Creative Equity Toolkit

Gary Foley: Advice for white Indigenous activists in Australia

First Nations historian, activist and leader, Gary Foley, explains the do's and don't's of white activism.

'If people are serious about wanting to become involved in the struggle for justice, the first thing you need to do is not go and talk to any blackfellas at all, really, you need to look in the mirror - you need to look at yourself, you need to look at yourself, you need to think hard and fast about who you are and make sure you haven't got psychological identity problems of your own.'

How did rock music get so white?

Professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and Slate music critic Jack Hamilton interviewed on how rock and roll changed from an inter-racial expression to the soundtrack of whiteness.

‘Pat Boone covering Little Richard is probably the most egregious example of this. “But he was able to get his music played on radio stations that wouldn't play the black originators of that music and he was someone who almost objectively made much worse versions of that than the originals.”’

How to be a good Indigenous ally

Checklist of seven actions that non-Indigenous people can take to support Australian First Nations communities, including 'preference our voices' and 'be ok with not always being part of the conversation'.

'We need good allies. We are only three per cent of the Australian population. We can’t raise the profile of issues affecting us without our allies. But what does a good ally look like?'

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Video in which Ibram X. Kendi introduces his ground-breaking book 'How to be an Antiracist'.