Society at the moment is going through a huge #BlackLivesMatter movement lately, and I am all for it. Not just seasonally due to the death of George Floyd, but all the time - every day. Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter. God created us equally, and to Him, we are all equally special. John 13:34 shares God's commandment for humanity "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another". God loved us by sacrificing His Son, Jesus, so that we can have an eternally redeemed relationship with our Heavenly Father. What are we doing to love our neighbour? All neighbours - of all races?
Thelma Plum, Better In Black
A fitting time for my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music assignment to be due, where I covered Thelma Plum's 'Better In Blak' where Thelma speaks of the racist and sexist criticism her and her culture face. I posted it on instagram (@emsmusicaladventures) to take part of the #BLM movement and bring awareness to how we can stop racism in Australia.
Here is the cover:
"God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right." (Acts 10:34-35)
About the song
If you're interested in Thelma's emotion and meaning behind the song, take a read of some research I did:
Thelma Plum is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist from Delungra, New South Wales. She is part of the Gamailaraay people, whose lands extend from NSW to South QLD; one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Australia! Her songs bring a fresh perspective to what it’s like to live as an Indigenous Australian in Australia, as she writes raw and honest lyrics that really captures the injustice she, and her people, live through. Thelma became the spokesperson for Indigenous Australians in the music industry, fighting for justice in all facets of life.
Her song, Better in Blak, speaks of the racist and sexist criticism her and her culture face. Speaking from personal experience, in the song Thelma states the injustice and then proceeds to ignore the racist comments to instead own her unique identity. In an interview with Triple J Thelma shared how the song was birthed. In May last year when Thelma was recording one of her songs in the recording studio, when she was being bombarded with many abusive messages… she told triple J that these messages were “Lots of three, four-letter words … Things that you would never say to another human being… When you have people sending you messages to kill yourself, calling you an ‘Abo’, ‘stupid bitch’, ‘slut’” Thelma said it felt, “f**king isolating.” She confesses to Triple J that her initial reaction was to “curl up into a ball and quit music forever”… but thankfully, instead, she pushed through and wrote the song, Better in Blak, where she owns her identity as a Gamilaraay people. Thelma says she is “so proud of that song. Not that I’m glad that this happened to me but I’m really grateful that I could take something that was so traumatic and turn it into something that is quite positive."
This song is a story of healing, courage and confidence despite the tragedies of racism that surround Indigenous peoples. Thelma reflects that “It was really, really hard … Writing and singing about those things that happen and how I felt at the time, it’s very healing for me.”