INTRO: Stan Grant is an Australian journalist and correspondent for Sky News Australia. Grant is of Aboriginal ancestry from the Wiradjuri. Stan describes the shifts in his understanding of what it is to be Aboriginal. As a child he was ashamed of the colour of his skin. He remembers trying to scrub himself white, fleeing from school when he was bullied for being black, and trying to hide his father from his white friends.
REVIEW: In July 2015, as the debate over Adam Goodes being booed at AFL games raged and got ever more heated and ugly, Stan Grant wrote a short but powerful piece for The Guardian that went viral, not only in Australia but right around the world, shared over 100,000 times on social media. His was a personal, passionate and powerful response to racism in Australian and the sorrow, shame, anger and hardship of being an indigenous man. 'We are the detritus of the brutality of the Australian frontier', he wrote, 'We remained a reminder of what was lost, what was taken, what was destroyed to scaffold the building of this nation's prosperity.' Stan Grant was lucky enough to find an escape route, making his way through education to become one of our leading journalists.
TALKING TO MY COUNTRY is that rare and special book that talks to every Australian about their country - what it is, and what it could be. It is not just about race, or about indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. Direct, honest and forthright, Stan is talking to us all. He might not have all the answers but he wants us to keep on asking the question: how can we be better?
LOOK AT THE COVERWATCH AUTHOR SPEAKREAD A SAMPLEWANT A COPY?CHALLENGE RESPONSE: In the video Stan talks about thousands of voices booing Adam Goodes in 2015 until he retreated from the sport he loved and excelled at. What would your thoughts and response be if an Indigenous student was booed at a sporting match here at Hale one weekend? Submit 25 words (minimum).
