Long Yarn Short by Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts
a memoir of growing up in out-of-home care after being forcibly removed from her family
Welcome dear Musers to Book Chat. Here, I’ll talk about books I’m reading and would love to hear your thoughts on them and of other books you’d recommend.
Happy reading.
Long Yarn Short by Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts is not an easy read. And it shouldn’t be. This story is Turnbull-Roberts’s story of being forcibly removed from her father’s home when she was ten. Her father was an Aboriginal man, her mother had mental health issues. Because of this she was removed from their care as their homes, they, were deemed unfit for her to grow up in.
Turnbull-Roberts is a Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul woman with degrees in law and social work. Her book is an essential read to understand how toxic family policing is for families who need more support, not less. She is someone who not only has lived experience to talk about these issues, but she also plays a key role in her work as the Inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People.
Vanessa is an advocate for Human Rights, a lawyer, and has recently been appointed as the Inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People. From experiences in Out Of Home Care and facing injustices to becoming a Commissioner, Vanessa has devoted her life to empowering Indigenous self-determination and fighting for justice for First Nations people and children in Australia and worldwide.
I read Long Yarn Short over the last long weekend and it was a timely reminder about the injustices that our First Nations People have been served since the ships began arriving in 1788. The injustices that Turnbull-Roberts and her family suffered were (and are) unfortunately too common for many Aboriginal families.
She talks about the state of family policing that is destructive to families from the moment the child is born. What she suggests is that the money that is put into family policing and forcibly removing children would be better off put into providing the families with what they need.
The salary for a senior case manager or director general in the professional kidnapping industry is enough to support four families. What does that tell you?
Long Yarn Short page 233
This book is essential reading for education and understanding about what so many families in Australia are still having to deal with (racism, biases, etc). Her yarn provides wisdom, insight and instruction on how we can all help.
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x M
Note: this copy was from my local public library. Public Lending Right (PLR) and Educational Lending Right (ELR) are Australian Government programs that compensate Australian creators and publishers in recognition of income lost through free multiple use of their books in public and educational lending libraries.
Now I’ll share my comments about the book. Yes - I’ve read it, and found it a difficult and necessary read. I’d watched a documentary about the fact that children were still being taken from homes. So when I saw Tony Birch recommend this book on his Instagram feed, I ordered it. I think we need to actively support Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts on Instagram and LinkedIn because she’s a lawyer, she’s secured an important role and we need more women like her to advocate for change. Her lived experience is also critical.
Ooh - I love this idea of the book section 🤓