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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The remarkable life story of a leading Aboriginal community activist who grew up in a camp in northern NSW, and worked on health, education and other social issues across the state.
"And I said that to this old fella to this old fella at the ticket box: I want you to come and fix this. Take these ropes off! What do you think we are? Our money is as good as anyone else's and we want to sit where we want to sit. I kept standing there in front of the ticket office, and by then my sister-in-law was there too. The two of us, making trouble! And my poor little heart, I don't know how it stayed in my chest".' Source: Publisher's blurb
Notes
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Dedication: I dedicate this book to my six children: Ben, Larry, Brenda, Tony, Amy and Aubrey who were denied full commitment from me as a mother as I was always working, trying to provide just a little something extra for them. Isabel.
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Dedication: My writing for this book was in memory of Isabel, but is dedicated to the wider Flick family, to Isabel's brothers and sisters and their families as well as her own, those warm brave and extraordinary people who have changed the way we see the world. Heather.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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White Closets, Jangling Nerves and the Biopolitics of the Public Secret
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , June vol. 26 no. 2 2011; (p. 57-75) 'This essay attempts to outline the relationship between the 'raw nerves' that Denis Byrne describes in the epigraph above, and the cultivation of 'indifference' that Stanner identifies as being characteristic of 'European life' in Australia. Here I situate indifference as numbing the 'jangling' of 'raw nerves' and as cultivated, disseminated and feeding specific forms of public secrecy. How did the white men who enforces segregation by day and pursued Aboriginal women by night manage their 'jangling nerves, if indeed they did jangle? How did they manage to be seen and known and have their secrets kept for them, as much as by them. How did this contradiction of segregation and sexual intimacy, if indeed it is a contradiction, work, My hope is that if we can understand how the white men (and those around them), regulated these jangling nerves, then we might be able to understand the relationship between indifference, public secrecy and the biopolitical forms that Australian whiteness took in the twentieth century, and specifically in the period of assimilation, extending from the 1930s to, roughly, the end of the 1960s.' (Author's introduction p. 57)
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Untitled
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , October vol. 37 no. 128 2006; (p. 144-145)
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography -
[Review Essay] Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Aboriginal Studies , no. 1 2005; (p. 106-107)
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography'What a woman! Reading an amazing story such as Isabel Flick: the many lives of an extraordinary Aboriginal woman is a humbling experience. One is overwhelmed by the sheer number and diversity of experiences that filled Isabel’s life; but in sharing her stories Isabel reminds us of all the unacknowledged Aboriginal women who, like her, have refused to give up hope, who have persisted in their struggle to achieve human rights for their people. Isabel’s story reveals a woman who is warm, caring and sensitive, who like so many Aboriginal women must draw constantly on her own strength to overcome continual obstacles, to pursue her dream and achieve her goals. In my opinion, Isabel Flick, in this account of her life, personifies all those women who give their lives to the Aboriginal cause, and we, individually and collectively, need to value and acknowledge their contribution.' (Introduction)
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Indigenous Life Stories
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , vol. 1 no. 2 2004; (p. 209-218) -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: JAS Review of Books , September no. 27 2004;
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography
-
Biography
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 15 May 2004; (p. 6)
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: JAS Review of Books , September no. 27 2004;
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography -
[Review Essay] Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Aboriginal Studies , no. 1 2005; (p. 106-107)
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography'What a woman! Reading an amazing story such as Isabel Flick: the many lives of an extraordinary Aboriginal woman is a humbling experience. One is overwhelmed by the sheer number and diversity of experiences that filled Isabel’s life; but in sharing her stories Isabel reminds us of all the unacknowledged Aboriginal women who, like her, have refused to give up hope, who have persisted in their struggle to achieve human rights for their people. Isabel’s story reveals a woman who is warm, caring and sensitive, who like so many Aboriginal women must draw constantly on her own strength to overcome continual obstacles, to pursue her dream and achieve her goals. In my opinion, Isabel Flick, in this account of her life, personifies all those women who give their lives to the Aboriginal cause, and we, individually and collectively, need to value and acknowledge their contribution.' (Introduction)
-
Untitled
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , October vol. 37 no. 128 2006; (p. 144-145)
— Review of Isabel Flick : The Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman 2004 single work autobiography -
Indigenous Life Stories
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , vol. 1 no. 2 2004; (p. 209-218) -
White Closets, Jangling Nerves and the Biopolitics of the Public Secret
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , June vol. 26 no. 2 2011; (p. 57-75) 'This essay attempts to outline the relationship between the 'raw nerves' that Denis Byrne describes in the epigraph above, and the cultivation of 'indifference' that Stanner identifies as being characteristic of 'European life' in Australia. Here I situate indifference as numbing the 'jangling' of 'raw nerves' and as cultivated, disseminated and feeding specific forms of public secrecy. How did the white men who enforces segregation by day and pursued Aboriginal women by night manage their 'jangling nerves, if indeed they did jangle? How did they manage to be seen and known and have their secrets kept for them, as much as by them. How did this contradiction of segregation and sexual intimacy, if indeed it is a contradiction, work, My hope is that if we can understand how the white men (and those around them), regulated these jangling nerves, then we might be able to understand the relationship between indifference, public secrecy and the biopolitical forms that Australian whiteness took in the twentieth century, and specifically in the period of assimilation, extending from the 1930s to, roughly, the end of the 1960s.' (Author's introduction p. 57)
Awards
- Collarenebri, Walgett - Collarenebri area, Far North NSW, New South Wales,
