And From All the Lands on Earth We Come.
I hope you'll watch and listen to the words of this powerful song (originally written by The Seekers), as this Australia Day, 26 January, draws to a close. For many, the day is one of celebration of our nation (and for some, indeed, outrageously so), but for so many of our First Nation People, it is a reminder of their invasion and of generations of attempts to deny their rights, their land, their culture and their history; a day when Aboriginal people mourn their predecessors, who suffered and perished under colonisation, and to reflect on the inequality for many First Nation People that continues to this day.
As in recent Australia Days, I chose to quietly reflect and to listen to the many stirring, yet more meaningful, of our Australian songs, like the one in the above video, rather than celebrating the day when Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived with the first fleet in Sydney Cove. It is time to educate our children and grandchildren about our nation's true history, warts and all, and to perhaps seriously think about selecting a more fitting date and creating more fitting times, when all of our nation can truly celebrate a coming together in mutual respect and harmony. For only with the task of educating our young can we hope and trust that they will learn to think of our land and our people in terms of their diversity of origin and ethnicity, and redraw our time line back closer to 60,000 years, rather than to the year 1788.
We are one, but we are many,
And from all the lands on earth we come,
We'll share a dream and sing with one voice,
"I am, you are, we are Australian".
I know that it's sometimes difficult to get you, my readers, to take time out to watch and listen to videos like the one above, but, if I may, I'll also ask you to listen to the voices of our children, our hope for the future, who have not as yet learned our ethnic prejudices, as they sing a multi-lingual version of, “I Still Call Australia Home”.
And finally, here's an extract from a poem written by Sandra Gaal Hayman.
I am not black,
I am not white,
I am not wrong,
I am not right.
Proud and true is who we are,
Some from here and some from far,
Help each other the best we can,
That makes us ALL Australian.
Source: Australia Day - Invasion Day - Creative Spirits, retrieved from https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-day-invasion-day.
🤔
http://ken-boddie.squarespace.com
The author of the above, Ken Boddie, besides being a sometime poet and occasional writer, is an enthusiastic photographer, rarely leisure-travelling without his Canon, and loves to interact with other like-minded people with diverse interests.
Ken's three day work week (part time commitment) as a consulting engineer allows him to follow his photography interests, and to plan trips to an ever increasing list of countries and places of scenic beauty and cultural diversity.
in Café beBee
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Comments
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #27
Earth’s song indeed, Fay. We could all aspire to follow the words of The Seekers and Sandra Gaal Hayman, although I fear this is a Utopian dream.
😢
Fay Vietmeier
2 years ago #26
🍯@Ken Boddie
Dear Ken ..
Thank you for sharing the beautiful songs & poem
This could be earths song:
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We'll share a dream and sing with one voice
I am not black,
I am not white,
I am not wrong,
I am not right.
Let us .. Help each other the best we can
Jerry Fletcher
2 years ago #25
😉😁😉
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #24
Good one , @Jerry Fletcher. The camel was, of course, designed by a committee. Probable the same committee that designed the duck-billed platypus. 😂🤣😂
Jerry Fletcher
2 years ago #23
That depends on whether you are working with an individual or a committee…usually.
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #22
Yes, @Jerry Fletcher , but we have a helluva lot of sh_t to shovel before we find it … and we might be looking for a camel rather than a pony. 🤔
Jerry Fletcher
2 years ago #21
And like the man said…There has to be a pony in here somewhere!
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #20
Some believe we come from the Dreamtime, @John Rylance , but then why are we so intent on creating nightmares?
John Rylance
2 years ago #19
There are many synonyms for Utopia.
All of which suggest the ideal life.
However the most cogent is Erewhon, which is an anagram of Nowhere, highlighting the fact a perfect place to live does not exist in reality.
Still we can all dream on, as Utopia is the epitome of a Dream World.
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #18
Interesting word, utopia, @Lada 🏡 Prkic , a perfect imaginary place. We’ve come a long way, homo non-sapiens, yet I wonder how much further we can go, and if we’ll ever embrace diversity, not only in ourselves but in our environment? We have the knowledge and the means, yet …
Lada 🏡 Prkic
2 years ago #17
Ken, I remember your post from the last year, "Australia Day or Invasion Day?" about why many Australians stand up for changing the date of Australia Day. A post like yours is eye-opening for those who want to listen and confront prejudices. Talking about it and being willing to engage is always the first step. Understanding necessitates acknowledging civilizations and cultures that came before us and have historically been marginalized and treated disgracefully.
A world that embraces ethnic and societal differences is still a utopia. That says everything about the human race.
Pascal Derrien
2 years ago #16
think you are something there :-)
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #15
Perhaps, @Pascal Derrien , if we tell people that the brain is an app, they’ll start to use it? 🤗
Pascal Derrien
2 years ago #14
Intelligent post there arent that many nowadays
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #13
No worries!
Paul Walters
2 years ago #12
Onya !!
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #11
You’re right, @Franci 🐝Eugenia Hoffman, beBee Brand Ambassador . Classrooms and conversation rather than boxing rings and biffo.
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #10
🧗♂️🏔 Well said, @Greg Rolfe !
Isn’t it so often the case, that the harder the climb, the better the view?
Greg Rolfe
2 years ago #9
@Ken Boddie, it is much easier to fall but the reward of climbing is the view. In this case the view of a better understanding of those we live with and can learn from. I expect a view worth the climb.
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #8
At least you and I are on the same page, @don kerr , while many others have chosen an entirely different book.
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #7
Indeed, @Greg Rolfe . Perhaps the challenge is to learn to rise above others and embrace our ethnic and societal differences, rather than fall into the pit of prejudice dug repeatedly by our ancestors? It’s easier to fall than climb.
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #6
Thanks, @Jerry Fletcher , for your kind words and acknowledgment of wit. I’m reminded of an ageing aunt who said to me when I was a child, “If wit was sh_t, young Kenneth, you’d be constipated”. It appears that many years of verbal laxatives have been metaphorically imbibed since then. 😂🤣😂
Ken Boddie
2 years ago #5
The trouble with bees, @John Rylance , is that so many flit around and leave the hives, never to return. We appear to be a diminishing creation. 😥
don kerr
2 years ago #4
Greetings @Ken Boddie What a meaningful and timely piece. I appreciate your insight and perspective. I am currently writing blogs revolving around Truth & Reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous peoples and to gain this additional insight from Down Under is genuinely helpful. We have a woeful record in Canada and one which we have quite successfully disavowed for decades as we permitted the ‘Empire’ and the ‘Church’ to disguise mistreatment under the cloak of advancement. It is all bollocks however we bought it for years. Only by genuine acknowledgement of the painful truth can we hope to create an environment where our children will honour the civilizations and cultures that came well before the ‘enlightened’ world intervened. Thanks for sharing.
Greg Rolfe
2 years ago #3
Thank you for your thoughts and videos. A reason to ponder and listen, to stop and consider. Value.
Jerry Fletcher
2 years ago #2
Ken, At the heart of each of the Bees that I follow is something you demonstrate here: Empathy and the courage to celebrate it. Your witty kind heart makes reading your posts essential. Thank you for sharing a a way of looking at the world that I wish a few more of my countrymen would make their own.
John Rylance
2 years ago #1
Thank you for sharing these thoughts. Two inspirational videos.
I think others should adapt the I am you are we are by adding their own words to the end. It makes a great rallying call.
Iam, You are, We are Bees.