Come Along for the Ride
Come Along for the Ride
Tracy Malone
Black Lives Matter Pass the Mic
1 hour 15 minutes Posted Jun 16, 2020 at 7:00 am.
0:00
1:15:36
Download MP3
Show notes
As you will all be aware there is a movement finally getting the air time it deserves, it’s the #blacklivesmatter movement and it’s important to take a moment to talk about it.
As a white woman I have stayed quiet for some time as it is so difficult to know what to say. I want to speak up and out for black lives in both the US and Australia, but I don’t want to say the wrong thing or disrespect anyone. So I’ve donated to gofundme legal accounts for 3 Indigenous court cases looking to find answers to black deaths in custody. I post a lot on my personal social media pages and always speak up to those who post racist comments or get in on the all lives matter argument.
I’ve since reached out to African American people in the horse world but they seem to be inundated at the moment and I don’t get any replies. I will keep trying, this does not have a time limit. If you know of any people of colour working with horses in any way please let me know.
Usually I only interview people working in gentle and ethical ways with horses but I believe that there is racism in the horse world and it runs deep and that people of colour are not given the opportunities that we as white people have been given. They may not even know that our way exists. I also believe that in order to make change in the world we need to invite everyone in, especially those who are in the minority in the horse world. We can’t make change by excluding people because we see pain in the eyes of their horse or because we don’t like the way that they train. We make change by inviting those people in and with love and respect, hearing their story and introducing them to the possibilities.
So if you know of anyone who would like to be heard and tell their story here on the podcast then please get in touch with me.
You will notice in the intro of this podcast I do an acknowledgement of country. This is one way that I show respect at all times to the first Australian’s and their culture and people. I wanted to do it from the outset of my podcast but didn’t know exactly how to do it respectfully, so I waited until I interviewed Dr Tauri Simone and asked her advice.
I do the acknowledgment of country as it is an aboriginal Australian creation that they use and have shared with us as white Australian’s, I believe that when you are given a gift of the culture of your land, the least you can do it use it with respect. I don’t make huge changes or do it my way. I show it the respect it deserves and deliver it in the way they have done for thousands of years.
I searched for a long time when I started this podcast for indigenous horse trainers and found absolutely no one. In 2018 NAIDOC week which is an acronym for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee the theme was Because of her we can.
This is where I saw the work of Dr Tauri Simone where she researched the influence of aboriginal women on the Australian pastoral industry. It took me weeks to find a contact for her as she is not on social media, I had to go through her university website then finally found her on linkedin. She then months later when she logged onto LinkedIn agreed to an interview and we arranged a time. It was always tricky as she lives on a station in Western Australia and may or may not have internet coverage on any given day or may be out bush working. But we got there eventually.
I wanted to replay this interview once again as it is the one I am most proud of, in all the interviews I have done being able to bring the culture of the land I live on to the world makes me very proud.
It is also important to hear what first Australian women endured when colonisation occurred. Tauri and I talked off mic about how she kept the interview and the story positive but the research and interviews and accounts she read during her research were heart breaking and she almost gave up so many times as the pain was so strong for what her ancestors endured at the hands of white man.
So as you listen to this please know that while things are better for aboriginals today, they’re not that much better really and slavery and the stolen generation are the grandparents of young adult first Australians today. They carry a lot of trauma and some still have no idea where their family is.
On a positive note in the podcast you can imagine what kind of women they were and how on earth they were able to ride horses at night to round up cattle who were on a blind run.
It’s an amazing story on every level and I thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode. I’d also ask that this is the episode to share with friends, share the story of horse Australia was built and the extraordinary skill of these indigenous women.
May we all come together and look back on this time as the moment we remember that the world truly changed to a kinder place and a safer place for all people of colour.
If you'd like to support this podcast you can by going to www.patreon.com/comealongforhteridepodcast where you can become a subscriber and help me to keep this podcast going.
© Copyrighted