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Barbara Miller Books Newsletter July-August 2023 


Which reading space would you choose?

BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
By Thomas Sowell (a famous black American economist)

Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this book, which the author calls a “culmination of thirty years of work in the history of ideas,” Sowell attempts to explain the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives as a disagreement over the moral potential inherent in nature.

Those who see that potential as limited prefer to constrain governmental authority, he argues. They feel that reform is difficult and often dangerous, and they put their faith in family, custom, law, and traditional institutions. Conversely, those who have faith in human nature prefer to remove institutional and traditional constraints. Controversies over such diverse issues as criminal justice, income distribution, or war and peace repeatedly show an ideological divide along the lines of these two conflicting visions. Get book HERE

Daughter of the River Country
by Dianne O’Brien & Sue Williams
(Dianne is William Cooper’s great-granddaughter)

A heartbreaking, redemptive memoir of raw power, Daughter of the River Country is the story of an extraordinary journey from a childhood as one of Australia’s Stolen Generation to Aboriginal Elder

Born in rural Australia in the 1940s, baby Dianne is immediately taken from her parents and placed with a white family. Raised in an era of widespread racism, she grows up believing her Irish adoptive mother is her birth mother.

When her adoptive mother tragically dies and she is abandoned by her adoptive father, Dianne is raped, sent to the brutal Parramatta Girls Home and forced to marry her rapist in order to keep her baby. After suffering years of domestic abuse, but refusing to let her spirit be broken, Dianne finally discovers she is a Yorta Yorta woman, a daughter of the river country, and is reunited with her birth mother. She learns that her great-grandfather was a famous Aboriginal activist and from here she becomes a powerful leader in her own right, vowing to help others in any way she can.

Daughter of the River Country explores for the first time the devastation caused to Australia’s Aboriginal Stolen Generation, who were forcibly placed with white families as part of a government assimilation programme.

‘A compelling memoir about the power of love and staying the course.’ LINDA BURNEY, the first Aboriginal Member of Australia’s House of Representatives.
Find it HERE

REQUEST A FREE HANDBOOK ON THE HOLOCAUST AND THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL RESPONSE WRITTEN BY BARBARA MILLER & PUBLISHED BY ELI RABINOWITZ OF THE WE ARE HERE FOUNDATION

This contains educational modules with videos and activities and is suitable for high school students, tertiary education and adult education. It also contains antisemitism education. It is highly suitable for the Australian context using examples from the life of Aboriginal William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League. It is a highly engaging and free resource on a difficult topic and is highly relevant today. Get it HERE

Fun Facts About Books! 

The largest collection consists of 1.5 million books!

According to the Guinness World Records, the largest privately owned collection of books is a massive 1.5 million.

They are owned by John Q. Benham who lives in Indiana in the USA.

He has to keep them in lots of different places because he doesn’t have enough space in his house.

They are in the garage, in his two-storey building and even outside!

If you read 20 minutes a day, you would have read 1.8 million words in a year

All it takes is 20 minutes a day.

If you read for this long every day for a year, then you would have read 1.8 million words.

You will be like a human dictionary!

You can read books in many different ways including e-books & audiobooks!

There used to be a time where we only had books to read.

Lucky for us, we can access them in lots of different ways now.

Whether it’s online, an e-book or even an audiobook there are lots of ways to access your favourite stories.

The person who draws pictures in books is called an illustrator.

Take a look at your books and they will say “Illustrated by…”.

The illustrator is the person who draws all the pictures in the book.

Books don’t always have to have one illustrator, there can be multiple.

If you love art then you might like to work as an illustrator when you are older!

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.

We need to thank Johannes Gutenberg for the books we have today.

He invented the printing press, which prints words on to paper.

This was in 1440.

It meant that thousands of books could be produced very quickly!

Send us your favourite facts! Above facts are from:

Sometimes you just want a book that’ll give you a laugh!
Must admit my books are a bit serious but very interesting!

White Australia Has A Black History Book
shattered lives broken dreams

FIND THESE WILLIAM COOPER BOOKS WHCH GO TOGETHER- HERE

FIND THESE MEMOIRS WHCH GO TOGETHER – HERE

Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.

Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:

  • Guide to Choosing Your Niche
  • Guide to Finding Your Book Topic and Title
  • Guide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonus
  • List of Resources for Authors

If you would like more information, check it out HERE

My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com.

Happy reading!!

THE EUROPEAN QUEST TO FIND TERRA AUSTRALIS INCOGNITA: Quiros, Torres and Janszoo

Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.”Check it out here.

Right – Available as an audio book – a first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.

The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabahgives a blow-by-blow description of the days of apartheid in Qld and how an Aboriginal community lobbied tirelessly for local government and finally got it in 1984 and their progress to today with land rights and native title. Hear the words of Aboriginal leaders themselves. Find it HERE.

William Cooper Gentle Warrior: Standing Up for Australian Aborigines and Persecuted Jews is the first book by Barbara Miller on William Cooper and tells his amazing story and that of the Australian Aborigines’ League as they work for the uplift of their people and stand up for Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust when Aborigines were not citizens in their own nation. Find it HERE 

Barbara Miller Books Newsletter May-June 2023

BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

In Beyond Belief: Rethinking the Voice to Parliament, twelve distinguished Australians set out their reasons why we need to question the wisdom of enshrining a Voice to parliament by amending the Constitution.

Some of these reasons are legal, political and constitutional; but others express concern that constitutional amendment will do nothing to address the social disadvantage endured by many Indigenous Australians – a burden which weighs heavily on each of the contributors.

Beyond Belief: Rethinking the Voice to Parliament will equip Australians who have their own doubts about the proposed referendum with informed and compelling reasons for deciding to vote ‘No’ when asked to change our nation’s founding document.

Edited by Warren Mundine AO, authored by Peter Kurti & others and foreward by Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Find it here https://www.amazon.com.au/Beyond-Belief-Rethinking-Voice-Parliament/dp/1922815284/


The Voice to Parliament Handbook is an easy-to-follow guide for the millions of Australians who have expressed support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, but want to better understand what a Voice to Parliament actually means.

‘We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.’ These words from the Uluru Statement from the Heart are a heartfelt invitation from First Nations People to fellow Australians, who will have the opportunity to respond when the Voice referendum is put to a national vote by the Albanese Government.
 
Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo and acclaimed journalist Kerry O’Brien have written this handbook to answer the most commonly asked questions about why the Voice should be enshrined in the Constitution, and how it might function to improve policies affecting Indigenous communities, and genuinely close the gap on inequalities at the most basic level of human dignity.
 
A handy tool for people inclined to support a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum, The Voice to Parliament Handbook reflects on this historic opportunity for genuine reconciliation, to right the wrongs and heal the ruptured soul of a nation. This guide offers simple explanations, useful anecdotes, historic analogies and visual representations, so you can share it among friends, family and community networks in the build-up to the referendum.

Find it here – https://www.qbd.com.au/the-voice-to-parliament-handbook/thomas-mayo-kerry-obrien/9781741178869/

I had a scoop about the Path to Treaty Bill being likely to pass through Qld parliament at its sitting in Cairns May 9-11. This had not surfaced in the national or even the state or local media so I wrote an article for The Spectator which would have been breaking news had it been a newspaper. It was approved to be published on 13 May and came out in the magazine cover attached. Since then, there has been a lot of coverage in Qld and national newspapers and national TV. Most people were surprised the opposition LNP supported the bill which has wide-reaching ramifications.

You will find the article here – https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/05/queenslands-treaty-law-has-had-an-astonishing-dream-run/

L – Author Barbara Miller with Cheryl Buchanan, co-chair Interim Truth and Treaty Board at the Path to Treaty workshop in Cairns 9 May. R – Barbara and Norman Miller with Cheyl Buchanan after the Premier’s breakfast when she announced to media the Path to Treaty Act had been passed the afternoon before. 

Fun Facts About Books!

The largest collection consists of 1.5 million books!

According to the Guinness World Records, the largest privately owned collection of books is a massive 1.5 million.

They are owned by John Q. Benham who lives in Indiana in the USA.

He has to keep them in lots of different places because he doesn’t have enough space in his house.

They are in the garage, in his two-storey building and even outside!

If you read 20 minutes a day, you would have read 1.8 million words in a year

All it takes is 20 minutes a day.

If you read for this long every day for a year, then you would have read 1.8 million words.

You will be like a human dictionary!

You can read books in many different ways including e-books & audiobooks!

There used to be a time where we only had books to read.

Lucky for us, we can access them in lots of different ways now.

Whether it’s online, an e-book or even an audiobook there are lots of ways to access your favourite stories.

The person who draws pictures in books is called an illustrator.

Take a look at your books and they will say “Illustrated by…”.

The illustrator is the person who draws all the pictures in the book.

Books don’t always have to have one illustrator, there can be multiple.

If you love art then you might like to work as an illustrator when you are older!

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.

We need to thank Johannes Gutenberg for the books we have today.

He invented the printing press, which prints words on to paper.

This was in 1440.

It meant that thousands of books could be produced very quickly!

Send us your favourite facts! Above facts are from:

https://www.funkidslive.com/learn/top-10-facts/top-10-facts-about-books/

Sometimes you just want a book that’ll give you a laugh!
Must admit my books are a bit serious but very interesting!

FIND THESE WILLIAM COOPER BOOKS WHICH GO TOGETHERHERE

FIND THESE MEMOIRS WHICH GO TOGETHER – HERE

Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.

Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:

  • Guide to Choosing Your Niche
  • Guide to Finding Your Book Topic and Title
  • Guide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonus
  • List of Resources for Authors

If you would like more information, check it out HERE

My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com.
Happy reading!!

Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.

Right – Available as an audio book – a first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.

Barbara Miller Books Newsletter March 2023 no 2

Cairns Tropical Writers Festival 

Below Left Norman Miller, David Hudson MC, and Barbara at the Writers dinner, and Below Right, Barbara giving Norman’s book Reef and Rainforest: An Aboriginal Voice Through Art and Story to former Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Sallyanne Atkinson AO who hosted a session in conversation with Torres Strait Islander actor and author Aaron Fa’Aoso.

Sallyanne, along with Cheryl Buchanan, is now co-chair of the Interim Truth and Treaty Body in Qld. I gave Sallyanne a copy of my book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir to give to Cheryl, an old friend of mine from University days.

Left – Welcome to Country at the Writers Festival and Right – Aaron Fa’Aoso with a friend

Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.

Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:

  • Guide to Choosing Your Niche
  • Guide to Finding Your Book Topic and Title
  • Guide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonus
  • List of Resources for Authors

If you would like more information, check it out here http://bit.ly/3mbVaU1

My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com. Happy reading!!

Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.

Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.

Barbara Miller Books Newsletter March 2023

My book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir has continued to be no 1 bestseller in Civil Law and Public Law on Amazon Au for over a year. it is no 2 in International Treaties.

Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.

Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:

  • Guide to Choosing Your Niche
  • Guide to Finding Your Book Topic and Title
  • Guide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonus
  • List of Resources for Authors

If you would like more information, check it out here http://bit.ly/3mbVaU1

My book Secrets and Lies is no 9 and White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, A Memoir is no 10 in Civil Rights and Liberties on Amazon Au. My book The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah is no 14 in Civil Rights Law on Amazon Au.

BOOK PUNS

Bookriot.com brings us the following library puns:

What building has the most stories? The library.

Mind if I check you out?

Libraries are good for circulation.

Dewey belong together?

Are you paying attention? You seem a bit checked out.

What does one library book say to the other? “Can I take you out?”

ISBN thinking about you.

Books stay warm with book jackets.

A man goes into a library and asks for a book on cliffhangers. The librarian says:

Ice cream for a good book.

Beverages are allowed in the library, but please don’t pour milk on our serials.

Page me if you want to read me.

Did you return your books late? Because you have fine written all over you.

I just can’t help my shelf.

May the library bring you many happy returns.

I’ve never metadata I didn’t like.

My love for you is overdue.

I asked the librarian if she knew the author of a dinosaur book. She said try Sarah Topps.

Believe in your shelf.

I wanted to visit the world’s biggest library but it was overbooked.

Exciting Musical Composition

There is an exciting musical composition with Jewish and Aboriginal collaboration. The article in the Jewish Chronicle says:

“In the ‘cinematic’ song cycle, Lior narrates the story in English, while Lou Bennett — Cooper’s great-great niece — “occupies the spirit” of Cooper, singing in Yorta Yorta. Lior, a fluent Hebrew speaker, opens the piece in his native language — with an extract from Psalm 137.”

The article also quotes William Cooper’s grandson Uncle Boydie’s comments in the foreword of my (Barbara Miller’s) book William Cooper Gentle Warrior.

“Uncle Boydie — whose voice is used in the culminating song by Lior and Westlake — wrote in the foreword to William Cooper: Gentle Warrior, a book by Barbara Miller: ‘Grandfather could sadly recognise that same affliction of fear, desperation, bewilderment and a sense of hopelessness which the Jewish people faced in Europe. When many countries around the world would not act, he did’.”

Photo of Lou Bennett See the full article.

Handbook – The Holocaust and the Australian Aboriginal Response

  by Barbara Miller

This 100+ page online resource is offered free of charge to educators and students, as long as the source is credited. To arrange your copy, or for more information, email the publishers, the WAH! Foundation – elirab@iinet.net.au

It covers the current worldwide definition of antisemitism and what we can do today to stand up against it.

Photo: William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League who protested Kristallnacht in 1938
Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection. As a special, I will send a free copy (PDF) of the book of your choice to the first 3 readers who email me.

Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.

Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.

Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Jan-Feb 2023

L-R WE ARE HERE! Foundation – Dr Bill Allen, Prof Lynne Cohen, Eli and Jill Rabinowitz, based in Perth, Western Australia but working internationally

Handbook – The Holocaust and The Australian and Australian Aboriginal Responses  by Barbara Miller

Written by Barbara Miller at the request of Eli Rabinowitz of the WE ARE HERE! Foundation, this handbook is a resource for educators and teachers and for upper secondary students and adult education programs in Australia and internationally. The handbook focuses on Australia’s response to the events leading up to and during the Holocaust, and in particular the specific responses of Aboriginal political and social activist William Cooper and fellow members of the AAL.

This online handbook is free.  These online resources are offered free of charge to educators and students, as long as the source is credited.  To arrange your copy, or for more information, email: elirab@iinet.net.au  

WAH! Foundation chose Aboriginal  William Cooper as their ambassador, a fine example of the compassion of an Upstander. He was a prominent activist who set out against the odds to protest the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany, culminating in the tragedy of Kristalnacht in 1938.

Success is not always achieved overnight. William Cooper marched to the Melbourne German Consulate on 6 December 1938 to present his petition in support of Germany’s Jews. His petition was not accepted. This deed was only fully recognised by the German government in 2017.

“Some say that William Cooper only performed one act of solidarity in protesting  the Germans’ cruel treatment of the Jews. However, I sense that he has become more than a Christian Aboriginal upstander. He has become a symbol of the bond between Jews and Aborigines which was formed through his protest and which has deepened with the commemoration of his actions.” Barbara Miller, biographer.

The Handbook was launched at Southern Cross Alliance for Israel (SCAFI) zoom meeting in time for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2023. We acknowledge the support of the German Consulate in Perth for this project as well as the WAH! Foundation.

William Cooper statue in Shepparton, Victoria.
He is holding the letter of protest to Germany

To arrange your free copy, or for more information, email: elirab@iinet.net.au  

Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.

Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. For a limited time and at the reduced price of $7 Au, you can get the following guides in the kit:

  • Guide to Choosing Your Niche
  • Guide to Finding Your Book Topic and Title
  • Guide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonus
  • List of Resources for Authors

If you would like more information, check it out here

BOOK PUNS

Bookriot.com brings us the following – Book puns are not only good for a laugh or an eye roll. They’re great for libraries, for teachers, and for other book lovers who want to find clever, catchy ways to draw attention to books and reading. There’s a reason that book puns show up on fun t-shirts, tote bags, and mugs: readers can’t get enough.

  1. Tequila Mockingbird.
  2. Never read Fitzgerald? You Gatsby kidding me!
  3. “Never mind” —a passive-aggressive Raven.
  4. Dystopian novels are so 1984.
  5. But first, Kafka.
  6. Why is John Milton a terrible guest at game nights? Because when he’s around, there’s a pair of dice lost.
  7. What do you call 2000 mockingbirds? Two-kilo mockingbird.
  8. Brontë? What a breath of fresh Eyre.
  9. Forever Jung.
  10. You’re nothing but a Wilde thing.
    Munganbana Norman Miller Rainforest print collection four panels

    Who wants some stunning (and Free!) rainforest art? 
    I’m giving away a complimentary physical art print of my latest Collection, the Rainforest Collection, to anyone who wants one (Yes even you!)
     
    The perfect art to bring the colour green, known for symbolizing life, renewal, nature, energy, and healing to your special space!
     
    Go choose a free print of the 4 available here before the offer ends  https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/

    Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection. As a special, I will send a free copy (PDF or ebook) of the book of your choice to the first 5 readers who email me. 

    Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.

    Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.

    Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Dec 2022

    Getty Images / BuzzFeed TICK THE RESPONSES BELOW

    • You’ve told someone “Sorry, I already have plans” when you wanted to get out of something to go home and read a book by yourself.
    • You follow bookstagram accounts on Instagram.
    • You’ve moved your favorite book to the “must read” display shelf at a bookstore.
    • You’ve recommended a book to a stranger at a bookstore.
    • You have your library card memorized.
    • You’ve downloaded an app that’s connected to your library so you can also check out books on your phone.
    • You like reading books before seeing the movie adaptations
    • You have your bookshelves organized in a particular way.
    • You’ve wished you could bottle the scent of new books
    • You’ve read a good portion of classic literature.
    • In any given year, it’s entirely possible that you’ve read more books than movies watched.
    • You’ve gone to your fair share of recycled bookstores.
    • You have a Pinterest board filled with dream in-home libraries.
    • You’ve Instagram-storied about what you’re currently reading at least once.
    • You can’t stop from commenting on someone’s status if they’re reading a book you read before.
    • You’re normally the first person someone goes to for book recommendations.
    • You’ve brought more than one book on vacation before.
    • You’ve cried real-ass tears on a page of a very tearjerking book.
    • You’ve been to a midnight release of a book.
    • You’ve written/drawn fan fiction for a book you loved.
    • You’ve joined a book club.
    • You’ve read a book that has actually made you hungry.
    • You’ve read a book that a celebrity has recommended.
    • And you’ve read books written BY celebrities.
    • You’ve stayed up past midnight reading a good book even though you had to be up early the next day.
    • You’ve experienced reading a book so good that you don’t know what could possibly top it.
    • You’ve read a book so terrifying you couldn’t read it at night.
    • You’ve dressed up as a book character on Halloween.
    • You’ve made at least one literary reference once in your life.
    • Or a literary pun.
    • You’ve accidentally given yourself a paper cut reading.
    • You’ve read a book with over 600 pages.
    • You’ve visited a location solely because a scene in a book was set there.
    • You’ve finished an entire book on a plane.
    • You’ve read three books in one day before.
    • You’ve called in sick to work because you just wanted to stay home and read.
    • You’ve gone to a book event to meet your favorite author.
    • You’ve had to give yourself a book-buying budget because you have a problem.
    • You and a friend have talked about a book’s plot for hours in depth before.
    • You own more books than pairs of socks.

    FIND OUT YOUR RESULTS

    Email me your comments

    FREE SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!!

    A message from my rainforest Aboriginal artist husband, Munganbana

    Who wants some stunning (and Free!) rainforest art?
    For the next 7 days I’m giving away a complimentary physical art print of my latest Collection, the Rainforest Collection, to anyone who wants one (Yes even you!)
     
    The perfect art to bring the colour green, known for symbolizing life, renewal, nature, energy, and healing to your special space!
     
    Go choose a free print of the 4 available here before the offer ends  https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/

    Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!!!

    Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection. As a Christmas and Hanukkah special, I will send a free copy (PDF or ebook) of the book of your choice to the first 10 readers who email me. 

    Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.

    Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.

     

    Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Nov 2022 No 2

    FREE ART PRINT 

    My husband Munganbana Norman Miller and I are a creative duo. I am a writer and he is a rainforest Aboriginal artist. However, he is an internationally acclaimed author too. He wants to share his art with you. He says:

    I’m giving my art print away for free. No kidding!
     
    As a rainforest Aboriginal artist, I live and breathe the rainforest, hear its soothing sounds and get strength from walking on it barefoot and touching its healing leaves.
     
    The collection on offer is called “The Rainforest Collection”, and is perfect to bring that
    breath of fresh air and beauty from the rainforest into your life and home.
     
    My prints are part of the 200 paintings in my book “Reef and Rainforest: An Aboriginal Voice Through Art and Story” that won an international award.
     
    Looks like I’m being mobbed with orders but I don’t want to leave you out.
     
    If you want to learn more, see the full collection of art and choose your free print,
    click this link https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/

    BOOK LAUNCH WED 30 NOV 6PM MUNGANBANA ABORIGINAL ART GALLERY 33 LAKE ST CAIRNS OF BOOK SECRETS AND LIES: THE SHOCKING TRUTH OF RECENT AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL HISTORY, A MEMOIR. 

    This book was no 1 on Amazon USA in the Civil Rights and Liberties category on the weekend.

    Check it out here

     

    This book has previously been launched on zoom only because of COVID so we are taking the opportunity of presenting the prizes for a Big Boomerang Colouring In Competition for primary and high school students in Cairns and region that we have organised to combine events. The competition is to build awareness of a project we are promoting to build a Big Icon in Cairns like the Big Pineapple, the Big Banana, the Big Prawn etc. It would be Australia’s only Big Icon focusing on  Indigenous heritage. Prizes for the Colouring In Competition are family passes to Green Island on the Big Cat, Event Movies and Ten Pin Bowling and vouchers for accommodation at Coconut Resort and food at McDonalds and the Coffee Club. Norman and Barbara will also be giving away books. 

    REVIEW OF SECRETS AND LIES

     

    Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is both a political chronicle and a personal memoir – a journey the young Barbara took into political activism and personal transformation, which became life-long. Barbara Miller shows the political and the personal can be two sides of a life journey of service.There is critical history in this book from an activist on the inside.  Yet the book also shows that political activism is not enough. It must be balanced by personal integrity and pursuit. The journey from the political into the personal, with fulfillment in spiritual practice, is also illuminating. Can we do one without the other?  I think not, whatever the spiritual practice is. 

    Barbara’s book bought memories of the days of the Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council (ACC), both of us working at different levels within the ACC to respond to the directions and needs of the old reserve mission controls moving into deeds of grant in trust and ‘self-management’. Barbara’s political background provided essential insight and sound analysis. Mine saw the failure of the services delivered by a racist regime, with the ACC working to meet their legislative responsibilities. Barbara supported this work through research. Hers has been an inspirational journey of service at many levels.

    Judy Atkinson, Emeritus Professor, PhD AM

    Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection

    Left – Norman and Barbara with William Cooper Gentle Warriorbook and right – Lena Goldstein on her 100th birthday as Norman and Barbara present her with Barbara’s book on Lena’s life story –  If I Survive.

    Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Nov 2022

    Munganbana Norman Miller Rainforest print collection four panels

    FREE ART PRINT 

    Would you like the freshness and tranquility of the rainforest in your home? This is an opportunity to have a free gift of a print by rainforest Aboriginal artist Munganbana Norman Miller. Choose your favourite and enjoy. At the same time, help the artist get his beautiful work more widely known. Please feel free to forward on this great opportunity. Check here for more details – https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/
     
    Munganbana Norman Miller in tropical garden with Rainforest prints
    Munganbana means Mountain Water and aptly describes his work – powerful and peaceful – and the land from which he comes – crystal cascades and volcanic lakes. Munganbana is of the Jirrbal, Bar-Barrum and Tableland Yidinji tribes of the North Queensland rainforest, a World Heritage-listed area. He specializes in limited edition lino prints, acrylic on canvas, greeting cards, batik wall hangings, batik dress lengths, and silk scarves. Munganbana has a workshop in his own gallery in Cairns, one of the few Aboriginal artist-owned galleries in the region and his work is very popular with international tourists. He regularly does art classes for schools or has school groups come into his gallery for workshops. He has a book with 200 paintings and stories to go with them. See https://munganbana.com.au/books/
     
    Secrets and Lies Book promo - packed with political intrigue and brings to life an interesting period in history.
    BOOK LAUNCH WED 30 NOV 6PM MUNGANBANA ABORIGINAL ART GALLERY 33 LAKE ST CAIRNS OF BOOK SECRETS AND LIES: THE SHOCKING TRUTH OF RECENT AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL HISTORY, A MEMOIR. 
     

    This book has previously been launched on zoom only so we are taking the opportunity of presenting the prizes for a Big Boomerang Colouring In Competition for primary and high school students in Cairns and region that we have organised to combine events. The competition is to build awareness of a project we are promoting to build a Big Icon in Cairns like the Big Pineapple, the Big Banana, the Big Prawn etc. It would be Australia’s only Big Icon focusing on  Indigenous heritage. Prizes for the Colouring In Competition are family passes to Green Island on the Big Cat, Event Movies and Ten Pin Bowling and vouchers for accommodation at Coconut Resort and food at McDonalds and the Coffee Club. Barbara will also be giving away books. 

    REVIEW OF SECRETS AND LIESThis passionate and deeply researched book shines a light on what Aboriginal really means. The author’s unique style of gonzo journalism is fascinating, and illustrates the power of on-the-ground reporting. Despite it being a work of history, this story feels incredibly timely, given the ongoing political battles for First Nation rights in other parts of the globe. All told, Secrets and Lies is an eye-opening and fearless reflection on a vital topic. 

    Self-Publishing Review

    Author Barbara Miller in her tropical garden with her book on William Cooper

    BOOK PRICE SLASHED FROM $29.95 TO $7ea

    Crazy discount for one more week only. William Cooper Gentle Warrior, a biography and history, is on sale and you can get 10 or more copies for the amazing price of $5 each – much less than what it costs to produce them. I have some special projects coming up that will make books on William Cooper in high demand so get in while you can. They will make great gifts and are good teaching tools. William Cooper started the first national Aboriginal organisation back in the 1930’s and was the father of NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Week.) He led his people on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. His legacy lives on and this book is highly acclaimed.

    You can get it here – https://barbara-miller-books.com/

    ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT 9-10 NOV

    Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust covers the story of the Australian Aborigines’ League, led by William Cooper to protest Kristallnacht which he did on 6 Dec 1938 in a protest march to the German Consulate in Melbourne. They protested because the Nazis murdered 91 Jews, smashed the windows of numerous synagogues and Jewish businesses, set synagogues ablaze, and arrested thousands of Jews who they sent to concentration camps.  The book is on my website https://barbara-miller-books.com/ or on Amazon 

    What was Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass? This is an excerpt from my book:

    What happened that day in 1938 in Australia? A fire, not lit by arsons but by the Australian Government in 1949, burnt the pre-1939 records of the German Consulate in Melbourne. News reports of the 1938 event lay buried in archives for decades. What happened was hidden from our eyes. But when researchers unearthed it, the reverberations were felt as far away as Israel. It catapulted a humble Aboriginal man into the limelight, making him a hero, and it linked the hearts of Jews and Aborigines.
     

    Let’s reconstruct it as best we can. It was Tuesday 6 December 1938. The German Consulate was at 419-425 Collins Street, in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. Collins Street was one of the most desired addresses in the city, and its Victorian architecture was imposing. World War 2 had not yet been declared. An elderly white-haired Aboriginal gentleman with a bushy white moustache named William Cooper made an appointment to see consular officials on 6 December at 11.30 am. However, he was just a name at that point. No doubt the Consulate would have seen the article in the The Argus newspaper on Saturday 3 December alerting them that this appointment was not so routine. The paper revealed that a deputation from the Australian Aborigines’ League (AAL) would meet with the German Consul to protest the “cruel persecution” of Jewish people and ask that they convey it to their government.

    Perhaps it was a startled guard who first raised the alarm. A large group of Aborigines was fast approaching. It looked like a mob, not a deputation of two or three. They didn’t appear to have any weapons, but they were striding with purpose and getting closer. Would they try to overrun the Consulate? Bust their way inside? Damage any property? Perhaps their dark skin itself was threatening enough with Nazi Germany’s theories of the supremacy of the white race. 

    The tension mounted. Gruff voices. Commands. Keep them out! Lock the door! We can’t meet with a rowdy mob! No telling what might happen. Don’t take any chances!

    If the Consulate had not been located in a peaceful country like Australia, would warning shots have been fired over their heads – or worse?

    By now, William Cooper and the AAL were close enough that the fierce determination in their eyes could be seen. This was the only protest march the AAL ever embarked on, and it was for Jewish people in faraway Europe, not for themselves, even though they were not citizens in their own land. Having lived under racism and discrimination in Australia, they felt empathy with another persecuted group. They were cut to the core by what happened to the Jewish people and wanted it to stop. They wanted to stand up and do whatever was in their power to stop the death and persecution of Jews.

    Perhaps the Aborigines were simply met with silence and locked doors that day. Closed hearts; closed minds. Or maybe they received curt orders and shouts to disperse. Maybe William Cooper knocked on the door to no avail. Did he push the AAL’s protest letter under the door or did a security guard receive it? The letter has not survived, but its contents contained the AAL resolution recorded in The Argus:

    “At a meeting of the Australian Aborigines’ League, a resolution was passed voicing, on behalf of the aborigines of Australia, a strong protest against ‘the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi Government of Germany, and asking that this persecution be brought to an end.’

    A deputation of aborigines who are members of the league will wait on the German Consul on Tuesday at 11.30 a.m. to present the resolution and ask him to convey it to his Government.”

    Early that morning, they had gathered at William and his wife Sarah’s Footscray home. Today it has been renovated in the style of heritage houses that dated back to the 1880s by new owners. They would like to see it made into a museum as a tribute to William Cooper’s stand. It has a white picket fence, heritage iron lacework under the roof and over the verandah and a small garden in front with green bushes. Its wooden walls are painted yellow ochre with darker yellow ochre window frames. White lace curtains decorate the front windows. It is like a spruced-up step back in time. Amazing that when William Cooper lived here, he could not afford lighting or heating. He had no gas or electricity. He wrote numerous letters to politicians and newspapers by candlelight, sitting up in bed trying to keep warm in the very cold Melbourne winters. He gathered driftwood to keep a fire burning when he could.

    William formed the Australian Aborigines’ League in 1932, formalising its structure in 1935. It became the first national organisation for Indigenous people and still exists today under the name of the Aborigines Advancement League. The earliest Aboriginal organisation in Australia was set up in 1924 by Charles Fred Maynard and called the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association (AAPA). Active only until 1927 due to police harassment and internal divisions, it was, nevertheless, a notable achievement.

    The Cooper home was the venue for many of the meetings of the AAL, warming themselves in winter over hot soup and sitting close to a fire as they met in the front room of the house. Candles flickered on the mantelpiece. People like Lynch Cooper, William’s son, Thomas James, Shadrach James, Doug Nicholls, Margaret Tucker, Bill and Eric Onus, Caleb and Anne Morgan and white supporters Arthur Burdeau and Helen Baillee were the regulars William and Sarah hosted. These were among the people who likely marched with William that morning to the German Consulate although the AAL did not keep a list of names of those there that day. William would also walk to meeting places as he could not afford a car or public transport. He saved his pension money for stamps for his innumerable letters. But he was a proud man and did not complain …

    William probably moved the motion as he was an avid reader of newspapers and tried to keep up with news in Australia and overseas. It was approved. There would have been a passionate discussion as William told them that the Nazis had murdered 91 Jews, smashed the windows of numerous synagogues and Jewish businesses, set synagogues ablaze, and arrested thousands of Jews who they sent to concentration camps. There would have been outrage mixed with tears.”


      
    BOOK OF THE MONTH 

    framers or hunter gatherers book

    Farmers or Hunter-gatherers?: The Dark Emu Debate by Peter Sutton & Keryn Walshe has just been short-listed for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. This is interesting as it is a criticism of the controversial and acclaimed book called Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe. The book description on Amazon says:

    An authoritative study of pre-colonial Australia that dismantles and reframes popular narratives of First Nations land management and food production.

    Australians’ understanding of Aboriginal society prior to the British invasion from 1788 has been transformed since the publication of Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu in 2014. It argued that classical Aboriginal society was more sophisticated than Australians had been led to believe because it resembled more closely the farming communities of Europe.

    In Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe ask why Australians have been so receptive to the notion that farming represents an advance from hunting and gathering. Drawing on the knowledge of Aboriginal elders, previously not included within this discussion, and decades of anthropological scholarship, Sutton and Walshe provide extensive evidence to support their argument that classical Aboriginal society was a hunter-gatherer society and as sophisticated as the traditional European farming methods.

    Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? asks Australians to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal society and culture.

    Read it here

    Newsletter Oct 2022 No 2

    munganbana norman miller rainforest print

    FREE ART PRINT 

    Would you like the freshness and tranquility of the rainforest in your home? This is an opportunity to have a free gift of a print by rainforest Aboriginal artist Munganbana Norman Miller. Choose your favourite and enjoy. At the same time, help the artist get his beautiful work more widely known. Please feel free to forward on this great opportunity. Check here for more details – https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/

     

    BOOK PRICE SLASHED FROM $29.95 TO $7ea

    For October, William Cooper Gentle Warrior, a biography and history, is on sale and you can get 10 or more copies for the amazing price of $5 each – much less than what it costs to produce them. I have some special projects coming up that will make books on William Cooper in high demand so get in while you can. They will make great gifts and are good teaching tools. William Cooper started the first national Aboriginal organisation back in the 1930’s and was the father of NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Week.) He led his people on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. His legacy lives on and this book is highly acclaimed.

    You can get it here – https://barbara-miller-books.com/

     

    Newsletter Oct 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – Well the year is advancing and I hope you’re getting through your to-do list and leaving yourself time out to read your favourite book or spend some time in nature or do whatever refreshes you.

    Barbara Miller re her 2 memoirs – White Woman Black Heart and Secrets and Lies – brief interview

    HOLOCAUST HANDBOOK FOR SCHOOLS & ADULTS ON THE HOLOCAUST & ANTISEMITISM

    I have finished writing this project for a Jewish organisation and it is being edited. The graphic design work will begin soon. We are hoping that it will receive favour from curriculum bodies and teachers will use it. If anyone can help with this project, please let me know.

    The photo is of a plaque outside the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre in Melbourne.

    Brief Interview with author Barbara Miller re her books on William Cooper

    BELOW COST SALE
    WILLIAM COOPER GENTLE WARRIOR

    Slashed from $29.95 to $7ea for September only.
    Sales of 10 or more copies, the low price of $5 each
    $12 Shipping for 1 copy. $2 extra for each additional copy. 
    Email me for direct sales at bmiller@bigpond.com

    Extended for October also. Order from
    https://barbara-miller-books.com/

    REEF AND RAINFOREST: AN ABORIGINAL VOICE THROUGH ART AND STORY

    Munganbana’s work in creating this book is a perfect example of … connection to country. He has combined his personal, ancestral and spiritual experiences with a mix of traditional and contemporary art styles to help give us a greater understanding of the beauty, history and importance of the Reef.

    Sheriden Morris, Managing Director
    Reef and Rainforest Research Centre

    LEARN MORE 

    If I Survive: Nazi Germany and the Jews,100-Year-Old Lena Goldstein’s Miracle Story is available here

    Re White Australia Has A Black History 
    Read about up-to-date information on William Cooper and the people he mentored and how they changed Australian history

    Re Shattered Lives Broken Dreams

    The Nazis shatter glass and shatter the lives of European Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. An Australian Aboriginal, William Cooper, leads the campaign for civil rights for his people who are dying of poverty and mistreatment around him. 1938; two worlds, far apart. Cut to the core after Kristallnacht, can he do anything to stop it?

    FIND IT HERE

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    Title of Book – Gulpilil 
    ‘David is a gateway to a history that we’ve so far denied and not embraced. In this country, he’s more important than Ned Kelly.’ Jack Thompson

    WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that content inside this publication, contains images and the name of a person who has died. For cultural reasons, he is referred to as David Dalaithngu.

    About the Author

    David Gulpilil is a Yolngu man beloved around the world as a hunter, dancer, actor and artist. His preternatural acting in the films Walkabout, Storm Boy, Crocodile Dundee, The Tracker and Charlie’s Country – for which he won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes Film Festival and Best Actor at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards in 2014 – has allowed Gulpilil to transmit the worlds of the First Australians to screens with unrivalled magic and melancholy, and made him an icon of cinema.

    Learn More

    White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, a Memoir

    Oppressed Aborigines forced off their land at gunpoint. Over a decade later, one passionate young woman would take up their fight…


    AVAILABLE HERE

    Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir (First Nations True Stories)

    Barbara Russell, a young woman from a white working-class family. A ruthless Premier Bjelke-Petersen enforcing legal discrimination. How could Barbara stand by and watch the feud of the people with governments and miners strip Australian Aboriginal communities of all they held dear? But what could she do to make a difference?

    CHECK IT OUT

    My book Secrets and Lies is often no 1 best seller on Amazon Australia as an ebook in Discrimination Constitutional Law

    My book Secrets and Lies is often no 1 best seller on Amazon Australia as an ebook in Discrimination Constitutional Law, Public Law and Civil Law – 3 categories. It is currently no 1 in the Sociology of Race Relations in Amazon US and White Australia Has A Black History was no 2 beside it a couple of days ago.

     

    Left – A fun photo of me putting my hands on Munganbana Norman’s Big Boomerang recently.

    Right – I was invited to Courage to Care’s first event in Brisbane 5 June 2014 and am beside the William Cooper exhibit.

     

    Newsletter Sept 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – I hope that even if you are busy, you are able to have a little time out to read to refresh you and stimulate you. If you have a favourite book, please tell me about it. Also, what book would you recommend to readers?

    NEW WRITING PROJECT FOR SCHOOLS & ADULTS ON THE HOLOCAUST


    Holocaust education is important when there is so much Holocaust denial and distortion out there. Also, this study looks at the causes of antisemitism and what we can do about it. It is suitable for upper primary school and adults and I hope it will be used overseas as well as in Australia. Negotiations of course need to be held with curriculum developers. More information coming out soon.

    BELOW COST SALE
    WILLIAM COOPER GENTLE WARRIOR

    Slashed from $29.95 to $7ea for September only.
    Sales of 10 or more copies, the low price of $5 each
    $12 Shipping for 1 copy. $2 extra for each additional copy. 
    Email me for direct sales here

    william cooper book insert flier

    the big boomerang next big thing

    THE BIG BOOMERANG – THE NEXT BIG THING!


    Munganbana Norman says – I have a dream of having a Big Boomerang icon for Cairns. To get some community support and publicity, I made a very big boomerang and put it on a float in the Cairns Festival Parade last weekend. Recently, it got some coverage in The Cairns Post and ABC radio Cairns will cover it soon. I hope that this project will get the support of Cairns, especially as it would be the only big icon in Australia expressing Aboriginal heritage.


    It has been on my heart since 2017 to have a Big Boomerang icon for Cairns as then I wanted to get a Big Boomerang beside the Capt Cook statue as an act of reconciliation and to showcase our Indigenous heritage. However, the owner was not interested. Recently, James Cook University bought the site on which the statue stood and sold the statue to someone in a nearby town. It was not removed because of cancel culture. Now the Capt Cook statue, which was in the list of Australia’s big icons, has been removed from Cairns, it is important, as a tourist city, that we get another big icon.


    So my boomerang is the next big thing. It is 5.5m wide and about 3m high. Either this boomerang or one the city comes together to build, could be it. It is housed in my Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery in 33 Lake St Cairns since the Cairns Festival Parade. It is important because in all the big icons around the nation, none represents Aboriginal heritage. Indigenous tourism is a big draw card for Far North Qld.


    I am hoping that the people of Cairns, the council, the Qld and federal governments, businesses, and of course our First Nations People will be excited and get behind this project. I have the support of traditional owners. We need to get a committee together to work on this project of the Next Big Thing or the Big Boomerang as the big icon for Cairns.


    Many Australian towns have big icons – https://www.australianexplorer.com/australian_big_icons.htm – the Big Gumboot, the Big Pineapple, the Big Banana, the Big Prawn etc. Now we need the Big Boomerang. I think it will showcase Cairns and draw visitors to our wonderful city. We need cultural tourism and we need tourists to COME BACK to our tourist paradise.

    WATCH THIS SPACE AS A BOOK ABOUT MUNGANBANA’S JOURNEY WITH BOOMERANGS WILL COME OUT IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS OR SO!!

    IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN AUSTRALIA DAY AND NATIONAL ABORIGINES AND ISLANDERS WEEK (NAIDOC)?

    NEW OUTLET

    Some of my books are now available in the beautiful Blue Mountains amongst an amazing collection of books by Indigenous writers, including children’s books. The Wiradjuri nation have an outlet in Leura and stock beautiful art as well as literature. See – https://bilingarra.com.au/collections/books-1?page=2

    REEF AND RAINFOREST: AN ABORIGINAL VOICE THROUGH ART AND STORY
    Now recognised among the foremost talents of this region’s outstanding Indigenous artists, Munganbana’s “Reef and Rainforest: An Aboriginal Voice Through Art and Story” is representative of the body of visual art, in a variety of media and styles, created over a period of twenty-five years.

    Henrietta Marrie, Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elder and Traditional Owner of Gimuy-Cairns
    LEARN MORE

    BELOW COST SALE
    WILLIAM COOPER GENTLE WARRIOR

    Slashed from $29.95 to $7ea for September only.
    Sales of 10 or more copies, the low price of $5 each
    $12 Shipping for 1 copy. $2 extra for each additional copy. 
    Email me for direct sales here

    If I Survive: Nazi Germany and the Jews,100-Year-Old Lena Goldstein’s Miracle Story is available here

    Re White Australia Has A Black History 
    Read about up-to-date information on William Cooper and the people he mentored and how they changed Australian history

    Re Shattered Lives Broken Dreams

    The Nazis shatter glass and shatter the lives of European Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. An Australian Aboriginal, William Cooper, leads the campaign for civil rights for his people who are dying of poverty and mistreatment around him. 1938; two worlds, far apart. Cut to the core after Kristallnacht, can he do anything to stop it?
    FIND IT HERE

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    We Pay Tribute to Archie Roach Who Passed Away Recently and Left His Mark on the Hearts of Australians

    Title of Book – Tell Me Why Review from Amazon

    ‘Archie’s deeply resonant voice sings out – of a broken country and a life renewed. The voice of Australia.’ — Daniel Browning, ABC journalist and producer

    ‘Just like his early songs, Tell Me Why was written with empathy as its impetus and that intent shines through on every page. This is a phenomenal work by one of the most articulate and recognisable members of the Stolen Generations. It will be read, studied and discussed for many years to come.’ ― The Australian

    ‘Beautiful, gut-wrenching and compelling memoir’ ― Sydney Morning Herald

    ‘Roach is honest and humble in his oft-heartbreaking retelling of his search for identity, belonging and purpose’  ― Courier Mail

    ‘Best book of 2019: Tell Me Why by Archie Roach, a beautifully written autobiography that captures one of the most remarkable lives in Australian music’ ― Weekend Australian

    ‘Tell Me Why is an extraordinary odyssey and offering. Archie has come through snares, pits and suffering to bring us an inspiring tale of survival, grace and generosity. This book should be in every school.’  — Paul Kelly –This text refers to the paperback edition.

    About the Author

    Archie Roach AM, a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, was born in Victoria in 1956. Taken at the age of two from parents he never saw again, he was placed into foster care. He started writing songs after meeting his soulmate Ruby Hunter when they were both homeless teenagers. His heartbreaking signature song, ‘Took the Children Away’, from his 1990 ARIA award-winning debut album Charcoal Lane, has become an anthem for the Stolen Generations. The song was the first to win an Australian Human Rights Award and the album was featured in US Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 50 in 1992, won two ARIA awards and went gold in Australia. Archie’s recording history includes twelve albums, soundtracks, film and theatrical scores and his books include the award-winning memoir Tell Me Why, accompanied by a companion album, and the picture book Took the Children Away, illustrated by Ruby Hunter. 

    Learn More
     

    White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, a Memoir

    Oppressed Aborigines forced off their land at gunpoint. Over a decade later, one passionate young woman would take up their fight…

     

    AVAILABLE HERE

    Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir (First Nations True Stories)

    Barbara Russell, a young woman from a white working-class family. A ruthless Premier Bjelke-Petersen enforcing legal discrimination. How could Barbara stand by and watch the feud of the people with governments and miners strip Australian Aboriginal communities of all they held dear? But what could she do to make a difference?

    CHECK IT OUT

    best seller amazonMy book Secrets and Lies is often no 1 best seller on Amazon Australia as an ebook in Discrimination Constitutional Law, Public Law and Civil Law – 3 categories. 

    Newsletter August 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – May you find time to relax and read in the busy lives many of us lead. Whose interesting life story have you read lateley? Reading biography can give us wonderful insights into the lives of others, seeing them go through their challenges and seeing the inspiring decisions they have made and journeys they have had.

    Do you have a favourite historical period or do you prefer current events? Reading history gives us a context for our lives and the lives of others and helps us have greater perspective on today and sense future possibilities. I am greatly interested in both history and current events!! As others have said, if we don’t learn from our mistakes, we are likely to repeat them.

    Yarrabah Statement in Support of Uluru Statement From the Heart by Megan Davis 10.4.22 and Garma Festival

    The Garma Festival has been a media highlight in the last couple of days and a time of great celebration for the Yolngu and other Aboriginal people of Australia. It is a yearly time of displaying and enjoying Aboriginal culture through dance, story and song. It is also a time of serious discussions about current issues affecting First Nations people in Australia and Prime Ministers often attend. New Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese did just that and announced that a referendum will go ahead in this term of Parliament to ask the Australian people if they would change the constitution to include a First Nations voice to Parliament. There are prominent First Nations leaders supporting and not supporting it. What we have in this video is one of the architects of the Uluru Statement, Aboriginal lawyer Megan Davis speaking at Yarrabah Aboriginal community near Cairns. My husband Norman and I were invited to attend by the mayor of Yarrabah, Ross Andrews. The team working on the Voice from around Australia met in Cairns and then in Yarrabah in April. One of the reasons for this was to honour Alf Neal and the Yarrabah community for their tremendous support of the 1967 referendum which enabled First Nations people to be counted in the census. 

    As the referendum for the Voice will be the first referendum for First Nations people held since the successful 1967 one, it was considered an important symbolic act to have the Voice referendum on the anniversary of the 1967 referendum victory. Hence the statement from Yarrabah that Megan Davis read out and is recorded here declaring that the referendum should be held in May 2023.

    My book Secrets and Lies has a detailed discussion on Voice Treaty Truth and how we have got to our current situation. CHECK IT OUT HERE
     


    This is an excerpt from a recent interview I did regarding my books on Aboriginal leader William Cooper. I have written 3 – William Cooper Gentle Warrior (2012) White Australia Has A Black History (2019) and Shattered Lives Broken Dreams (2020) 

    If I Survive: Nazi Germany and the Jews,100-Year-Old Lena Goldstein’s Miracle Story is available here

    William Cooper Gentle Warrior: Standing Up for Australian Aborigines and Persecuted Jews is available with FREE SHIPPING. Find it here.

    Re White Australia Has A Black History 

    Some say William Cooper was Australia’s Martin Luther King Jr. William Cooper saw his Aboriginal people dying around him and decided black lives matter. Starvation and discrimination took their toll. He became passionate that they should have a voice in Australia’s federal parliament.

    But his people could not vote and were not even counted in the census. How could he get the government to listen to him? Would his skills in oratory, letter-writing and organizing his people into the first national black organization achieve his goals or would his activism bring backlash?

    Betrayed by the Prime Minister who would not forward his petition to the King of England, Cooper joined with other leaders in Sydney for the 150th anniversary of white settlement and organized a protest called the Day of Mourning. This set in train the controversy that still surrounds Australia Day today. Cooper campaigned for the truth of the black history of white Australia to be told. He mentored future generations of leaders who are still calling for “voice, treaty, truth” today. This book covers the history of the struggle for First Nations peoples’ human rights from settlement to today.

    William Cooper was born in 1860 to his tribal mother who saw the first white settlers come to the Murray River. Learn more
    Re Shattered Lives Broken Dreams

    The Nazis shatter glass and shatter the lives of European Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. An Australian Aboriginal, William Cooper, leads the campaign for civil rights for his people who are dying of poverty and mistreatment around him. 1938; two worlds, far apart. Cut to the core after Kristallnacht, can he do anything to stop it?

    Described as Australia’s Martin Luther King, Cooper leads the Australian Aborigines’ League on a protest to the German Consulate in Melbourne. Would the Third Reich pour out its wrath on them? Would they make a difference?

    A Chair of Resistance to the Holocaust was named in honour of Cooper at Yad Vashem. His grandson, Alf Turner, becomes passionate about fulfilling his grandfather’s unfinished business and taking the protest to Berlin itself. How will he be received?

    This true story will inspire you to stand up and be counted and to make a difference.

    “Extensively researched and presented in a near novel-like manner” – Grady Harp Top Contributor: Children’s Books HALL OF FAME TOP 50 REVIEWER

    “What will you like? Exceptionally interesting and astoundingly detail, including photos of many of the events that took place during the journey.” – DD GOTT – Donadees Corner
    FIND IT HERE

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    Dear Son: Letters and Reflections from First Nations Fathers and Sons
    By Thomas Mayor

    Dear Son shares heartfelt letters written by First Nations men about life, masculinity, love, culture and racism. Along with his own vivid and poignant prose and poetry, author and editor Thomas Mayor invites 12 contributors to write a letter to their son or father, bringing together a range of perspectives that offers the greatest celebration of First Nations manhood.

    This beautifully designed anthology comes at a time when First Nations peoples are starting to break free of derogatory stereotypes and find solace in their communities and cultures. Yet, each contributor also has one thing in common: they all have a relative who has been terribly wronged – enslaved, raped and dispossessed – because of their Aboriginality. 

    Featuring letters from Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley, John Liddle, Charlie King, Joe Williams, Yessie Mosby, Joel Bayliss, Daniel James, Jack Latimore, Daniel Morrison, Tim Sculthorpe and Blak Douglas.

    A gentle and loving book for families from anywhere in the world. Artwork by proud Kaurna/Ngarrindjeri/Narrunga/Italian Australian artist Tony Wilson, with illustrations and design by Gamilaraay designer Tristan Schultz of Relative Creative.

    AVAILABLE HERE

    WHAT CAN I DO NOW THAT I HAVE A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
    By Patina Malinalli

    This book may not be relevant to you but you may know someone it will help as it is a survivor’s heartfelt story. She says:
     
    “Your traumatic brain injury will change your life forever – in so many ways.  There are some simple ways to compensate though faith in Jesus Christ.  When you have trouble accomplishing anything, hold on to Jesus – He is your Everything.  Through Him, you can find hope and still lead a productive lifestyle despite the hardships surrounding the situation that has changed your life.  Includes discussion questions.
     
    First, let me assure you I understand. I incurred a traumatic brain injury in 2005 and suffered some circumstances similar to what you are going through now.  However, you don’t have to be or feel incapacitated. You do have options.  Another effect of a traumatic brain injury is that time slows down.  It is easier not to feel rushed.  Whether it’s working from home, or finding hobbies to start enjoying yourself again, your life can still be fulfilling. Let me show you how.”
     

    Learn More

    White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, a Memoir

    Oppressed Aborigines forced off their land at gunpoint. Over a decade later, one passionate young woman would take up their fight…

    Melbourne, 1970’s. Twenty-three-year-old university student Barbara Miller always stood her ground, even when it made her an outcast in her own family. So when she became a radical Christian advocate for social change, she didn’t think twice about joining the movement for Aboriginal justice. Boldly relocating to tropical Cape York and linking up with a Black activist and mentor on the frontline, she plunged into a life-changing battle despite the State’s threat of legal prosecution.

    In this powerful story of a people’s violent removal from their ancient land, Miller recounts how she joined a decade-long struggle to restore the Mapoon people to their beloved homeland. Working with a team of campaigners pushing against a hostile administration, she lands in the center of the explosive political climate of the Seventies. But by following her heart, the unexpected happens: She finds her true home and family in the most unlikely of places.

    White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon is an eye-opening memoir that showcases critical events in Australian history. If you like cross-cultural relationships, real-life activism, and rising up against colonialism, then you’ll love Barbara Miller’s gripping story of fundamental human rights.

    AVAILABLE HERE
    Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir (First Nations True Stories)

    My book is a bestseller in the Discrimination Law category on Amazon Australia 

    Barbara Russell, a young woman from a white working-class family. A ruthless Premier Bjelke-Petersen enforcing legal discrimination. How could Barbara stand by and watch the feud of the people with governments and miners strip Australian Aboriginal communities of all they held dear? But what could she do to make a difference?

    Would her passion make a way for her? Was she strong enough to face the full weight of the police state, resist the temptation of love, and stand up to her family too?

    In this story of ideological conflict and racial discrimination laws, Barbara teams up with Mick, an Aboriginal schoolteacher. They organize remote Australian Aboriginal people to fight Bjelke and the mining companies that encroach on their land. But Bjelke has a few tricks up his sleeve and uses all in his powers in this police state to stop them. The strength of the Aboriginal people shines through the story but, if the Aboriginal people fail, more of them will die in poverty and desperation.

    What price will the church pay for standing with Aboriginals against the government? Can they win this epic battle? Can the Aboriginals internationalize their struggle for human rights?

    With the current debate in Australia of Voice Treaty Truth and the worldwide issue of Black Lives Matter, this book gives many key Aboriginal people a voice and reveals the shocking truth of the hidden history of 1975 to 2021 in a near-novel manner. Every important historical event is covered. This is one of the social justice books that you will want on your shelf. The political activism examples are not those of keyboard warriors but those of people who took to the trenches.

    What secrets lie hidden? What lies are being told?

    Historical memoir, Secrets and Lies is another sizzling story in the First Nations True Stories series. Because if you like fast-paced action, real-life heroes, and the window opened on another culture, this book is for you. If you like books with political intrigue that bring to life an interesting historical period, you’ll love Secrets and Lies.

    CHECK IT OUT

    Left – Barbara holding an early copy of the Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah. I was privileged to be asked by the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council to write a piece on the history of the leaders of Yarrabah for the new Council building opening. As I have had a long association with these leaders, it was something that aligned with my passion to tell their story.

    Right – Barbara on the Duyfken boat replica in Perth at an earlier launch of her book The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros Torres and Janszoon. Both books are available from her website www.barbara-miller-books.com

    Newsletter July 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – May you find time to relax and read in the busy lives many of us lead. Reading biography can give us wonderful insights into the lives of others, seeing them go through their challenges and seeing the inspiring decisions and journeys they have had.

    Reading history gives us a context for our lives and the lives of others and helps us have greater perspective on today and sense future possibilities. 

    FREE PRINT OF THE COVER OF DYING DAYS OF SEGREGATION IN AUSTRALIA. i.e. THE ACTUAL PAINTING WITHOUT THE TEXT. IT’S CALLED DREAMS AND VISIONS AND IS WORTH $80. SEE www.munganbana.com.au for more information on it. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET IT? BUY A COPY OF THE BOOK FROM MY WEBSITE VIA GUMROAD AND I’LL MAKE SURE THE PRINT COMES WITH IT. HERE IS THE LINK https://barbara-miller-books.com/store/#dying-book. AS THE BOOK IS $24.99, THIS IS A GREAT DEAL!! 

    DREAMS AND VISIONS

    By Munganbana Norman Miller

    This black and white print shows me thinking, dreaming, imagining, looking at the possibilities before me. I am musing, creating what might be. It is as if the circles are bubbles of thought and above them to the top left there are rivers of possibilities, stepping stones to the fulfilment of my dreams. On the right are vine leaves I can climb up into the future, the rainforest holding its treasures for me to find.


    Amazon Review

    The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah (First Nations True Stories)
    LitPick Book Reviews
    Inspirational and an insightful look into Australian history
    Format : Paperback

    To most people in the United States, the word “segregation” will conjure up images of whites-only drinking fountains or, if being optimistic, the late leader Nelson Mandela. But this abhorrent situation of separating the races was not wholly unique to South Africa or post-Civil War America. In Australia, Aboriginal peoples suffered apartheid-like conditions that prevented full freedom, happiness, and social mobility.

    The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia wastes no time letting readers know about the recently removed, yet vastly underreported, institutional barriers to equality. One man’s anecdote tells of a childhood spent sitting in the hard, uncomfortable seats in the back of a movie theater, since the soft canvas chairs in the front were only for white patrons. As if that wasn’t upsetting enough, his story takes a dark turn — even in the hospital, all of the white patients had to be seen first. It is clear that racism, especially when endorsed by the government, is a matter of life or death.

    Author Barbara Miller’s clear historical approach, peppered with deeply emotional stories of the best and worst of mankind, is sure to appeal to people who want to better understand the complex, disturbing nature of racial hierarchies …

    IT IS NAIDOC WEEK AND WILLIAM COOPER IS THE FATHER OF NAIDOC SO WHAT BETTER TIME THAN TO READ A BOOK ABOUT HIM.

    White Australia Has A Black History talks about his work for the “uplift” as he called it, for Aboriginal Australians. National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee came about because a committed Aboriginal Christian named William Cooper persuaded the churches to institute Aboriginal Sunday which later became Aborigines Day, a secular observance and later NAIDOC week.

    He got the National Missionary Council to promote an annual Aboriginal Sunday, the first of which was on 28 Jan 1940. Aboriginal Sunday, as a national day of observance for Aboriginal people ran from 1940 to 1954, being held the Sunday before Australia Day.

    In 1955, the date changed to the first Sunday in July and became known as National Aborigines Day. In 1957, the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) was formed whose goal was to promote awareness of Aboriginal people, their cultures and their plight. In 1989, the title changed to NAIDOC Week to include Torres Strait Islanders in the national celebrations.

    Join in your local celebrations and read about him here

    William Cooper Gentle Warrior is available with FREE SHIPPING. Find it here.

    William Cooper led the Australian Aborigines’ League on a protest march to the German Consulate in Melbourne against Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust, in 1938 even though Aboriginals were not citizens of Australia. 

    Amazon Review

    Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust (First Nations True Stories)
    PAR
    This novel may just change your life!
    November 22, 2021
    Format : Paperback | Verified Purchase

    As an member of a multicultural family I cannot tell you how your story came so close the my heart. I read and learned the history of your country and who William Cooper was and how he fought for the rights of all. This is a history that I did not know. Ms. Miller you presented it in a manner that was easy to read, and from what I read of all the acolytes that I were on the Amazon page everyone talked about the life long journey you took to assure that the story was told correctly. I would like to thank you for this work that you have done, and for sharing that work with the rest of the world. It shows that people will listen. That changes can be made. It takes a few of to stand up, to share, to educate a few others, and they tell others and it grows. I was so blessed the day that I received your novel. I highly recommend it to others.

     

    White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, a Memoir
    Amazon ReviewWhite Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, A Memoir (First Nations True Stories)
    Kindle Customer
    Born of another race
    October 9, 2021
    Format : Paperback | Verified Purchase
    Story of the aboriginal people of Australia as experienced by a white woman. Barbara Miller was raised by a typical Australian couple. Somehow though their attitudes and prejudices did not take root in her. Instead she became a champion for the rights and reparations due the Aboriginal people. She spent her life helping them legally establish those rights. She also married into that group.Check it out hereAmazon Review
    Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir (First Nations True Stories)
    Joy RS
    A memoir with a punch
    October 24, 2021
    Format : Paperback | Verified Purchase
    This is a frank and compelling story of a fight that should never have had to happen. Personal anecdotes are interwoven with a very important message for us all and the photographs bring it very close. This author’s writing about the marginalised people in Australia has always resonated with me. I am South African and witnessed the end of apartheid and the inclusion of every citizen as a human being with equal rights. It has, therefore, long angered me that other countries have legislation and social constructs that are just as draconian as those under apartheid yet parade themselves as democracies. I was so glad to read this book, which not only tells Australia’s story of human rights travesties but also demonstrates that there are solutions. It is at once heartbreaking and uplifting and should be required reading for everyone who thinks apartheid is South African only and that there are human beings who are in any way less than other human beings. I recommend this to you as well!

    You can find it here 

    Left – Barbara holding an early copy of Shattered Lives Broken Dreams

    Right – Barbara with Jeremy Jones after she gave a lunchtime talk about her memoir White Woman Black Heart at the Sydney Jewish Museum.

     

    Newsletter May 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – I usually only send out one newsletter a month but as there is an international book summit in early June you may be interested in, I will send some info on that shortly. There may be aspiring authors reading this who want to enter the self-publishing milieu or seasoned authors who’d like some tips from experts in the field. I’m privileged to be one of the many contributors with a session on writing memoirs.

    White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, a Memoir

    Kindle Customer Review
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read.
    Reviewed in Australia on March 18, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Just finished reading this book. Couldn’t put it down. To see people’s names in it that I know was amazing.
    So glad it had a happy ending & people came home. The community is going from strength to strength now. A new church opened recently. The Rugapayn store is being run by locals and is due to be upgraded. I miss being there.Find the book HERE
    Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir
    Amazon Customer
     
    5.0 out of 5 stars Important History lesson!!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2022
    Verified Purchase

    As an American, I learned something new from this book. Either Voice Treaty Truth in Australia or Black Lives Matter in America, this book brings out many eye-opening critical social issues and an opportunity to adapt and change for a better world.

    Check it out HERE 

    If I Survive: Nazi Germany and the Jews: 100-Year Old Lena Goldstein’s Miracle Story
    Review from Amazon
    Meera
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not a memoir!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2022
    Verified Purchase

    This is a hard read, mainly due to the fact that only 1/3 of this book is actually about Lena Goldstein and the rest is a timeline of the atrocities done to the polish Jewish community and what they faced. Hard to read and even harder to stomach. Saddening to see the difficulties and hatred brought on by so many. I applaud this woman for sharing her story and what I did learn of her survival was a large mixture of determination as well as good deeds returning the favour. I hope some people can learn from this.

    Find it HERE

    The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah


    Monica Rubombora
    VINE VOICE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!
    Reviewed in the United States 
    Verified Purchase

    This book resonated a lot with me. As someone that has lived on the African continent all my life (and in South Africa the last 27 years), I could see the parallels with the apartheid regime & the current unresolved land wrangles & struggles of indigenous people on the continent. I kept saying OMG! OMG! this is where these guys here got these crazy ideas of separation from! Gosh! The experiment worked! And now we are still feeling the impact.

    I like the way the author, Barbara Miller, has documented the historical progress of the indigenous people in this book. It is definitely a well-researched book and I hope it can be used as a history book in schools around the world. It has certainly given me hope in humanity once again.

    Check it out HERE

    Left – Barbara delivering her books to a bookshop in Port Douglas

    Right – Munganbana Norman Miller presenting a canvas painting to Aviva Wolff of the Sydney Jewish Museum at the earlier launch of Barbara’s White Australia Has A Black History book. The canvas is a replica of the cover of Barbara’s first book William Cooper Gentle Warrior.

     

    White Australia Has A Black History: William Cooper And First Nations Peoples’ Political Activism 
    PAR
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Not Just Australians!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2022

    First let me begin by saying that I am of Native heritage, so I perhaps took a look at this novel in a different light than others, but perhaps not. As I read this novel, I often felt tears, and silent sobs, I read the struggle and thought there are so many of us around this world who are struggling yet today to be heard. This novel was written with such feeling, and honesty, a living history, not just facts, and liturgy, but her words breathed the life into what was and what is! Barbara Miller is a gifted author who has found her passion and has invited along for the journey, to learn, to grow, and to look at our own selves, and our countries history, what have we done? What have we left undone? What is the next step that can be taken? Shortly our world will be recalling International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We have children who have never heard of the Holocaust and there were so many disseminations in so many countries. Thank You Ms Miller for teaching us all a lesson, by reminding us of the history of what was!

    Find it HERE

    Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust

    Brian Aird
     
    5.0 out of 5 stars Actions to Words
    Reviewed in the United States on March 25
    Verified Purchase

    …The response of the indigenous people of Australia to Germany’s injustices and outright attempts of annihilating the Jews in Germany during the Nazi regime is reminiscent of the 1960s in America when the African-Americans were fighting for equality.

    Added to the amazing actions of the Aborigines, as wonderfully disclosed to the reader in this book, is that they themselves did not enjoy their own personal freedoms in Australia. However, they were fighting for the rights, indeed the lives of others. Recognition for the native people of Australia wasn’t realized until decades later…

    Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust Number 2 by Barbara Miller is a comprehensive, motivational and inspirational narrative that captures the actions of standing up to the inhuman treatment of others. Added to the education and study of this extensive chronicled period of time is the inclusion of memorable photographs. The combination makes for a remarkable reflection of this dynamic time period.

    The author has gifted the reader with an incredible and exhaustive work that captures the spirit of the protest as well as the burning heart of the movement’s leader William Cooper.

    Check it out HERE

    Question – WhO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY? Let me know  via email

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE
     
    Sister Girl: Reflections on Tiddaism, Identity and Reconciliation (New Edition)
    By Jackie Huggins
    Book description
    “The pieces in this seminal collection represent almost four decades of writing by historian and activist Jackie Huggins. These essays, speeches and interviews combine both the public and the personal in a bold trajectory tracing one Murri woman’s journey towards self-discovery and human understanding. As a widely respected cultural educator and analyst, Huggins offers an Aboriginal view of the history, values and struggles of Indigenous people.
     
    Sister Girl reflects on many important and timely topics, including identity, activism, leadership and reconciliation. It challenges accepted notions of the appropriateness of mainstream feminism in Aboriginal society and of white historians writing Indigenous history. Jackie Huggins’ words, then and now, offer wisdom, urgency and hope.”
    Check it out HERE

    Newsletter April 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – Well a little late with this newsletter but it has been a busy writing time. I was happy to write the history of the leaders of an Aboriginal community I’ve had a lot to do with for a special event they have in May. 

    I’ve also been asked to write a handbook for schools which will be a surprise to readers until I finish it.

    Last week I did an interview with a South African writer on the topic of Writing Memoirs That Matter. It will be part of an international book summit where a number of writers speak about the writing and book publishing process. I’ll keep you posted on that too in case you want to check it out. Both of my memoirs – White Woman Black Heart and Secrets and Lies have been bestsellers on Amazon from time to time.

    Earlier on, I did an interview with ABC National Radio for their overnight program on my books on William Cooper. It meant I was interviewed live and answered questions from the audience at 3am in the morning, a big ask!

    NEW BOOK COMING UP

    A book on the European explorers’ quests to find the unknown great south land in the Pacific.

    Left – Patricia Ryan launched her book on communication at the Rydges Cairns last week and I was one of the authors from Tropical Writers who shared about my books and had them available for sale.

    Right – Donna Odegaard who owns First Nations TV in Darwin visited Munganbana Aboriginal Art Gallery and is photographed with me there. My books are available here at 33 Lake St Cairns. Ph Munganbana 0407128199. While there, check out his awesome paintings.

    Review of If I Survive
    from Amazon
    Guy S
    5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful must read book
    Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase

    This book is a tour de force, a must read book that blends the personal story of a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and 2nd world war, with the history of that period, made vivid through the eyes of a brave young Jewish girl enduring the pain and suffering of that horrid period, helping those in need the best way she could, and hiding from not only the Nazi’s but her Polish countrymen, for such long periods in horrendous conditions.

    I have read many books about this period and yet this book touches one deeply not only because of the personal exploits, hope and survival of Lena during this terrible period in history, but because the author successfully meshes the history of that period with the story, such that the impact of what was truly happening at that time, the occupation of Poland by the Nazi’s, the resistance, the day to day living under occupation, the concentration camps, is felt with force, not at all like many boring history books. The aim of this book is not only to save the personal story of a single person that endured and survived that treacherous period for eternity, but to educate the younger generation of what really happened at that time, in the hope that such barbarism will never happen again. In my view, this book is a must read, not only by adults, but by all older schoolchildren, alongside Anne Franks diary. It is worthy of that.

    REVIEW OF THE DYING DAYS OF SEGREGATION IN AUSTRALIA

     from Amazon

    Dan Stirling
    5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling first-hand account of the apartheid-type treatment of Aboriginals in Australia
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2018
    Verified Purchase

    A compelling first-hand account of the apartheid-type treatment of Aboriginals in Australia, even in modern times, and the efforts to eliminate legal discrimination from the 1960s to 1980s.
    Long after most Western countries had given full equality to all citizens, parts of Australia continued to subjugate its Aboriginals. Segregation, control over property ownership, and limits on education were just part of a system designed to keep them under the thumb of their supposed superiors. Barbara Miller documents the abuses as well as the efforts made to overcome them, culminating in the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 which finally showed a federal commitment to ending discrimination. In this 2nd edition Miller updates with changes that have come about in the 30-plus years since the Act.

    Left – I was being interviewed by zoom a few days ago for an international book summit in June on writing and publishing. My topic was Writing Memoirs That Matter

    Right – An earlier launch of a book on William Cooper at the Lamm Library in Melbourne.

    Question – What is on your reading list for the new year?
    Or a book that you like? Let me know via email

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    WAR ON THE WEST
    By Douglas Murray

    Book description from Amazon:

    “‘The most important book of the year’  Daily Mail

    The brilliant and provocative new book from one of the world’s foremost political writers
    ‘The anti-Western revisionists have been out in force in recent years. It is high time that we revise them in turn…’

    In The War on the West, international bestselling author Douglas Murray asks: if the history of humankind is one of slavery, conquest, prejudice, genocide and exploitation, why are only Western nations taking the blame for it?

    It’s become perfectly acceptable to celebrate the contributions of non-Western cultures, but discussing their flaws and crimes is called hate speech. What’s more it has become acceptable to discuss the flaws and crimes of Western culture, but celebrating their contributions is also called hate speech. Some of this is a much-needed reckoning; however, some is part of a larger international attack on reason, democracy, science, progress and the citizens of the West by dishonest scholars, hatemongers, hostile nations and human-rights abusers hoping to distract from their ongoing villainy.

    In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows the ways in which many well-meaning people have been lured into polarisation by lies, and shows how far the world’s most crucial political debates have been hijacked across Europe and America. Propelled by an incisive deconstruction of inconsistent arguments and hypocritical activism, The War on the West is an essential and urgent polemic that cements Murray’s status as one of the world’s foremost political writers.”

    Preorder on Amazon 

    Newsletter March 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – There has been a lot happening in the world and we trust you are in a good place and can take time out from your busy schedule to read some interesting books. It has been said that “reading is dreaming with open eyes.” What do you dream about when you read?

    Author Marji Hill, who facilitates the Fast Self-Publishing Online group, interviewed author Barbara Miller this week.

    NEW BOOK COMING UP

    A book on the European explorers’ quests to find the unknown great south land in the Pacific.

    Summer or winter, autumn or spring, pick up a book

    Review of White Australia Has A Black History: William Cooper And First Nations Peoples’ Political Activism

    5 Star Review – We’ve learned about the atrocities that were committed against Aboriginal people during white settlement but never before have I read about the attempts by Aboriginals like William Cooper to try and work with the system, to try and succeed as farmers. Barbara tells a heartbreaking story of betrayal and injustice, not against rebels, but against people who made every attempt to work with the Government. We learn how the original owners of the land didn’t ask for anything more than what was given to the white settlers, but they were denied even this. Worse, it was sometimes given and taken away as collective punishment for the failure of a minority of people to fulfil obligations. forced on them.

    This book should be mandatory reading in the Australian school curriculum. (Mike007, Amazon reviewer)

    Check White Australia Has A Black History out as it is only $2.99 US for the ebook. Click here.

    Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust

    5-star review, Amazing Story – Shattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust ( William Cooper Gentle Warrior Series Book 2) by Barbara Miller. This is a historic novel about how the Australian Aborigines protested against the Jew Holocaust during the Nazi regimen. The fact that these Australians guided by William Cooper had done a fierce protest against the holocaust is something that took me by surprise, I am very aware of everything that happened during the Holocaust, not just because I read about it but because I had classmates that their parents used to have the concentration camp number in their wrists, like a second-hand history close to me during my high school years but I had never heard this story about William Cooper and their mates. The book is well written, it has a lot of investigative work involved in its development, it has some pictures about the events that are narrated and I think that if you are a history fan or if you want to know things about the Jew Holocaust that you don’t know yet, this is a great book to read.
    Review by Quirru, Amazon reviewer
    Check the book out here, only $2.99 US.

    Right – I am with my William Cooper Gentle Warrior book which is available with free shipping from my website. Click here.

    Left – My follow-up memoir, Secrets and Lies (2021) which is doing well on Amazon Aust. 

    Review of Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir” 

    5 star review – A Memoir with a Punch – This is a frank and compelling story of a fight that should never have had to happen. Personal anecdotes are interwoven with a very important message for us all and the photographs bring it very close. This author’s writing about the marginalised people in Australia has always resonated with me. I am South African and witnessed the end of apartheid and the inclusion of every citizen as a human being with equal rights. It has, therefore, long angered me that other countries have legislation and social constructs that are just as draconian as those under apartheid yet parade themselves as democracies. I was so glad to read this book, which not only tells Australia’s story of human rights travesties but also demonstrates that there are solutions. It is at once heartbreaking and uplifting and should be required reading for everyone who thinks apartheid is South African only and that there are human beings who are in any way less than other human beings. I recommend this to you as well!
    by Joy RS Amazon reviewer
    For a closer look, click here

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    For the Record: 160 years of Aboriginal print journalism by

    Michael Rose

    From September 1836 to December 1837, young Aboriginal clerks produced the Flinders Island Weekly Chronicle, a remarkable record of life on the island off Tasmania where a number of Aboriginal people had been forced to resettle. Copied by hand, it describes the settlement in often poignant terms ‘I am much afraid none of us will be alive by and by as there is nothing but sickness among us. Why don’t the black fellows pray to the king to get us away from this place?’

    Starting with this extraordinary newsletter, Michael Rose has brought together examples of Aboriginal journalism from a wide range of Aboriginal and mainstream publications. He includes articles from early activists and others who used newspaper and magazine journalism in their fight for justice.

    For The Record also offers the reader an unusual glimpse, through Aboriginal eyes, of key issues and events in Aboriginal and Australian history. Included in the dozens of articles selected: protests about poor treatment on reserves in the 1930s, an eyewitness account of a Maralinga atomic bomb test in the 1950s, Bill Rosser’s reporting of life on Palm Island, Kevin Gilbert’s passionate call for a formal treaty between Aboriginal people and the Australian government and Poel Pearson’s commentary on the High Court’s Mabo decision.

    You can check it out here.
    Interestingly, there are some articles by me as both Barbara Russell, my maiden name, and Barbara Miller, my married name as I was the editor and a writer for the “N.Q. Messagestick” an Aboriginal newspaper for the North Queensland Land Council.

    Question – What is on your reading list for the new year?
    Let me know via email

    Newsletter Feb 2022

    Hi all you wonderful readers – No doubt you are well and truly into your business of the new year with holidays left behind. But we trust you will still have some time out for the pleasure of reading.

    Russian Invasion of Ukraine

    A number of commentators are comparing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Hitler’s invasion of European countries in World War 11 and wondering how far Putin will go to re-establish the USSR. People are also asking is the west having its Neville Chamberlain moment of appeasement?

     Poland was not part of USSR as was Ukraine till 1991, but Poland will have bad memories of how it was treated by the Russians during and after World War 11. Surprisingly, perhaps, my book If I Survive covers some of that story. The reason for this is that I needed to piece together the information from Lena Goldstein, whose story it is, by doing a lot of background research to put it in context. So I will include some extracts here:

    Excerpt of horrific story from If I Survive

    The Nazis fought their way into Warsaw. Dead bodies were everywhere. They closed the schools, shut down the newspapers and concerts. The people loved music, but the city fell silent.

    The Siege of Warsaw by the Germans began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, while the Soviet invasion of Poland commenced on 17 September. The Polish Warsaw Army (Armia Warszawa) defended Warsaw, the capital of Poland, as substantial aerial bombardments by the Luftwaffe rained down.
    ………………………….
    To offer what support she could (to her brothers who were sent to the east to fight), Lena went undercover as an actress with a troop of actors who happened to be going to Brest. She says:
     
    “We were already on the Russian side, and people were coming back from the Russian side, saying, ‘Go back, go back because they’re killing people,’ especially Jews because they know the Jews are escaping from the Germans. They’re killing Jews because they know that everybody is selling all that they possess to run away from the Germans to the Russian side. It was dangerous.”
    …………………………….
    Lena’s sister Fela and her husband did not want to accept Russian citizenship. They were Polish citizens, and they wanted to go back to Poland. Angered, the Russians sent them to Siberia instead, as punishment. Russia had already been sent many dissidents to this remote place. Lena longed to find her sister, hold her in her arms, share sisterly stories, even to know she was alive and not suffering. But there was no word from her. It was as if a chapter of her life had closed.
    ……………………………
    (Because of the Warsaw Uprising Aug-Oct 1944 led by the Polish home army or resistance timed for the retreat of the Germans and advance of the Soviets) The Germans reduced Warsaw to smoking ruins, the skeletons of burnt blocks of apartments surrounded by rubble and destroyed bridges sunk into the river. It was like a ghost town.

    The Soviets paid the highest price to defeat the Nazis in Europe, losing more than 26 million troops, so the Allies didn’t want to upset them, and this accounted for their low-level support for their ally Poland. This lack of support was despite the fact that Polish pilots helped win the Battle of Britain in 1940, 115,000 Poles fought in Italy under British command, and after D-Day Poles fought on the western front. They also fought for Britain in the Middle East.

     Tehran Conference

    The Tehran Conference sealed the fate of Poland. It was a meeting between US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran, between 28 November and 1 December 1943. It is reported that:
     
    Stalin pressed for a revision of Poland’s eastern border with the Soviet Union to match the line set by British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon in 1920. To compensate Poland for the resulting loss of territory, the three leaders agreed to move the German–Polish border to the Oder and Neisse rivers. This decision was not formally ratified, however, until the Potsdam Conference of 1945. (Office of the Historian n.d.)
     
    It seems the president of the Polish government-in-exile, Władysław Raczkiewicz, was not aware of this. Also, the Americans were keen to get Soviet support for the war against Japan. At the Yalta conference between the Americans, British and Soviets from 4 to 11 February 1945, the Allies withdrew support for the Polish government-in-exile and Poland was allowed to become a Soviet satellite. Other decisions were made that enabled a Soviet sphere of influence in Europe that led to the Cold War. Stalin said:
     
    For the Russian people, the question of Poland is not only a question of honor but also a question of security. Throughout history, Poland has been the corridor through which the enemy has passed into Russia. Poland is a question of life and death for Russia. (The Latin Library n.d.)
     
    After the war, Poland became a communist state and remained so until 1989. One occupying force was replaced by another. The Soviets persecuted the soldiers of the Home Army and the resistance fighters of the Warsaw Uprising as being anti-Soviet. Instead of being honoured as brave fighters, they were maligned. A monument to the Home Army was not built until 1989 when the Soviets lost control of Poland. Instead, the Soviet-backed People’s Army was glorified. the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), Stalin’s secret police, or the Office of Security (UB), the Polish political police, captured many Home Army fighters, eradicating opposition to post-war communist Poland. The UB operated from 1945 to 1954. They imprisoned the soldiers on charges such as fascism and sent many to Gulags. However, memories of the uprising and lack of Soviet support for them motivated the Polish labour movement, Solidarity, which led to peaceful opposition against the Polish communist government in the 1980s.

    In Poland now, 1 August is a celebrated anniversary. On the fiftieth anniversary of the (Warsaw) uprising, in 1994, Poland held a ceremony and invited the German and Russian presidents. Russian President Boris Yeltsin didn’t attend but German President Roman Herzog visited and was the first German statesman to apologise for German atrocities against Poland during the uprising. “

    For more information

    The story of how Australian Aboriginal William Cooper led a group of Aborigines to the German Consulate in Melbourne in 1938 to protest the Holocaust or Shoah is told here.

    William Cooper was a pioneer for the rights of Indigenous people in Australia, being the father of NAIDOC, working with key leaders to hold the Day of Mourning on the 150th anniversary of British settlement in 1938 and petitioning the King of England for better conditions for Indigenous people as well as representation in federal parliament. Read more about him here.

    Summer or winter, autumn or spring, pick up a book.
    Review of White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon by author Barbara Miller

    This is a personal memoir recording biographical details which illuminates many aspects of contemporary Australian history. Miller takes us on a fascinating journey from her working class background and her spiritual and political awakening through to her involvement in Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.

    This is woven around her coverage of her involvement with helping to re-establish Mapoon in 1974.  Miller gives an insightful treatment of how and why she became engaged in social justice issues in the 1970s. This was a period of major social change in Australia when there was no internet or digital technology and yet Miller manages to convey the passion and commitment of the times.  It is apparent that her social activism is guided and motivated by her faith. 

    The atrocious treatment of the residents of Mapoon when the Director of Native Affairs used police-state tactics to remove them in 1963 from their traditional lands, is both heart-breaking and uplifting. The author shows great sensitivity, respect, and understanding and manages to convey the petty-fogging autocratic paternalistic control of Indigenous people, which pervaded the period of the Bjelke-Petersen era. One can see what Aboriginal people had to contend with and how, with the re-establishment of Mapoon, a most positive success story has finally been achieved. This is an engrossing and compassionate memoir of an extraordinary woman who through her actions demonstrates what can be achieved through persistent commitment and faith.

    Dr Timothy Bottoms, author of Conspiracy of Silence, Queensland’s frontier killing times (Allen & Unwin 2013) and CAIRNS, City of the South Pacific, A History 1770-1995 (Bunu Bunu Press 2016). 

    Check White Woman Black Heart out as it is only $2.99 US for the ebook. Look here.

    Right – I am with my husband Norman at the Queensland Literary Awards ceremony in Brisbane where my book White Woman Black Heart was a finalist for the main award – the Premiers’ Award for a Work of State Significance. My brother Greg and sister-in-law Lynne are behind us. 

    Left – My follow up memoir, Secrets and Lies (2021) which is doing well on Amazon Aust. For a closer look, click here

    The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir”, by Barbara Miller is a heartfelt historical and personal account about the Aboriginal people of Australia. It is a story about their fight to preserve their ancestral land, their culture, and customs. It is a fight against big mining companies and their very rough treatment of the Government.

    This is the third book about the Australian Aboriginal people that by Barbara Miller that I have read. It is as if one is sitting around a fireplace night after night, and being taken back in time. What makes it special is the depth of researched material, and the detailed references from newspapers, conferences, meetings, and quotes.

    The reader also gets an insider’s view of the cultural clashes in the Australian society. On one hand, the values of innovation, disruption, and change are desirable. Yet, the indigenous people valued security, conformity, and stability. There are some very shocking revelations in the book, such as the Government policies of withholding wages of the indigenous employees or disallowing the Aboriginal people to receive a formal education beyond a few years …

    by Monica Rubombora, South African author

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 3 million copies sold!

    Given up on your new year resolutions yet? Try this. Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results

    No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving–every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

    If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

    You can get it here

    Question –What is on your reading list for the new year?
    Let me know via email

    Newsletter Jan 2022 no 1

    Hi all you wonderful readers – No doubt some of you are still on holidays and some are back to the grind. No! Not the grind – an exciting new year full of lots of opportunities and adventures

    Review of White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon by author Barbara Miller

    This is a highly engaging and inspiring memoir. At its centre is the story of Mapoon which has all the elements of a great drama with the violent expulsion of the community in 1963 and their triumphant return eleven years later. As the author explains she came almost by chance to be at the very centre of the drama which in turn dramatically changed her life. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in political and social change over the last 50 years.
     
    Professor Henry Reynolds,FAHA FASSA University of Tasmania, eminent historian and award-winning author
    Check it out as it is only $2.99 US for the ebook https://www.amazon.com/dp-B07CCMV6CP/
     

    Wansee 80th Anniversary

    We have two very important anniversaries coming up which we should remember because of the gravity of the inhumanity to man shown at each. On 20 January, we have the 80th anniversary of the Wansee conference when Nazi leaders developed the Final Solution to expedite the genocide of European Jews. This horrific story is told in both the above books, If I Surviveabout a Polish Shoah (Holocaust) survivor and Shattered Lives Broken Dreamsabout Aboriginal William Cooper who led the Australian Aborigines’ League on the protest re Kristallnacht to the German consulate in Melbourne in 1938. Both books can be found on my website with amazon links for ebooks. 

    International Holocaust Remembrance Day

    The other anniversary is on  27 January, the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. In November 2005, it was declared International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by the United Nations General Assembly. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.

    Excerpt of horrific story from If I Survive

    P 55 “Using bullets to kill Jews was not quick enough, used too much manpower and rattled some who had to do it. A conference was held to plan Hitler’s Final Solution on 20 January 1942, at Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. Head of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), SS General Reinhard Heydrich, ran the meeting. Adolf Eichmann wrote the protocols, which included the words “transportation to the East”, a euphemism for the genocide of Europe’s Jews, who numbered about eleven million at the time. Josef Bühler, State Secretary of the General Government of occupied Poland, asked for the Final Solution to occur in Poland because transportation was not a problem. About 1,700,000 Jews were killed in Operation Reinhard.

    Aktion (Action) Reinhard was the name given to the plan to send Jews to their deaths at Treblinka, and the other extermination camps built in Poland – Belzec and Sobibor. According to the Central Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, a fourth death camp had already opened at Chelmno, today’s Poland. The Nazis gassed the first Jews there in mobile vans on 8 December 1941. (Scapbookpages.com 1998)

     

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    Anne Sarzin and Lisa Miranda Sarzin wrote Hand in Hand: Jewish and Indigenous People Working Together as a project for the Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) NSW who published it in 2010. While more stories could be added to it now, it is the most comprehensive, valuable, and inspiring book available on this important topic. The book has a focus on working together for reconciliation and justice.

    For NAIDOC Week 2021, the JBD began a digital portal to build on the book. As their website says:

    “The portal will provide a comprehensive overview of the Jewish-First Nations relationship in NSW and an inspiration to local Jews and others to continue and take part in the journey. This digital portal will expand on the Sarzins’ work and document the history; highlight key personalities and personal stories; catalogue collaborative work being done today and offer opportunities to get involved in it; present the work of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, and give access to important resources from other organisations.

    “Here are just a few of the collaborations which will be featured on the portal:

     

    European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita

    I published  European Quest in 2014 and it is only available for sale through my website but I will soon upload it on Amazon. It is the fascinating story of Pedro Ferdinand de Quiros, a Portuguese explorer under the command of the King of Spain who had a great desire to find the large unknown land that he and others believed filled the gap between South America and South Africa and balanced the norther and southern hemispheres. He travelled through the south pacific and encountered Indigenous people along the way, landing on Vanuatu in 1606 and then was forced back. His second in command, Torres continued on and alerted Europeans to a strait between New Guinea and the land to the south. However, he was beaten by 6 months by Dutchman Janszoon who was the first European to set foot on Australia. 

    I am also writing a new book that will focus on this story from a Christian point of view as there is a huge interest in Australia and the Pacific that de Quiros, a devout Catholic, prophecied “the south land of the Holy Spirit over the Pacific from Vanuatu to the South Pole. The island in Vanuatu where he made his declaration from is called Espiritu Santo or Holy Spirit in Spanish and they believe they are the custodians of this prophecy. 

    Norman and I were asked to speak at the Vanuatu Prayer Assembly in 2012 and 2013 and we went to the very place where de Quiros made this declaration and met with villagers there. Quiros made it on May 14 1606 which was Pentecost or Shavuot and so the villagers celebrate it each year and also celebrate the birth of the modern state of Israel on May 14. How amazing! So much more to tell.

    Question –What is on your reading list for the new year?
    Let me know via email

    Newsletter Dec 2021 no 2

    Hi all you wonderful readers – May you enjoy some time out with family and friends and find time for some interesting reading. It’s time to take a break and refresh ourselves for the new year which is so close now.
    The photo on the left is of the Hanukkah menorah and Christmas tree standing side by side on the Cairns Esplanade where I live. On the right, I’m checking out a bookshop.

    REVIEW ON AMAZON OF MY BOOK SECRETS AND LIES BY A NATIVE AMERICAN

    PAR

    5.0 out of 5 stars Good to read the Truth!

    Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2021
    As an individual of native heritage in another country, I perhaps read this novel in a more aggressive manner, looking for perhaps bias of the White woman writing “our” history and
    Thinking she really knew what way. I did not find that at all. I felt she wrote from the voice of the people. She was able to share their pain, their distress, and their loss. I highly recommend this novel for anyone of any country, as our stories are very similar. The story of the first people, and what happened to us when another people decided that they wanted to take what was ours and makes it theirs. Then telling us we needed to become them. Taking away our heritage, telling us to act like them, but when we did they put us on the lowest rung of their system. I recommend this novel and would read more novels by this author. I received this novel in advance. I choose to write a review for this novel and the opinions here are my own.
     

    BOOK LAUNCH OF “SECRETS AND LIES”

    Thanks to all the wonderful people from around the world who spoke at and attended the book launch of my latest book. What an interesting time! We had a special appearance by Lex Wotton who is in the book. He spoke about the death in custody at Palm Island and the riot that followed and his jailing over the riot. Others who spoke were my editor from England, reviewers of my book from South Africa, the USA and Australia including a lawyer for the Mabo case Greg McIntyre, readers from Malaysia and Australia, David Jack who prepares the photos for my books, and my wonderful husband Norman who wrote the foreword and facilitates my time to write.

    This book has been no 1 best seller in Public Law on Amazon Australia for about 2 weeks. Here is the US link which will take you to the AU link – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095SDW3LY

    BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE

    This is my review of “Shaland’s Jewish Travel Guide to Malta and Corsica.”

    Shaland’s Jewish Travel Guide to Malta and Corsica” is a masterpiece in bringing to light the unknown history and rich cultural treasures of Malta and Corsica which are situated in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea but off the beaten track for most tourists.

    Author Irene Shaland’s experience as an art and travel writer, educator, and theatre reviewer brings a richness and depth not normally found in travel guides. Her husband, Alex, an internationally-acclaimed photographer has contributed a huge number of amazing photos that bring the story to life.

    And this is much more than a travel guide. It also opens the door on the Jewish story of Malta and Corsica. As Jewish migrants from Russia to the USA, they bring unique insights to this travel guide. 

    Many gems of information for the curious are revealed like the first alphabet, the temples built well before the pyramids of Egypt, and much more, but you need to read it to find out. You will be surprised at how pivotal these two small islands were in the history of Europe. When you pick this book up, you’ll not be able to put it down.

    Even if you don’t plan to travel there, you’ll be carried along as Irene’s skills as a detective and researcher draw you into this amazing story.” –Barbara Miller, an author of ten books,  a psychologist, sociologist, historian and activist.

    If your Amazon account is in the US (www.amazon.com), please follow one of the links below to take a look at the paperback or eBook edition of Irene’s book:

    Link to Paperback edition 

    Link to eBook (Kindle) edition 

    INTERVIEW RE MY CHAPTER IN BOOK “SUCCESS CODE”

    I wrote a chapter in this book on “The Power of Vision” and it was based on the principles I followed at a conference Norman and I and our team hosted in Cairns in 2006 where about 3,000 people attended. The link is – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CKD5GR8/

    Question –What is on your reading list for the upcoming holiday? Let me know via email

    Newsletter Dec 2021

    Hi all you wonderful readers – We have enjoyed the Hanukkah celebrations ending nightfall of 6 Dec and Christmas will soon be upon us. For those who don’t celebrate these seasons, you will no doubt have holidays to look forward to with maybe some indulgent eating and gift-giving nonetheless. Don’t forget to take a book with you on your travels or stay-at-home break. God bless you and your family. I believe God has called me to write and I look forward to the book He has for me next.

    Book Launch 7 Dec 12md AEDT Zoom

    6 December 8pm New York time

    Zoom ID 116 446 220 Passcode: 498888

    You are invited to a zoom book launch of my book Secrets and Lies on Tuesday 7 December at 12md AEDT i.e. Sydney time and Monday night 6 December 8pm New York time.

    Mayor of Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire, Ross Andrews, the Hon. Bob Katter, Federal MP, Native American podcaster Marina Maria, American Jewish author Irene Shaland, British editor Tony Crofts, Malaysian pastor Joy Tan, Cairns journalist & reviewer Christine Howes, Australian prayer leader Lilian Schmid and videographer David Jack will be sharing live with videos from authors in South Africa & Jordan. We may be joined by author Dr Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jnr. So it will be an interesting session. Tell your friends.

    Reviews

    This memoire, Secrets and Lies, tells the story of important events in the relationship between the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments and Aboriginal people on Aurukun and Mornington Island and their struggle to maintain control of their lives in the face of paternalism and racism. It does so from the perspective of the author, who had a unique opportunity to observe the events in which Aboriginal leaders participated and recount the conversations which occurred at meetings between community members and with politicians who played key roles in these events along with what was played out in the public arena and recorded in the media.

    It paints an intimate picture of the individuals involved and brings to life the impact which actions of Government have had upon them at a personal and structural level. It provides a detailed insight into how a grass-roots activist organisation, the North Queensland Land Council, with a charismatic leader, Mick Miller, was able to operate in a regional, State, national and international arena in its advocacy of self-determination for Aboriginal people.

    It traces the history of on-going advocacy of the author for Aboriginal people and the challenges they face through various changes of direction in her personal life. It is a unique and valuable record of the observations and participation of the author in activism which has as its unwavering focus a dedication to the cause of social justice for Indigenous people.

    Greg McIntyre SC, Barrister, Michael Kirby Chambers Perth, Lawyer for the Mabo Case

    Secrets and Lies – A powerful, hard-hitting yarn, from the grassroots of Cape York community-life through to the necessary development of life-changing political activism on Cape York in the 1970s and 80s.

    This is a story which needs to be told and has to be taught, with lessons to learn about what should be done, and how it should (and shouldn’t) be done.

    These yarns are at the roots of what still happens today, in this day and age, making it an essential read for anyone who has ties or in an interest, not just in the Cape York landscape, but across all of Government/Aboriginal politics.

    A well-written and fascinating contextual read for anyone with a passion for justice for Aboriginal people.

    Christine Howes, FNQ correspondent for Koori Mail

    Special almost finished but it’s an honour to celebrate the anniversary of William Cooper again on 6 Dec. Kristallnacht To Cooper Protest Special 9 Nov – 6 Dec

    To commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass and the response by Australian Aboriginal William Cooper in leading the Australian Aborigines’ League on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, I have a $10 discount on my William Cooper Gentle Warrior book with free shipping in Australia. 

    Shattered Lives Broken Dreams is available from Amazon as well as my website but William Cooper Gentle Warrior is only available from my website and is not available as an ebook.

    Question – What is on your reading list for the upcoming holiday? Let me know via email