NAIDOC Week is a celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.
While usually held in July, this year, it is being held between 8-15 November 2020 and is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities but by Australians from all walks of life.
According to the official website, the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which “sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians”.
The original committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself.
There are several ways you can celebrate including by tuning in to a special Black Lives Matter collection on SBS World Movies which began airing nightly at 9:30 pm from Sunday, November 1.
The curation features films and documentaries from Australia and around the world and will shine a light on important Indigenous and Black stories.
Hosted by Indigenous actor Meyne Wyatt, who made headlines back in June when he delivered a powerful monologue on racism in Australia on ABC’s Q+A, the collection of movies “holds up a mirror to the world”, asking the question: “Do you like what you see?”
If you’re not able to sit down in front of the TV each night to watch a film, you can also celebrate with some home-grown podcasts you can listen to during NAIDOC Week on your way to work.
We’ve curated a list for you to sink your teeth into and honour the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Black Magic Woman
Hosted by Mundanara Bayles who was born and raised in Redfern (Sydney) Australia and currently lives in Queensland.
The Black Magic Woman Podcast is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly First Nations people from Australia and around the world sharing their stories. The podcast aims to highlight the diversity and resilience of First Nations peoples and Bayles hopes these stories will inspire her listeners and also create a better understanding of First Nations Peoples culture and history.
Listen here.
Talking With T
Talking with T is the talk show designed to Engage, Educate, Empower and Entertain its listeners with Trending Topics, Noted News, Interesting Interviews, Rising Artists and much more!
Hosted by Wiradjuri woman, law student and educator, Taylah Gray, the Podcast One series discusses the power of anger and how this emotion is often misconceived in today’s society.
Listen here.
Frontier War Stories
Boe Spearim is a Gamilaraay & Kooma radio host and podcaster who lives in Brisbane.
Frontier War Stories – a podcast dedicated to truth-telling about a side of Australian that has been left out of the history books.
In each episode, Boe will speak with different Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people about research, books and oral histories which document the first 140 years of conflict and resistance. These times are the Frontier Wars and these are our War Stories.
Listen here.
Thin Black Line
Presented by Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist Allan Clarke, Thin Black Line is a deep dive into what happened to Aboriginal teenager Daniel Yock, who died while in police custody.
“On a spring afternoon in Brisbane’s Musgrave Park, the 18-year-old traditional dancer and amateur boxer is drinking with his mates. But when a police van arrives, the mood suddenly changes, triggering a dramatic chain of events.”
His grieving family believe that not only could Daniel’s death have been prevented, but that he shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.
Listen to it here.
