I met Anita Heiss nearly a decade ago when she came to the US on a tour of colleges and universities as part of the BCA Peace and Justice Lecture Series. At the time I was Program Officer at BCA and I was charged with driving Anita and Michael McDaniel, a professor from Macquarie University to several of the colleges for their speaking engagements.
We spoke about many things but what stood out clearly to me was her passion for indigenous literature/rights and for writing. In Australia she is a nationally renowned author who has written books such as I'm Not Racist, but..., Anthology of Australian Aboriginal Literature (co-written with Peter Minter), Am I Black Enough for you? and Who Am I?: The Diary of Mary Talence, 1937.
Thanks to Anita, I was inspired to see "Rabbit Proof Fence," a movie about the "Stolen Generation"--Aboriginal children taken from their families to be trained to be assimilated into white Australian culture. This is a powerful film, but I will devote a future post to discussing it.
The thing I like about Anita is that she is so dedicated to the causes she believes in. Here are just a few of the:
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation
National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy
I could go on and on, but instead, I will just direct you to Anita's website: www.anitaheiss.com.
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