For decades the few stories about people of Black-African heritage in Warrane-Sydney have been written by others about us, or by a select few. Unfortunately, these stories perpetuate ubiquitous stereotypes. We’ve become excessively accustomed to hearing about nefarious Black people and youth[1] and, conversely the trope of the model minority ‘Magical Negro’.[2]

The situation is compounded by geography, and lack of connectivity between the suburbs of Warrane-Sydney, without putting a lot of effort to seek alternate sources, a person of Black American heritage living in Potts Point learns about a person of South Sudanese or Ghanian heritage living in Blacktown through the very lens that perpetuates tropes and stereotypes about themselves: media coverage, policy, and archiving that ignore vast swathes of Black culture.

Black Diasporas Warrane-Sydney will document the experiences of individuals of African ancestry, living in this city, and the spaces and places that have meaning to them. Referencing oral narrative,[3] a common tradition throughout the African continent, in Black Diasporas Warrane-Sydney, we literally hear directly from people of African descent about their experiences.

Black Diasporas Warrane-Sydney builds on the Naarm-Melbourne edition by sharing a geolocated variety of more nuanced experiences of Black life: from the joys of family life; playing as a child; the history of our suburbs; to the mundaneness of catching a train or ferry; the tragedy of the effects of racial stereotyping; and the loss of life. The main aim of this project is to create space for community-led dialogue.

The project will become a framework we can share with other communities in Warrane-Sydney to democratise the archive, for community engagement, and future city visioning.

Our voices telling Our Stories

References

[1] Visentin, L. (2018, December 2). “my own son cannot get a job now”: Sydney’s Sudanese hit by Melbourne “ripple effect.” The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/myown-

son-cannot-get-a-job-now-sydney-s-sudanese-hit-by-melbourne-ripple-effect-20181101-p50dbt.html

[2]“One such commentor, K.Anthony Appiah (1993) defined the magical Negro as ”the noble good-hearted black man or woman “whose sense pulls the White character through crisis. Appiah

labelled the helpful Black characters as “saints. “He further asserted that saintly Black characters are morally equivalent to their “normal White counterparts. P137-138

[3] Kalu. (2000). African literature and the traditional arts: speaking art, molding theory. Research in African Literatures, 31(4), 48.

We acknowledge Black Diasporas Warrane-Sydney takes place on the unceded lands of the

Gadigal, Tharawal & Dharug. We acknowledge their communities, their elders both past and

present as well as future generations