If You Posted A Black Square On Instagram During BLM, I’ll See You At An Invasion Day Rally
Instead of empty gestures, show up to a rally and support Indigenous people.
In June last year during the Black Live Matter movement, a vast amount of people all around so-called “Australia” posted black squares on Instagram — a show of supposed solidarity with First Nations people that blacked out the app for days. If you were one of those well-meaning people, then now is the time to commit to that display of allyship, and actually actively stand alongside the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Turn up to an Invasion Day rally and show that solidarity beyond the useless gesture of a black square — fight for justice, and be a real, not performative, ally.
The Black Lives Matter movement become a globalised event following the murder of George Floyd by prison guards in the USA. Protests and demonstrations were observed all across the US. In our country, many people were unable to see that we face the same issues stemming from racism right here in this colony.
White folks started making statements such as “I’m glad things aren’t like this in Australia”. The thing is, things are like that here — in fact, in some ways things are worse here. Many Aboriginal people, myself included, took to social media to express our justified anger over the hypocrisy of these statements. For more information you can check out this article I wrote in June.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community embraced the Black Lives Matter movement, hosting our own rallies and events working to stop Bla(c)k deaths in custody here in so-called “Australia”. And in response came allies in all shapes and forms. The Black Lives Matter protests were bigger than we’d ever seen before, a vast difference from rallies I’ve attended in the past. Historically, rallies to stop Bla(c)k deaths in custody have been community affairs, with a small number of non-Indigenous allies. Everyone has always been welcome, yet, often not many attended.
However, with the Black Lives Matter movement receiving widespread attention on both social media and mainstream media, the cause suddenly became “popular”, and with this came the performative allies with their performative actions.
One of these such actions was the flood of well-meaning, but thoroughly misguided action of posting images of black squares on Instagram in a supposed display of solidarity with the Bla(c)k community. The actual purpose of these squares seemed relatively murky, and very much to be an attempt at alleviating white guilt. “I’m a good white person, I’ve solved racism with my black square, my work here is done”.
The issue here is that these actions are empty gestures. Not only did these posts not help the movement — they actually erased Bla(c)k voices by filling up people’s feeds with black squares posted by white people, blocking out important information, silencing Bla(c)k people. What allies failed to recognise at this moment was that activism and allyship is not just a performative action.
It’s not posting a square on Instagram. It’s not writing an empty tweet. It’s not attending one big popular rally because it’s “trending” and taking a picture of yourself there. Allyship is an ongoing project, it doesn’t stop, and as an ally you should always be striving to better your support for Bla(c)k people.
So, why am I bringing this all up now?
Tomorrow is Invasion Day (known in the colony as “Australia Day”) and a whole lot of allies have been very quiet since they posted their black squares. In fact, many who supported the Black Lives Matter movement proudly on social media are even posting about celebrating “Australia Day” and having a public holiday. This is a huge concern.
Bla(c)k lives are not a trend. We don’t just pop up once in a while for some rallies and social media posts. This is our everyday existence. Our lives are still at risk, they were before June, they are now and they will continue to be unless allies actually step up to the plate and practice real allyship.
So, What Is Real Allyship?
The first step to being a real ally is recognising that Bla(c)k lives matter every day of the year. You need to recognise that in so-called “Australia”, you are always on stolen unceded land of First Nations people. You need to recognise that as a coloniser/settler you benefit from the oppressive systems governing this land that hold Bla(c)k folk back, and you need to be working to dismantle these systems.
You need to be standing and marching alongside First Nations communities in the fight for justice. You need to recognise that this battle is on-going, it doesn’t stop with a hashtag, these are real lives, real communities who have been fighting this fight for centuries. We all must acknowledge that settler colonialism is an ongoing structure and that sovereignty was never ceded. There is no justice without First Nations justice.
True allies continue to support the fight for justice and this includes ALWAYS speaking up against injustices toward Bla(c)k people, ALWAYS turning up to rallies, ALWAYS paying the rent, ALWAYS committing to educating yourself about historical and current issues facing Bla(c)k people. This process never ends for a true ally, it’s an ongoing process and a continued effort.
What Does This Mean For Allies On Invasion Day?
January 26th is is tomorrow. To many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, January 26th is a painful day. This day recognises the loss of sovereignty to our land, the loss of family, loss of the right to practice our culture. It marks the beginning of the massacres, of genocide, of children being stolen, of ongoing violence.
This is a day that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community have to endure every year — trauma is re-activated, emotions are high and a huge sadness sweeps across the community as we come together to mourn and heal in the morning. Meanwhile, white people use this day, the day that began our suffering, to have parties, get drunk, have a barbeque and ignore the atrocities.
This is a beautiful country and we should celebrate it, but not on this day and not while the violence toward First Nations people is still ongoing at an alarmingly high rate. We cannot truly have equality in this country unless we have equality for everyone, meaning full sovereignty for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the return of all stolen land and the abolishment of colonial structures.
How Can I Be A Good Ally On Invasion Day?
- Show up to your local Invasion Day rally if you are able to physically attend. If you are not able to attend due to illness, disability or other factors – watch the livestream, signal boost online and/or be an emergency contact for mates in attendance
- Elevate First Nations voices both on and offline! Support us but don’t speak for us or over us. Share our posts, share our articles, let us speak, hold space for us. Your job as an ally is to create space for us, give us an audience, hand us the microphone and then step back to let us speak and be heard.
- Show your support in person and online. Make sure everyone in your life knows that you are on the right side of history, that you support the fight for first Nations sovereignty and leadership.
- Check in on the First Nations friends in your lives. January is an incredibly difficult time for us mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Every year we go through an entire month off re-traumatisation, of debate around our suffering followed by watching people celebrate the genocide of our ancestors. This takes a toll on our health in many ways. We need support. Sit with us, hold us, listen to us, hold us while we cry, make us dinner, make us a cuppa, hold space for our anger… just be there for us.
- Pay for an Uber/taxi/ola for us to and from the Invasion day rally if needed. Public transport is not safe for First Nations folk on this day, it is also inaccessible to many in our community and unaffordable to many.
- Attend Yabun! Yabun is a yearly celebration of First Nations survival and culture. It’s held at Victoria Park in Sydney every year and everyone is welcome. This year it’ll be a little different due to COVID, it’ll be held online. This means you can attend from anywhere around “Australia”. So please tune in and celebrate First Nations survival!
- Buy from Blak owned businesses. You can find a list of Blak businesses here. This is not an exhaustive list so please also do your own research and follow First Nations folk on social media to discover more!
- Donate to Indigenous campaigns and organisations. You can find a list here.
- Follow First Nations folks on social media. A list here.
- Pay the rent! You can donate to this cause here: https://paytherent.net.au/ BUT you can also pay the rent by supporting Blak folk in your everyday life. Give money to homeless Blak folk, help your Blak mate out with their bills and medical costs, offer compensation when one of us educates you.
- Educate those around you, don’t always let this fall onto First Nations folk, it’s exhausting. Tell your racist uncle why Invasion Day shouldn’t be celebrated, explain to your mates why Indigenous sovereignty is important, keep the conversation open and don’t back down.
Hayden advocates for the Transgender, Disabled and First Nations communities through his roles in various activist groups and organisations. He is also a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney.