Shaping the Future for First Nations

Hosts Teela Reid and Michael Christian. Image supplied.

Reporter

Blak Matters is an exploration of First Nations issues, and why they matter.

Published weekly by LiSTNR, each podcast episode provides an honest conversation between radio presenter, 104.1 2DayFM’s Michael ‘MC' Christian, and his long-time friend, Teela Reid.

Reid is a proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman, a rebellious lawyer, essayist, storyteller and co-founder of @blackfulla_bookclub, a platform that honours First Nations’ ancestors as the original storytellers.

In 2022, she was awarded the Indigenous Leader of the year at the Australian Law Awards and the Marie Claire Voice of Now. Currently, a Sydney-based Senior Solicitor practicing in Aboriginal Land Rights litigation, Reid is the inaugural practitioner in residence at the University of Sydney Law School.

Also an accomplished public speaker, Reid was a ‘working group leader’ in the constitutional dialogues that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a pivotal moment leading to the 2023 referendum.

“Blak Matters is an important project that aims to centre First Nations issues and activism in our national life and the lives of everyday Australians. These crucial conversations have the power to change the very trajectory of our nation’s story,” Reid says.

She adds that these issues need to matter every day in Australia “because we are all living and working on stolen Aboriginal land”.

With the forthcoming referendum, Blak Matters is a space for all Australians to become more informed on what has led to this point; what the Voice means and how it could change the future of Australia.

Blak Matters co-host, Michael Christian, has known Reid since school, and says the series is about having real and meaningful conversations about a significant issue that could shape the future for generations.

“This isn't a First Nations issue - this is an Australian issue. I hope that through this podcast we can entertain and educate, to make people's vote on the Voice more straightforward,” he says.

The first episode of Blak Matters is available now on LiSTNR or wherever you get your podcasts.