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https://theconversation.com/vanessa-was-kidnapped-by-the-family-policing-system-aged-10-now-shes-fighting-for-other-first-nations-families-239217>
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Review: Long Yarn Short by Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts (UQP)
“When you take a child, you are taking sovereignty, their role, their
connection – you are taking whole communities that live inside that little
being,” writes Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts.
Her memoir,
Long Yarn Short, imprinted on my mind and heart. In a warm,
inviting voice, this proud Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul woman paints an
unflinchingly honest picture of her life as a child stolen by the state, at
just ten years old, in the mid-2000s. She describes being “tucked up in bed” by
her dad and “about to close [her] eyes” when it happened.
“I want you to imagine your dad going out onto the balcony, terrified,” she
writes. “I want you to hear him yelling, ‘Bub … Big girl. I am so sorry, but
they are coming to get you’.”
Turnbull-Roberts spent eight years in various out-of-home care placements
(foster care) in Sydney. Through this time, she fought to see her family
whenever she could, but it was mostly on restricted monthly supervised visits.
With great resilience, she refused to allow the state to steal her identity and
connection. At 18, when she aged out of the care system, she returned to
Bundjalung Country for the first time. On her return, she completed a law
degree at University of New South Wales, with the help of a scholarship that
allowed her to stay in student housing.
Now, in her role as the Australian Capital Territory’s Commissioner for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, the human
rights lawyer and Fulbright scholar fights for other First Nations children to
not face the same trauma she did. She wants to prevent them from being
“crossover children”, going from the foster care system to juvenile detention."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
