Another Day in the Colony

A ground-breaking work - and a call to arms - that exposes the ongoing colonial violence experienced by First Nations people.In this collection of deeply insightful and powerful essays, Chelsea Watego examines the ongoing and daily racism faced by First Nations peoples in so-called Australia. Rather than offer yet another account of 'the Aboriginal problem', she theorises a strategy for living in a society that has only ever imagined Indigenous peoples as destined to die out.Drawing on her own experiences and observations of the operations of the colony, she exposes the lies that settlers tell about Indigenous people. In refusing such stories, Chelsea narrates her own- fierce, personal, sometimes funny, sometimes anguished. She speaks not of fighting back but of standing her ground against colonialism in academia, in court and in the media. It's a stance that takes its toll on relationships, career prospects and even the body.Yet when told to have hope, Watego's response rings clear- Fuck hope. Be sovereign.

Chelsea Watego's debut essay collection Another Day in the Colony documents the sustained racism First Peoples suffer in this continent. Through critical race scholarship, memoir and archival imagery a powerful assemblage is built, echoing Talkin' Up to the White Woman: Indigenous women and feminism by Distinguished Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson. In recent years a glut of anti-racist books has surged, peaking after 2020's Black Lives Matter movement. Another Day in the Colony is an urgent departure from this tokenistic trend. Too often anti-racist polemics are co-opted-into conferences, popular books, cultural awareness training, inclusion policies, etc.-cannibalised by well-meaning whites whose participation hides their ongoing complicity in the colony. Watego is acutely aware that this damages rather than affirms Indigenous self-determination and ongoing sovereignty. She writes: 'I appreciate that there is a literary market for fictions of Black problems, but this is not a book for colonisers, or those aspiring to share the same status as them.' Another Day in the Colony retaliates and reclaims Black stories to fortify Black people and futures. Watego writes that 'the Black writer and scholar is not a diversity hire or disadvantage project-we are sovereign subjects who are meant to be of service to our people'. Without doubt this phenomenal collection will service First Nation communities. Its timeliness may also shift false narratives that have reinforced the colony for too long. Timmah Ball is a writer and reviewer of Ballardong Noongar heritage. She speaks to Chelsea Watego here.

Chelsea Watego is a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman born and raised on Yuggera country. First trained as an Aboriginal health worker, she is an Indigenist health humanities scholar, prolific writer and public intellectual. When not referred to as 'Vern and Elaine's baby', she is also Kihi, Maya, Eliakim, Vernon and George's mum.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.