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henrymarlene's review
4.0
Anita Heiss is such an amazing Aboriginal author. Anita is a deep thinker, and this is evident in her writing. She is also a writer that does not dwell in anger; she finds an opportunity to learn and teach from every anecdote, every story, every experience. This book, as a reflection of the last 10 years exudes gratefulness and graciousness for every opportunity and experience that has come across Anita’s path. Anita has thrived on the strength of the Aboriginal community, and the strength of what she has learned about herself, and this book imparts that to all of us. Aborginal identity is Aboriginal identity. It is what it is, and there is no need to challenge it, let go of preconceptions, biases and prejudices.
A lot of this book is about fact and truth. Anita is passionate about the stories that need come out, the creation of narratives that will live on and on when we are all gone. Narratives that embrace diversity, love, happiness and sadness, and to know that we all share these things, and it may have nothing to do with where we live, where we come from. This is a book that helped me to question what I know, and what I didn’t know and should know about. I was saddened and ashamed to read about the lifelong racism Anita and her family experienced, from her childhood to the impact of the ‘protection’ of the Stolen Generations that her grandmother experienced. It was also an eye opened to read about her dilemmas and thoughts about the expectations that people had of her – was she Aboriginal enough for some members of her own community, and how could she not know everything as a ‘representative’ of all Aboriginal people? Was it ever fair to label her as such?
‘Am I Black Enough for you: 10 years on” is not just a reflection for Anita, it is a reflection for us as the reader to stop and question our behaviour and thoughts and ideals, and to start accepting, to open our minds and be educated over and over again. It is our challenge to let go of preconceptions of Aboriginality – I have no right to create and hold onto any ideas; we all must be accepting of who Aboriginal people are, and accept the way they define themselves.
“Teaching an Aboriginal perspective on history is integral …. It’s all key to truth-telling in this country”.
A lot of this book is about fact and truth. Anita is passionate about the stories that need come out, the creation of narratives that will live on and on when we are all gone. Narratives that embrace diversity, love, happiness and sadness, and to know that we all share these things, and it may have nothing to do with where we live, where we come from. This is a book that helped me to question what I know, and what I didn’t know and should know about. I was saddened and ashamed to read about the lifelong racism Anita and her family experienced, from her childhood to the impact of the ‘protection’ of the Stolen Generations that her grandmother experienced. It was also an eye opened to read about her dilemmas and thoughts about the expectations that people had of her – was she Aboriginal enough for some members of her own community, and how could she not know everything as a ‘representative’ of all Aboriginal people? Was it ever fair to label her as such?
‘Am I Black Enough for you: 10 years on” is not just a reflection for Anita, it is a reflection for us as the reader to stop and question our behaviour and thoughts and ideals, and to start accepting, to open our minds and be educated over and over again. It is our challenge to let go of preconceptions of Aboriginality – I have no right to create and hold onto any ideas; we all must be accepting of who Aboriginal people are, and accept the way they define themselves.
“Teaching an Aboriginal perspective on history is integral …. It’s all key to truth-telling in this country”.
claire_melanie's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant, educational and challenging. A must read. Totally changed my perspective on her fiction and made me see all the traits is fallen into. Forces self reflexivity of the best kind. Looking forward to reading more of her stuff.
lisa61's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
doddyaboutbooks's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
It was really great to read the updated text.
blovessummer's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
saviross's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
I didn't know much about the court case discussed in the book - it was difficult to hear that story but important to know of course, and I couldn't believe the verdict. The writing style was very straight forward and at times it felt like I was being told thing after thing, matter of factly, again and again. Still, I enjoyed learning more about Anita's life and appreciate her work to write stories about First Nations people living their lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation