversary celebrations : invitations

Before Occupy Wall Street and its derivative movements, Australia had a most significant Occupation.  Aboriginal people established a Tent Embassy outside what is now Old Parliament House (we have a very new and modern one now).  The Aboriginal Tent Embassy has withstood all sorts of vicissitudes and attempts to remove it.  Yet - in spite of all - it stands and withstands.  I don't know what other "Occupy" movements may have taken place across the world preceding #OWS - but the Aboriginal Tent Embassy making its stand against white occupation of the Australian continent has to be among the most significant.

And now it is the season for celebration.  Come, join in. Agenda and more information here.

FURTHER READING

Aboriginal Tent Embassy (website)

Aboriginal Tent Embassy (Wikipedia)

Aboriginal Embassy, 1972

Aboriginal Embassy - Indigenous Australia

Aboriginal Tent Embassy: icon or eyesore? 

(Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Library.

The above site carries a significant timeline and bibliography)

Aboriginal Tent Embassy (as a tourist drawcard)

The proud history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

(GreenLeft Weekly)

The Koori History Website

'Shooting' threat at tent embassy (The Canberra Times)

The Future of the Tent Embassy (ABC TV - Message Stick)

Nomadic resistance: Tent Embassies and Collapsible Architecture -

Illegal architecture and protest by Greg Cowan

PENA - Popular Education Network Australia - and Freire Reloaded : Lecture and symposium

PENA

Popular Education Network Australia

• Blog
• About us
• Contact us
• Calendar
• Freire Reloaded
• Freire Reloaded Submissions

Freire Reloaded

Learning & Teaching to Change the World

APRIL 27 2012: Evening Public Lecture with Antonia Darder, Victoria University

APRIL 28, 2012: All day Popular Dialogue, Victoria University

Click here to download Symposium Flyer for Freire Reloaded

Click here to make submissions to Freire Reloaded

Schooling is undemocratic, student achievement is stable at best and in decline at worst and our students are bored at school. Meanwhile many people are passionate about education and have lots of experiences to draw on, but somehow we do not know how to create a dialogue to forge real education change driven by people and place. “It’s the students, stupid!” – is this a beginning conversation? We are not interested in another event where we are talked at and spoon-fed the “right” answers. We are inviting people to interact, in real time in one place and face to face!

Sound luxurious? What could this dialogue look like? Freire once said: “Dialogue with the people is neither a concession nor a gift, much less a tactic to be used for domination. Dialogue, as the encounter among [wo]men to “name” the world, is a fundamental precondition for their true humanization.” (Paulo Freire, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed)

We want to talk about Freire, that is we want to talk about you, your school, your students, your workplace, your community. But is Freire inspiring educators and citizens? Can we or should we revive his ideas, complement them with others and/or contest them? Do we really understand the political nature of education in all its complexity? Would Freire help us to rethink democratic and educational engagement? How do we link the history of ‘good things’ in education such as empowerment, liberation and social progress with engagement, learning and dialogue?

We are attempting to enact a Freirean methodology in this event, by inviting dialogic submissions only. While we recognise that this might cause some confusion, or be unusual, we consider these productive challenges! No, we really don’t want to run another conference. We wish to move away from the ‘banking model’ that Freire cautioned us against. An approach to learning and teaching, he says, in which the teacher ‘deposits’ information into the mind of the learner, in a mono-directional relationship that is neither dialogic nor interactive. The Popular Education Network of Australia (PENA), and the Freire Reloaded event, stands in stark contrast to this notion of learning, and in the spirit of dialogue and deliberate social change, we hope you will join us.

To get us started, we have invited renowned popular educationalist Antonia Darder (USA) to give a public lecture on Friday night and then on Saturday, you do the talking and we join you and we listen to each other.

To enable this learning process and dialogue, we ask you to contribute in the following way:

• pose a question
• tell a story/sing a song
• give a performance
• offer a workshop
• suggest a role play

Please submit a contribution by January 10th 2012 and/or let us know if you’d like to attend. We hope to see you in April. To submit a contributionCLICK HERE

The 2012 PENA Symposium special featured guest will be Antonia Darder. Antonia is a professor of education and cultural studies, political activist, artist, poet and author. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in East Los Angeles, her work is grounded upon a life-long commitment to struggle for social justice, human rights and economic democracy. For further information download her CV DARDER CV 2011-1 or go to her webpage www.darder.org

Categories

• Activism
• PENA
• Teaching

Animals Australia and Lyn White off to a great campaigning start in 2012

SAVE THIS DATE! Join us for ‘an evening with Lyn White’ - national speaking tour. Brisbane - 20th Feb Sydney - 21st Feb Melbourne - 24th Feb Adelaide - 28th Feb (TBC) Perth - 6th March Stay tuned for event details.

Lyn White named 2011 'Newsmaker of the Year'!

ABC News Radio has named Lyn White, Animals Australia's Campaign Director and Investigator, 2011's 'Newsmaker of the Year'. Lyn's live export investigations sparked 40,000 media stories and an unprecedented public outcry against live exports. The announcement, made live on air on New Year's morning, reflects the growing public awareness and concern for animal welfare that is sweeping the country.




Listen now | Leave a message for Lyn

More campaign news from Animals Australia: Notorious wool factory farm to shut down! After a long campaign and several investigations, a major wool factory farm in Victoria has announced plans to cease business as a producer of factory farmed ultra-fine wool, stating 'ultra-fine wool isn't viable anymore'. Find out more... TAKE ACTION: help end duck shooting The VIC Government has announced its support for a 2012 recreational duck shooting season. It is estimated that for every bird shot, another escapes with injuries, often to die slowly and painfully. Click here to help protect native waterbirds. LIVE EXPORTS: Indonesian trade to decline; cruelty to continue News reports that the Indonesian Government has committed to banning all live cattle imports from Australia within a few years points to the volatility of the live export trade — but it signals little reprieve for animals. Read more & take action... Save greyhounds from cruel export Every year Australia's greyhound racing industry'discards' thousands of dogs who are not fast enough on the tracks. Help protect these dogs from one of the worst fates that may await them: export. Click here to take action now. See more campaign updates at AnimalsAustralia.org

Melbourne Free University, Occupy and the Simplicity Institute next week at City Square

From Melbourne Free University

Happy New Year!

The MFU year will begin this coming Tuesday 10 January 

with the return of our MFU @ City Square series.  

Samuel Alexander of the Simplicity Institute will speak on 

'Peak oil, energy descent and the fate of consumerism,' 

from 7-8.30pm on the Collins Street edge of City Square. 

 

As always, we'll have a 45 minute lecture 

followed by an open discussion of the same length.

We've got a fantastic line-up for this month, 

so please have a look at the poster for full details 

of the January series of lectures, 

and do share it with your friends or networks.

Looking forward to another year of learning with you at the MFU!

The Gate of the Year

This post was originally published on The Trad Pad on  2 January 2011.  Happy New Year everyone ... particularly to those who did it tough this year.  Please take on board the thoughts of Minnie Louise Haskins

~~~~~~

Happy New Year! May the year be kind to you and bring you blessings, wisdom, peace, and prosperity!  The last day or two has exhibited some coincidence. Firstly, Hay Quaker published, in toto, the poem The Gate of the Year by Minnie Louise Haskins.

 Minnie Louise Haskins

Picture from here

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"
So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.

Perhaps readers have heard this poem, or part of it, before.  It was made famous by the Christmas Speech of King George VI delivered in 1939.  You can hear the actual speech – it is quite moving given it is made at the time of the first Christmas of World War II – here.

Picture from here

Secondly, I decided to get out of the house for the first time since  Christmas Midnight Carols and Eucharist at All Saints, Mitcham and go to see the much lauded movie, The King’s Speech. It is the story of the relationship between the Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, and King George VI.

The movie is being tipped as a frontline contender for an Oscar. In spite of competition from The Social Network in the bookies’ odds as set out here, it is hard to see how this movie could lose with its high proportion of former Academy Award winning actors.  The UK still produces the best actors – particularly in ensemble work as demonstrated in The King’s Speech – in the English speaking world.  However, it does an Australian heart good – particularly one coming from Queensland – to see and hear Geoffrey Rush mixing it admirably with such a talented cast. To think, this great man of Australian movies was growing up across Brisbane from me in the 1950s!
Those sitting around me in the packed movie theatre were clearly as impressed as I. 
I was however surprised at the ending. I don’t think, in such an historical movie, it is giving away much to describe the ending of this movie.  I thought the movie somehow would finish with the 1939 Christmas Speech. This is arguably the most famous, most remembered, and most quoted of all the King George VI’s speeches.  This doesn’t happen.  The movie concludes with the King’s Speech at the beginning of World War II.

Listen to the original speech here.