SILHOUETTES PRESENTATION

Australia's silenced history

“Australia’s silenced history Two hundred years of shame Lock it away in a dark place And never speak of it again In the past is where it stays Out of sight, out of mind Let’s never talk about it It’s best for all Aussi kind It’s like an unstoppable river Winding its way down the track Stand up and look forward Don’t you ever dare look back Let history remain right there Exactly where it should be And you stand there in ignorance Blind and not wanting to see

These very words they haunt us It’s definitely not what we need We just want you to acknowledge it The past and shameful deeds Don’t tell us to forget it That’s something we cannot do It’s there within our spirit And we want you to know the truth Australia’s dark and cloudy past Was built with hate and fear How could you stick a flag in dirt? And then claim no one was here For sixty thousand years we roamed The Country of our birth Then along you came with guns in hand And killed our hope and worth

Trying to heal two hundred years Is not an easy feat? It requires some dedication And a history we cannot repeat A Country with a stain on its soul Needs to clean the slate Admit that these atrocities happened “Come on Australia” it’s not too late So open up the books of time And teach our children well That these things really happened It was a living breathing hell A shame we all must now accept And together build a strong life Stand up for the Australian Dream In unity and with Aussie Pride”

Aboriginal arts and poems website 2016, Nola Gregory.