Ngata Ngatanwarr Ngathuk ngat leenyong Tabitha Ngathuk Gunditjmara Welcome to the first edition of Blak Out! A magazine showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student excellence. We’re really excited to be bringing this edition to you. It was first imagined as a way to create a decolonised and dedicated space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to share their knowledge, opinions, art, craft and experiences with a wide audience of people both within the Indigenous student cohort and outside of it. We also hoped that it would provide an accessible space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to express themselves and to connect with each other through the sharing of stories…. and maybe disrupt some existing hegemonies along the way. Why Blak Out? We draw on the work of Destiny Deacon who first used the term ‘blak’ in her exhibition ‘Blak lik mi’ in 1991. In a subsequent exhibition, Deacon defined ‘blak’ as: ‘a term used by some Aboriginal people to reclaim historical, representational, symbolical, stereotypical and romanticised notions of Black or Blackness. Often used as ammunition or inspiration. This type of spelling may have been appropriated from American hip-hop or rap music’ We use blak out as the title of this takeover of Verse as an expression of taking back power and control of this colonial space. Now, more than ever, is a time for our voices to be heard. This is a crucible moment – a time of transformation and change, a time where our stories and truths should and must be elevated.
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There is strength in our collective voices, truth in our stories, and ancestral wisdom in our writings. This is just a tiny glimpse into the brilliance of our mob. Thanks to our incredible guest all Aboriginal editorial team for pulling this together. We also thank the Traditional Owners and Elders of the different nations we have all occupied across this country while pulling together this edition. We acknowledge that our ability to do this work in this space is leveraged off the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples from their lands. We remind you all that wherever you stand today on this great country, you are standing on stolen land. We have never ceded these lands….they always were, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands. yana poorrpa meerreeng mayapa meerreeng peeneeyt mayapa maar peeneeyt — Tabitha
