This description is derived from notes taken during class, the university’s recording of the lecture and my memories of the session.

L1 begins this week’s class on leadership and activism by pointing out that ABC will be screening a documentary on Aboriginal activist John Maynard in November. After giving some general information about the discourse on Aboriginal activism, she describes the way in which a particular governor treated Aboriginal people and how an Aboriginal woman named Barrangaroo reacted to this behaviour. In order to tell the story of Barrangaroo, L1 refers to a particular marine about whom she also gives some information. {Click here for analysis} After talking about an argument Barrangaroo had with her husband, L1 compares their relationship to her own. She also notes that a site near Sydney harbour will soon be called Barrangaroo.

L1 then gives some more general information about Aboriginal activism, before turning to the story of Yagan, an Aboriginal man from the colonial past. As Barrangaroo as well as Yagan were already part of earlier lectures, L1 refers back to those sessions, reminding the students of the aspects which were already discussed. She then shows a video about the repatriation of Yagan’s remains which also introduces the discourse of Yagan as a hero. For a long time, L1 says, it was impossible to see him as a martyr because there officially never was an invasion. She then reads out a poem which connects Yagan to a recent topic in order to depict the attempt to bring colonial freedom fighter’s into contemporary life. {Click here for analysis}

She also again mentions William Cooper and his activism against Kristallnacht, showing a different video this time, before moving on to another campaign Cooper was part of. Again, she stresses the significance this has today. She then presents a number of other popular Aboriginal people from diverse backgrounds and from the past as well as the present. She talks about their actions and the criticism they had to face which was often linked to very common debates and issues.

Before ending the lecture, L1 says that she is happy to give short extensions for the essay which is due soon in cases of emergency.

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