Young people working for change

I am both a practical and impractical person. My impracticality is because my parents have been able to support me in that. I couldn’t have had that freedom without them. Some people say that everyone’s born equal. That’s not the case. I believe in social equity - that people are different and we don’t all have access to the same opportunities. I’m lucky that I’ve had my parent’s support behind me.

MMD: What about similarities between the generations?

TL: We have some core values. Our concept of family is that if you’re mob, you’re mob. Doesn’t matter if someone is a distant relation - if they’re part of the mob, they belong.

MMD: What about political views?

TL: My politics are more formed than my parents. I’ve been arguing with my mum since high school. She used to argue that we should go back to the 50s and I thought otherwise. I thought she had a misplaced notion of innocence. Mum learns now from watching Living Black - she gets all fired up. She’s having a new education. For me, I’ve always liked the quote “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.” I think that it applies.

MMD: Has your work with Living Black exposed you to many different people and communities?

TL: I’m so privileged in my job - being welcomed into communities. Doors are opened - I can spend time with people and their families and get to discuss things they wouldn’t normally talk about. Being in that position, you have to be very careful and follow protocol.

There’s a difference I believe between journalism and Indigenous journalism but I’m not sure what that is. Indigenous journalism is still finding itself and will continue to as there are more Indigenous journalists.

In my view there are core values in Indigenous journalism which complement journalistic ethics - they are Indigenous ethics. It’s like the notion of Indigenous human rights versus universal human rights. Concerns about Indigenous media coverage aren’t new - people like Marcia Langton and Lester Bostock have published on this in the past and there are now guidelines for mainstream media to follow. Unfortunately those that do are in the minority. I think that as more Indigenous media is created you will see the difference in Indigenous ethics and ways of storytelling.

MMD: How has your involvement in international networks changed your understandings of youth culture?

TL: The more I’ve networked I’ve found that Indigenous peoples globally have so much in common - which isn’t about being united in victimhood. I think that the concept of being united in victimhood is wrong.

Although Indigenous peoples I’ve met have had similar experiences of colonisation – with deliberate acts dealt against Indigenous Peoples for the purpose of dispossession, I’ve also found that we share similar practices of culture and respect for land and life.