Guest posts I & II - North Coast Voices

I was invited by the North Coast Voices to contribute to their blog - on any subject - and I was happy to take up their invitation. 
North Coast Voices were one of the first online groups to show an early interest in my work. Newcomers to social media appreciate just how that feels. When you are blogging with no idea if it's working or not, and tweeting mostly to yourself, having people that you don't actually know(!) interested - and when I started in social media my work was highly experimental - is great incentive to keep going. And I'm so glad I did. 

Thanks for reading!
Siv

Siv Parker: Part One - On the RDA & opposing the repeal of 18c

If you have an interest in Australian politics, you’d be aware that a Senator from Queensland who is also currently Australia’s Governor General  generated a flood of opinion when he responded to a Question in the Senate with ‘People have a right to be bigots, you know’. Some days later, following an interview with one of the Australian Human Rights Commissioners, an outspoken ‘repeal advocate’ – the journalist followed the Commissioners line of argument with the obvious question… culminating in the N-word trending nationally. ...

Published - 21 April 2014 - North Coast Voices  blog spot link is here

Part Two ' A dedication to storytelling'

The politics maelstrom of Indigenous issues can distract from what my preferred work is these days, having first spent thirty years in Indigenous affairs - I am a storyteller. I’d like to dedicate Part Two of my Easter long read guest spot to story telling, and also acknowledge the great loss to her family, community, friends and admirers of an Indigenous writer of international renown who passed recently. ...

Published - 22 April 2014 - North Coast Voices  blog spot link is here

Notes

I am Aboriginal, and refer to myself as such. ‘Indigenous’ is interchangeable (and more frequently used due to it’s inclusive nature), but it is my habit to revert to ‘Aboriginal’. I write as an individual, and do not represent any organization, network, body or group. I would kindly and respectfully remind anyone interested in Indigenous issues that the Indigenous community is diverse and though my experiences are varied and extend from one side of Australia to the other, they are my personal experiences.

Siv Parker is an award winning writer, blogger and tweets from @SivParker. Her next publication is in a new anthology being launched at the Melbourne Emerging Writers Festival in May 2014.