White Monarchs and Blak Matriarchs
An Op Ed from Dr. Melinda Mann (Darumbal and South Sea Islander)
White Monarchs and Blak Matriarchs
“F*ck the Colony!” was the final statement Senator Thorpe made, one that she repeated loudly as guards pushed her out of the Great Hall at Parliament House on Monday. The Gunnai, Gunditjmara, and Djab Wurrung woman’s message was clear. Her voice was defiant, as was her physical presence, as she appropriated space in front of a stage where the British Monarch was perched above his admiring subjects. The Senator gifted the world an unapologetic demonstration of love for her people—a statement that commanded the attention of the head of the British Royal family. Footage and images of her draped in that possum-skin cloak have been shared around the globe, bringing international attention to an event and a visit to the colony that would have otherwise barely warranted a mention.
As sure as night follows day, social media and mainstream media both went into meltdown, with everyone who could reach for a device foaming at the mouth to take bites at Senator Thorpe. Racist and sexist vitriol vomited from every corner of the continent. A demonstration of Indigenous sovereignty by the Senator was described by some as “embarrassing,” “inappropriate,” and “attention-seeking,” among many gross descriptors, and calls for her resignation spammed newsfeeds. But not one word she uttered was a lie, and she took none of it back, unlike a media commentator who had to delete his vile misogynistic posts about the Senator.
We are told that if Senator Thorpe had behaved like other subjects of the Crown that day, the issues she raised—stolen bodies, artefacts, and lands; sovereignty and treaty—could have been addressed elsewhere. The Senator has since revealed that she had asked for a meeting with the British Monarch and was denied. Personally, I was surprised to see that so many of those who have expressed their utter exhaustion with Welcome to Country ceremonies now expected the Aboriginal Senator, and by extension, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to welcome people to the colony. Sadly, those same poor, exhausted people are also fatigued by two decades of attempts at “reconciliation” and yet, by some miracle, found the energy to swallow the reconciliation the British Monarch spoke of in his speech that morning.
Senator Thorpe is, well, a Senator. It is quite literally her job as a politician to represent. It is also expected of her as an Aboriginal person in that place. She has an obligation and responsibility to use her voice and her position, and she did just that on Monday with power and precision. She represents her constituents and her people, and when she is silenced, which is often and forcefully, she has always found a way to be heard. So, regardless of what you think about the Senator, there are many Blackfullas who won’t be reprimanded by settlers, or anyone else for that matter, about “decorum” on our own lands. Whose purpose does courtesy serve when terra nullius is still the modus operandi on this continent, when our Ancestors are still captive in British institutions, and when Treaty, like the one the Senator advocates, is denied?
What has politeness achieved for us? What did that “generous invitation to walk together” espoused last year amount to, but the utter failure of that approach? It is worth remembering that at this very moment, Parliament is filled with politicians, except for a few like Senator Thorpe, actively supporting the killings of thousands upon thousands of Palestinians. The most horrifying scenes of massacres are live-streamed into the palms of our hands. We see the hypocrisies of settler colonies, and we refuse the charade. If we can’t be honest with the world about the treatment of Blackfullas here, then at least we should be honest with ourselves, and the only one in that room who was, was Senator Thorpe. Like so many of us, and probably many who were at that event, he is not our king. She at least had the courage to tell him to his face.
There’s power when Blackfullas speak back to the Colony and tell it that we are still here and we want all our stuff back—our land, our waters, our Ancestors, our artefacts, our languages. Everything that has been stolen must be returned. None of this is metaphorical. Our liberation can’t simply depend on doing all the things that might make some version of freedom achievable for future generations, and it isn’t at all about behaving nicely for those we are taking it back from. The conditions required for our liberation need to make it inevitable, and if it involves walking into the Great Hall and declaring to the Monarch, “You are not my King,” then so be it.
By Monday afternoon, Blackfullas everywhere proudly shared images of Senator Thorpe draped in that possum-skin cloak, defying a Monarch. Their kings and queens will come and go, but Blackfullas know that we hail Blak Matriarchs.
Blak Matriarchy – by Barkaa
This is for Blak matriarchs
This is for my sisters who lived in the dark
This is for my sisters who carry our past on their shoulders
This is for Blak matriarchs
This is for all of our women
This is for all of our children
Couldn't care less 'bout the monarch
I'ma set fire to the kingdom
I'm coming for them
All hail to Blak matriarchs