This poem by Cindy Solonec was published in Westerly 69.1 and we’re thrilled to make it freely available for everyone to read here on the Editor’s Desk.
Cindy is Nigena (Nyikina) and author of Debesa: The Story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez (Magabala Books, 2021). Based on her PhD thesis, Cindy’s book encapsulates a quintessential social history in the West Kimberley. Born in Derby and schooled in Geraldton, she is a late comer to the literary community, and now enjoys dabbling in short stories. She has obliged in undertaking several book reviews with Aboriginal themes. Cindy has lived off-country in Boorloo for 25 years.
Naysayers
Pt.1
The Referendum shattered me
I wanted to say to Naysayers
go get fucked
I wanted to say
you know Jack shit about the marginalisation of Australia’s first
peoples and
you don’t care
Naysayers they don’t listen
I have been silenced
My countrimin mostly voted Yes
Yes meaning their voice would be heard on matters that affect
them
Naysayers sat high on their moral perch and squawked
No you cannot speak on your own affairs
Naysayers stooped low to protect their sense of superiority over
our people
the most vulnerable people
Say what you mean Naysayer admit your discomfort
your bias unconscious is terrible yet powerful
that sixty-forty split troubles my spirit
Pt.2
I walk among a majority who couldn’t care less
Blakfullas that’s them over there
a nuisance
abetted
annoying
Naysayers wish we would just go away
Why should Naysayers care? Why should they bother?
Naysayers rest easy in their privilege
first world troubles no trouble at all
no compassion
no empathy
no joy
in the oldest living cultures in the world
Our song lines our stories embedded in this land
Naysayers are adrift most have no roots to this place
no critical thoughts
not their fault they don’t know Australia’s Blak history
not their fault they don’t know the consequences of
colonisation
not their fault they thumbed their noses at mob who voted
Yes Yes Yes to a Voice overwhelmingly
Pt.3
Naysayers haven’t learned their history
books are white washed
Today’s sorrows go unknown while the ink bleeds and dries
from yesteryear’s sins
they are ignorant of our past
We know We remember
the myth of terra nullius that spoke this land into the taking
White man’s law claiming Australia was to be
white
English
imperial
superior too so they thought
half-caste
quarter-caste
full-blood
pure bred dirty words for us
superior
white
good
race
eugenics words for them
Let Australia rejoice one and all
Pt. 4
In their pulped minds a newborn nation thought us a dying race
theories metastasised into cancerous assimilation
policies to improve future generations they said
1905 Aborigines Protection Act mutated into 1936 Native
Administration Act
a rot grew a damp sickness segregation for black and
white
Protection? ha! We were
controlled
oppressed
my ancestors laboured as slaves
Still my ancestors rejected inferiority their bias unconscious
was powerful too
Small campfires became trail blazers for our rights demanding
recognition
1944 Western Australia Citizenship Act Ha!
after 65,000 years we stood straight knowing full well our
own sovereignty
Vote No if you don’t know
spewed conniving influencers a smorgasbord of lies offered
What of the billions? Naysayers cried
ask Deloitte PwC KPMG Ernest & Young
public servant parasite stealing $27.4m racehorses
mansions gambling
Pt.5
Immigrants from abroad told
don’t worry about Blakfullas mate they’re in your way
My hubby born a refugee fancied
while Blakfulla tormented
Refugees fleeing
invasion
massacres
genocide
stolen children
Welcomed on to Whadyuk sanctuary
Their’s same kine like Blakfulla history
yet no empathy
Facebook friends excited by smorgasbord of lies keyboard warriors
friend or foe?
Naysayers wallow in self-pity at what?
their privilege denied to Blakfullas?
they cuss our First Peoples someone to blame
Naysayers will overcome racism and smugness
one day
Naysayers will overcome marginalising Blakfullas
one day
long after I’ve perished
The Referendum revealing!