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Am I Black Enough for You?

10 Years On

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Am I Black Enough for You?

By: Dr Anita Heiss
Narrated by: Dr Anita Heiss
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About this listen

 I'm Aboriginal. I'm just not the Aboriginal person a lot of people want or expect me to be.

What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obsessed with notions of identity? Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate advocate for Aboriginal literacy, rights and representation, was born a member of the Wiradyuri nation of central New South Wales but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school.

In this heartfelt and revealing memoir, told in her distinctive, wry style, with large doses of humour, Anita Heiss gives a firsthand account of her experiences as a woman with a Wiradyuri mother and Austrian father. Anita explains the development of her activist consciousness, how she strives to be happy and healthy, and the work she undertakes every day to ensure the world she leaves behind will be more equitable and understanding than it is today.

This audiobook includes an exclusive conversation between Anita Heiss and her publisher from Penguin Random House Australia, Meredith Curnow.©2022 Dr Anita Heiss (P)2022 Penguin Random House Australia Indigenous Studies Social Sciences Specific Demographics
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A memoir that opens your mind and challenges your thinking. My favourite stories are about her family, especially her dad. Reading about experiences of racism were sad and yet not surprising - I think there is an appetite for truth telling, I’m just not sure how long people will have to wait. 🕊

Honest, enlightening, and inspiring

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Thank you so much for this. I'm sharing this book and the important messages I received whilst reading it.

Inspiring, funny, informative.

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Beautifully told story and a voice that needs to be heard. So generous, thoughtful and intelligent.

Marvellous

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Dr Anita Heiss made me stop and think and feel what it means to be person with Indigenous heritage in this country at this time. She works so hard and selflessly gives herself to us in an effort help us understand the mirade of realities Indigenous people have to face everyday. I will be reading black again without a doubt.

An amazing woman with a wonderful voice

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Anita Heiss is an absolute national treasure. I’m really glad this is a high school text, I wish we had had this book in high school *slaps head*. I’m going to spruik the crap out of this book….

Fabulous.

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Everything Anita Heiss writes is fantastic, and "Am I Black Enough for You?: 10Years On" is no exception.

Heiss is a generous spirited, insightful and open-minded writer. She is a proud advocate of First Nations people, and particularly the masterful fiction writing being produced by First Nations writers in Australia today. Her own writing is such a pleasure to read.

As an audible book, this reading of her autobiographical reflection by herself works very well, as it is great to hear her read it in such a communicative and heart-felt way.

I highly recommend this book to all Australians. Heiss circumnavigates a myriad of experiences she has had of acceptance, racism, joy, hardship, survival and flourishing, and unpicks them all with insight and understanding. I read this book when it first came out, and have really enjoyed and learnt a lot from listening to this reworking of the text.

I'm a secondary English teacher by trade, and think this would make an outstanding book for study at school in senior English classes. In Chapter 24, "20 Reasons you should read Blak", Heiss makes 20 compelling, different arguments for "Reading Blak". I need no convincing however, as, for me, the quality of Blak writing in Australia is enough. First Nations literature should be taught at every year of schooling in Australia. There would be so much gained, and nothing lost, through doing this.

Brilliant text by brilliant writer!

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I have recommended this book to everyone within my workplace. As an Aboriginal Australian of mixed heritage, so many things within this book resonated with me. I have given my hard copy to my mother to read, someone who also grew up as a First Nations woman in Sydney NSW during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Many truths experienced by so many, not just Anita. Thank you for sharing your story with us Dr Anita Heiss.

An important book for ALL Australians

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.