Afternoon, mates. So in regards to my sharing that video yesterday, I want to clarify that my post was NOT about Josh Thomas, or any of the White people on that panel.

This is not about Josh. This is not about the year (2016) in which that event took place. This is about the broken, racist society in which we live, the way that racist society dictates who gets to tell stories, and how that panel is a part of and reflects these issues.

That is not to exclude individual blame - we are all responsible for our own self education and decolonising our brainwashed minds and unconscious biases. If you're going to be hateful towards the people on that panel, what you should DESPISE is THE AUSTRALIAN ARTS INDUSTRY.

The Arts in Australia is complacent because it's run by White liberal moderates who drip feed BIPOC tidbits of opportunity while still maintaining a White Supremacy. Panels like this, while extremely shortsighted and embarrassing, treat symptoms. Not the cause.

Model minorities can get lost in this rhetoric too; we can be blinded by the opps afforded to us and side with the White-led industry bc the fear of not working again is v real. (BIPOC knew what being cancelled meant before it became a thing.) But: think about WHY we're fearful.

The very notion of "diversity" and "inclusion" only exists in relativity to an overarching system of Supremacy. "Diversity" and "inclusion" CENTRE Whiteness.

For most of my career to date I've thought the best course of action is to sneak my way in and infiltrate from within, like a beautiful trojan horse. But now I see that that is not enough.

I don't have answers. I don't think anyone does because if we did we could have changed things by now. But we can't do nothing. This is a turning point. America is good at being angry. Australia is good at sweeping things under the carpet. STOP SWEEPING. CLEAN THE FUCKING RUG.

BIPOC are exhausted having to explain, receiving lip service, and then ending back at this point. It's why there's such a talent drain to the States.

(Notice how when our Remi Hiis, Chris Pangs, Geraldine Viswanathans, and Charmaine Bingwas make it big overseas, we claim them as our own, when they needed to *leave* Australia to even be seen.) We need our own stories about ourselves in our country.

To finish, I don't think this needs to be said, but I probably should say it. We aren't seeking another Supremacy to run this industry. We're seeking EQUITY. Thanks for reading!