Author Bio:
Munya Andrews, Aunty Munya is a Bardi Elder originally from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Despite a socially disadvantaged background and not speaking for the first five years of her life, Munya has been an accomplished and influential voice for her community. As a public speaker, she is much sought after in Australia and abroad. Educated in Australia and the USA, Munya has degrees in anthropology and law. She has practised law in Victoria and New South Wales as a solicitor and barrister, including as a legal academic at the University of Melbourne and at Southern Cross University, teaching Indigenous legal subjects. Munya is equally well-versed in traditional laws, customs and practices. Like many Aboriginal people, Munya has learned to work and live in two worlds. Her dream is to bring them closer together, and cultural awareness is an invaluable tool in the process.
Carla Rogers, When most of her friends were having their gap year in Europe, Carla set off for the remote Kimberley, inspired by a longstanding desire to learn from our first nations people. It’s a journey she’s still on today. A Churchill fellowship in 2001 led to her founding evolve in 2005, before joining forces with Munya in 2011 to focus on closing the gap between black and white Australia. Carla is driven to inspire her fellow non-indigenous Australian’s to become passionate and effective allies to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Review:
“This is a very practical book and a great starting place to help people understand the issues involved in conciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal Australians. If you don’t know about our history (like the war for possession of the Australian soil over the last 230 years) it is very hard to have a decent conversation. And this is what this book is about, decency and practical conciliations” – Bruce Pascoe, Author, Dark Emu
“An essential primer on reconciliation and a practical guide for a kinder, more tolerant Australia. The authors understand that while Australians share this aspiration the enemy of action is not knowing where to start and not believing we can make a difference. The book provides a practical road map to the small steps we can all take, and in the process is revelatory and empowering. The writing is conversational, authentic and wise. It is a valuable reference, an eminently useful book that you will return to again and again. It unpack the big issues, and is embedded in universal values providing a framework for deeper learning. It draws us in close with information about Aboriginal culture, the language and spirituality instilling a sense of awe and shared price in who we are as a nation. It is hard-hitting on the importance of listening and bearing witness. The book more than delivers as an action plan, it opens our hearts and minds” – The Honourable Justice Helen Wood, Supreme Court of Tasmania.
