Today is National Sorry Day. I was supposed to hold a talk at a school, however, well we know what's happening.
So I thought I would share my yarn with you all here. I don't mean to offend and if you want any follow up please reach out.
National Sorry Day, A Poem (kinda) by Peter Kirk
Today is National Sorry Day, and I'm not asking you to say sorry. No, I'm asking you to listen.
I'm asking that you take a moment to understand that some of the things that have made your life great have detracted ours.
I'm asking you to understand that Indigenous people want to be part of your life, to be invited, to sit, to yarn, to be included.
But to do that we need you to listen.
I'm asking you to understand that it's not enough to say you care and then to go on with your day without understanding what caring means, without being active in doing something about it.
I'm asking you to understand that we all have built-in prejudices, we can't help it. We are human after all. But every day we must work on combating these. Understand that equality means equality of opportunity, wearing an Indigenous shirt doesn't mean anything unless you are willing to change your inbuilt prejudices.
I'm asking you to think about what narrative you want this country to have and how Indigenous culture is part of my culture, but also part of your culture. It is what defines all of us.
I’m asking you to understand that it’s not going to be easy, for any of us, to admit mistakes were made, conflict happened and the narrative was changed. It is never easy, but it did and let’s not shy away from that, let’s have the yarn, believe me we will be better for it.
I’m asking you to think about the 3%, to think about changing who you are to engage deeper, work deeper, and look where you can partner.
Different results do happen if you are willing to change who you are for the result that you want.
No, I’m not asking you to say sorry. I’m asking you to pick up the phone, be closer, yarn, listen and partner. When that happens we won’t even need a sorry, we will be past it. Then we will be one.