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Black and Blue
- A Memoir of Racism and Resilience
- Narrated by: Tamala Shelton
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
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truth, just truth, the true story if Australia.
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This is a difficult piece to write. It cuts closer to the bone than most of what I have written; closer to my bones, through my blood and flesh to the bones of truth and country; there is truth here, not disguised but in the open, and that truth hurts. Colonisation in Australia is not over. Colonisation is a process, not an event - and the after-effects will continue while there are still people to remember it.
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When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Edenglassie, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulanyin dreams of taking his bride home to Yugambeh Country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice. Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny. Together they care for obstinate centenarian Grannie Eddie, and sparks fly, but not always in the right direction. What nobody knows is how far the legacies of the past will reach into their modern lives.
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Great honest storytelling
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Great work, Eddy.
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Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray
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Gundagai, 1852. The powerful Murrumbidgee River surges through town leaving death and destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder that while the river can give life, it can just as easily take it away. Wagadhaany is one of the lucky ones. She survives. But is her life now better than the fate she escaped? Forced to move away from her miyagan, she walks through each day with no trace of dance in her step, her broken heart forever calling her back home to Gundagai.
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Disappointing
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The remarkable stories in Born Into This are eye-opening, razor-sharp and entertaining, often all at once. From an Aboriginal ranger trying to instil some pride in wayward urban teens on the harsh islands off the coast of Tasmania, to those scraping by on the margins of White society railroaded into complex and compromised decisions, Adam Thompson presents a powerful indictment of colonialism and racism.
Publisher's Summary
The story of an Aboriginal woman who worked as a police officer and fought for justice both within and beyond the Australian police force.
A proud Gunai/Kurnai woman, Veronica Gorrie grew up dauntless, full of cheek and a fierce sense of justice. After watching her friends and family suffer under a deeply compromised law-enforcement system, Gorrie signed up for training to become one of a rare few Aboriginal police officers in Australia. In her 10 years in the force, she witnessed appalling institutional racism and sexism and fought past those things to provide courageous and compassionate service to civilians in need, many Aboriginal themselves.
With a great gift for storytelling and a wicked sense of humour, Gorrie frankly and movingly explores the impact of racism on her family and her life, the impact of intergenerational trauma resulting from cultural dispossession and the inevitable difficulties of making her way in the white and male-dominated workplace of the police force.
Black and Blue is a memoir of remarkable fortitude and resilience, told with wit, wisdom and great heart.
Critic Reviews
"Loved it. I read it in one sitting - couldn't put it down." (Melissa Lucashenko, author of Too Much Lip)
"This is the read for Australia now...it crackles with urgency. Honestly. I was left with a startling clarity after reading Black and Blue." (Rick Morton, author of My Year of Living Vulnerably)
"Women who have historically been silenced: now more than ever, we need to be reading their stories." (Jessie Tu, Sydney Morning Herald)
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What listeners say about Black and Blue
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Umma Ia
- 06-12-2022
One woman’s emotional forever
Some of the reading is extremely frustrating with pauses and word emphasis in the wrong place but sentence structure by author is correct as indicated by the following punctuation. The narrators lovely calm voice however stops me from being overly bothered by it.
Ms Gorrie I hope you find your inner peace, lose your Mumma guilt (you forgave your own mother for much harsher injustice she laid at your door you should absolutely forgive yourself) while retaining your amazing passion
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- Anonymous User
- 09-11-2022
challenging and brilliant
I loved this book, even though it was a challenging story to listen to.
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- Normo McSamuels
- 20-06-2022
Poor choice of voice talent
Tamala Shelton reading the audio is all breathy and zen like she’s reading a poem or running a yoga class rather than reading a book. It’s quite hard to listen to.
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- Currybreath
- 28-04-2022
Brutally honest and Poignant
Veronica generously offers her unique and insightful black and blue lived experiences that I found at times bone chilling sobering, heartbreakingly warming and downright bloody funny. Such an imperative read for all, especially non-Indigenous Australians.
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- ANTON P
- 27-04-2022
Real Resilience
What a story, sad, inspiring , thought provoking and very real. wow, it just me thinking how can you cope with this experience.
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- Ian
- 05-04-2022
A must read
A grueling account of racism in Australia and the Australian police force - hard to listen to... surely much harder to write. A must read for all Australians so we can make a better fairer place for all.
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- Anonymous User
- 23-03-2022
A must read!
This book was phenomenal! The author is an amazing person, I am in awe of her and everything she has survived and accomplished. The book is confronting and highlights the deep generational impacts of racism and the ongoing struggle against racist institutions in Australia.
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- Hannah McCauley
- 02-03-2022
Harrowing and powerful.
An at times harrowing account of personal experiences that have no doubt shaped the woman the author has become. The underlying themes of love, resilience and forgiveness made it possible to see this book to the end. Thank you to the author for sharing her story.
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- Amazon Customer
- 22-02-2022
A devastating and incredibly important memoir
A devastating and incredibly important memoir. I had to pull over as I was driving, put my head in my hands and sob more than once, bearing witness to this beautiful, raw and often tragic life and family story. Ultimately, this is an unsentimental, genuine and brilliantly told story of the strength of an incredible woman's love for her children, family, community and identity and most importantly, for herself.
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- Sarah Bacaller
- 13-02-2022
Humbling story, heartfelt narration
By the time she was 25, Veronica Gorrie had experienced enough for three lifetimes — and that was before she began policing. A gutsy, gut wrenching and very important story, with a heartfelt and fully invested narration by Tamara Shelton.
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- Michael
- 15-07-2022
If white cop would be regarded as a whinger.
Certainly would have won nothing. But because she is black she wins awards. She should have been booked for offences committed while working as a police officer. I see nothing to make this book worthy of any commendation.
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- A Star Reviews
- 30-07-2022
A life in uniform as an Aboriginal Australian
Always interested in titles about indigenous peoples and Aboriginal Australians in particular, I was keen to purchase this book. This is the third audiobook I've now listened through to with this narrator and as ever she did a good job keeping the listener engaged.
I found the story itself interesting, with no great surprises, the author by book's end realises the establishment does not favour indigenous peoples, not even if they try to inspire positive change within their own community by joining the force. It's a story of racism personified that in my experience blankets the globe when it comes to conquered peoples in colonised nations.
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- paula
- 28-12-2021
Painfully inspirational
I listened to Veronica’s book in one session - I was engrossed, elated and saddened that our brothers and sisters are still being othered.
This is an amazing human story that hat everyone should read. Not only for the inequities that our most vulnerable experience but also for the courage, persistence and resilience of a sister, mother and fellow citizen.
Thanks for sharing your story in such compelling, eloquent and vivid prose.
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