Dark Mofo 2019: Review on Dark and Dangerous thoughts

In his Dark + Dangerous Thoughts conversation last night, indigenous commentator Stan Grant aired his thoughts on the politics of identity and race relations.

TWO sessions at Dark and Dangerous Thoughts 2019 delve into the politics of identity and the systemic and cultural frameworks that impact on Indigenous Australians. It must be recognised that the festival does so without palawa representation on the stage, which caused some disquiet among Tasmania’s Aboriginal community.

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Race relations between colonisers and First Peoples are simultaneously complex and simple.

Stan Grant’s Keynote “Australia Day” and Saturday’s panel “Are you Black Enough?” translate the absurd simplicity of colonising processes in a way that highlights how far modern Australia has to go. The two sessions, linked by their Aboriginality, also highlight the complexity of diverse Indigenous communities, geography, class and generational differences.

Stan Grant shares with the audience the historical infrastructure that underpins the modern approach to ‘Closing the Gap’. From records describing terra nullius to the posters in dormitories at missions requesting men “to think white, act white, be white”, Grant urges us to consider the deliberate invisibility of First Nations Peoples. In his keynote ‘Australia Day” he pleads a case for a people’s movement to prod the government into action on next steps such as Treaty and Constitutional Recognition.

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In Saturdays panel, facilitated by Daniel Browning, rapper and uber nerd Briggs, writer Nayuka Gorrie and Stan Grant dive into the politics of identity in a session titled “Are You Black Enough?” In a session peppered with sharp, insightful humour, the panel jostle with the tensions between power and identity. They discuss the trap of self-identifying in a singular way and what can result when that singular identity is weaponised for ideological and political purposes.

Race relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia are complex. The two sessions at Dark and Dangerous Thoughts dip a toe into the water of explaining why, but it’s the unanswered questions they leave us with that will ultimately inspire our next moves.

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