Attn: Settlers. It's about time youse paid reparations.
Artwork by Charlotte Allingham. Image used with permission of the artist.
If you are the beneficiary of colonial-settler privilege there is no excuse for not working on abolishing white supremacy every single day. There is no good day to celebrate the illegal capitalist-colonial project called “Australia” and settlers must work on weaponising their privilege for the good of First Nations peoples every single day, not just on Invasion Day. You can start by paying up—paying the rent for the stolen land and waterways on which you live. It’s the very least you could do after a couple of hundred years of unchecked genocide, dispossession, and invasion. Here are some places, people, and organisations you can support.
Charlotte Allingham is the Wiradjuri woman who created the amazing piece of art attached to this post. You can donate directly to Charlotte here, follow her on Instagram here, and visit Charlotte’s website (where you can buy her work or arrange a commission) here.
Clean water for Buttah Windee: The community of Buttah Windee has been forced to crowdfund for safe drinking water after the government turned their backs on the community. Buttah Windee’s water supply contains amounts of uranium three times higher than the Australian standard.
Social Reinvestment WA: In Western Australia, Aboriginal kids are 52 times more likely than their peers to be put in prison. These are kids that are slipping through the cracks, and need intensive support not prisons. For 1 month leading up to Close the Gap Day, an anonymous donor will match dollar for dollar every donation to SRWA up to $10,000.
Walgett Water Crisis: The remote town of Walgett is roasting in the hottest heatwave to ever hit Australia and the once burgeoning rivers have dried up. A combination of climate change, catastrophic mismanagement by successive colonial governments, and water theft by capitalists who have drained the rivers in order to grow cotton have decimated the waterways.
Donate here.
Anaiwan Language Revival Program: Daŋgana ndaga? Nyaŋa ndaga waŋan? [How are you? What brings you here?] Help Anaiwan locals develop first Anaiwan language knowledge book, including the most comprehensive dictionary and grammar to date, based on all available archival material. To achieve this goal, to produce what will become the foundation of a sustained community language revival program. The program’s goal is to compile as much of the Anaiwan language in the most accurate and accessible way possible.
Find out more about the project on Facebook or on the University of New England website.
Account details for direct donations:
Bank: Regional Australia Bank
Account Name: Uyitika Anaiwan Language Revival Program
Account Number: 752311
BSB: 932000
*BSB Number is 932000S3 if transferring from a Regional Australia Bank account
Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance - WAR: A collective of young Aboriginal people committed to the cause of decolonization and the philosophy of Aboriginal nationalism—resistance and revival.
You can donate to WAR using the details below and find out more about their work on Facebook.
Name: Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance
Bank: Bendigo Bank
BSB: 633000
Account number: 154594758
Help Riss pay for surgery: Larissa Baldwin is one of the most generous people you'll ever meet. She's a Bundjalung woman who dedicates her life to fighting for First Nations justice. From staunch grassroots resistance, to building the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, to starting GetUp's first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organising program. It doesn't stop there—she's constantly mentoring young people, crafting brilliant strategy and sassing people.
Help Lismore's Lilly: Help Lilly get the surgery she needs after surviving breast cancer. She’s so close to reaching her target.
FreeThePeople: Western Australia refuses to change the laws where people who have no criminal convictions are imprisoned if they do not have the capacity to pay a fine. People are languishing in prison for not being able to pay their fines. Single Aboriginal mothers make up the majority of those in prison who do not have the capacity to pay fines. Julieka Dhu was just 22 years old when in 2015 she died in custody after being locked up by police for an unpaid parking fine. Help raise funds to free women from prison and have warrants vacated.
IndigenousX is an independent Indigenous media platform celebrating Indigenous Excellence and Diversity and striving to amplify Indigenous voices across Australia and beyond. You should also follow them on Twitter: @IndigenousX
Black Rainbow: Black Rainbow is Australia’s first and only National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Trans and Intersex (LGBQTI) Suicide Prevention National Advocacy Platform and National Touchpoint. They support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBQTI people who are homeless, leaving domestic violence relationships or the justice system. Black Rainbow is 100% Indigenous owned and operated.
Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) was formed in January 2014 in an effort to highlight the process of removal used by the New South Wales Department of Children’s Services. Help fund the fight against ongoing stolen generations.
Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney is an open collective of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people committed to the repeal of the NT Intervention and the struggle for Aboriginal self-determination.
Wunan is an Aboriginal development organisation in the East Kimberley, with a clear purpose and strategy to drive long-term socio-economic change for Aboriginal people by providing real opportunities, investing in people’s abilities, and by encouraging and rewarding aspiration and self-responsibility.
Gunawirra: your donations help Gunawirra to directly improve the lives of traumatised indigenous mothers and children. You can read more about their current vital programs here.
The Healing Foundation is a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation that partners with communities to address the ongoing trauma caused by actions like the forced removal of children from their families.
AIME is a mentoring program based at universities that builds bridges back to local high schools & mentors the most disadvantaged kids out of inequality.
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation are a national book industry charity, which aims to reduce the disadvantage experienced by children in remote Indigenous communities across Australia, by lifting literacy levels and instilling a lifelong love of reading.