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Image courtesy of the State Library of Qld
Chelsea Watego Chelsea Watego i(8114387 works by) (a.k.a. Chelsea Bond)
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Mununjali / Munaldjali ; South Sea Islander
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Works By

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1 A Living Death Chelsea Watego , Emma Wehipeihana , 2024 single work poetry
— Appears in: Woven : First Nations Poetic Conversations from the Fair Trade Project 2024;
1 What Does It Mean to Play Sport on First Nations Land? Ellen Van Neerven Explores Sovereignty and Survival on the Sporting Field Chelsea Watego , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 5 May 2023;

— Review of Personal Score Ellen van Neerven , 2023 multi chapter work autobiography essay
1 'I Catch the Pattern of Your Silence' Chelsea Watego , David Singh; , George Newhouse , Helena Kajlich , Rick Hampson , 2022 single work
— Appears in: Meanjin , September vol. 81 no. 3 2022; (p. 105-111)
'Here we tell of two stories, each similar in their demonstrations of complicity in silencing accounts of racial violence within the Australian health system. The first is a story about a medical rationalisation used to occlude the racial violence characteristic of legal processes used by families as a means of seeking redress; the second is the story of the legal rationalisation offered by a scholarly medical journal as justification for not accepting an article that charted the events of the first, thereby eliding still further Indigenous experiences of racial violence.' 

 (Introduction)

1 Always Bet on Black (Power) Chelsea Watego , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , September / Spring vol. 80 no. 3 2021; (p. 22-33)
1 5 y separately published work icon Another Day in the Colony Chelsea Watego , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2021 21967571 2021 selected work essay

'A groundbreaking work – and a call to arms – that exposes the ongoing colonial violence experienced by First Nations people.

'In this collection of deeply insightful and powerful essays, Chelsea Watego examines the ongoing and daily racism faced by First Nations peoples in so-called Australia. Rather than offer yet another account of ‘the Aboriginal problem’, she theorises a strategy for living in a social world that has only ever imagined Indigenous peoples as destined to die out. Drawing on her own experiences and observations of the operations of the colony, she exposes the lies that settlers tell about Indigenous people. In refusing such stories, Chelsea tells her own: fierce, personal, sometimes funny, sometimes anguished. She speaks not of fighting back but of standing her ground against colonialism in academia, in court, and in media.' (Publication summary)

1 Dear Ancestor Chelsea Watego , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Fire Front : First Nations Poetry and Power Today 2020; (p. 3-8)
1 ‘You Cunts Can Do as You like’ : The Obscenity and Absurdity of Free Speech to Blackfullas Chelsea Watego , Bryan Mukandi , Shane Coghill , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies , vol. 32 no. 4 2018; (p. 415-428)

'In the same year that Adam Goodes quit the game of AFL, soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham refused to sing the Australian National Anthem at the AFL Grand Final because she could not bear to sing the words ‘for we are young and free’. In this article, we examine why the act of singing about being ‘free’ would be both absurd and obscene for Blackfullas in Australia. Engaging with the songs of Black people, locally and globally, we reveal the fiction of free speech and freedom for all and the interests those fictions serve.'  (Introduction)

1 y separately published work icon Wild Black Women Chelsea Watego (presenter), Angelina Hurley (presenter), Wild Black Women , Brisbane : 989fm , 2017- 18317898 2017 series - publisher podcast

Wild Black Women was hosted by Aboriginal women, Dr Chelsea Bond and Angelina Hurley and is a part of 989FM’s ‘Let’s Talk’ programming. The one hour show was designed to give Black Women’s perspectives on current issues, affairs and events that come up each week. One of the most popular and highly anticipated podcasts in the Aboriginal community, Wild Black Women was running for around three years, going from strength to strength, earning the women a spot on NITV’s ‘The Point’ before the Wild Black Woman team announced their retirement of the show in 2020.

1 Fair Game? The Audacity of Héritier Lumumba Chelsea Watego , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 25 August 2017;

In what’s been labelled a controvesial new documentary, SBS’s forthcoming series Fair Game provides a firsthand account of former AFL player Héritier Lumumba’s search for identity as a Black man, and how he confronted racism and prejudice at the Collingwood Football Club. Lumumba, along with his family, former teammates and sports journalists, sheds new light on his personal and professional journey, including the reason behind his name change from Harry O'Brien to Héritier Lumumba. We learn that his name Héritier, given to him by his Black father at birth, means “the prince who is gifted”. It’s in stark contrast to the dehumanising nickname of “Chimp” assigned to him by his teammates.' (Introduction)

1 Thoughts Flow from Mind to Hands i "Hands – gnarled, yet robust", Doseena Fergie , Bronwyn Fredericks , Leanne King , Chelsea Watego , Marlene Longbottom , Raeline Ward , Judy Gould , Robyn Sandri , Machellee Kosick , Patrice Harald , 2014 single work poetry
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 27 2014;
1 y separately published work icon Let's Talk Tiga Bayles (presenter), Lilla Watson (presenter), Mary Graham (presenter), Chelsea Watego (presenter), Angelina Hurley (presenter), Amy McQuire (presenter), Karen Dorante (presenter), Bogaine Spearim (presenter), Karina Hogan (presenter), Brisbane : 989fm , 1999 18319959 1999 series - publisher podcast

Let's Talk is a one hour radio talk back show that has been running for well over 20 years and podcasts are available online from 1999. One of the most relevant radio shows, now also podcast for Aboriginal perspectives on politics, current affairs and events, ‘Let’s Talk’ is made in Brisbane at ‘98FM’ (Formerly known as 4AAA Murri Radio) and is played on other First Nations radio stations around the country via the National Indigenous Radio Service. Hosted by Tiga Bayles until his passing in 2016, the show continued with a range of different hosts including, Amy McQuire, Wild Black WomenBogain Spearim, 'The Aunties' (Dr Lilla Watson and Dr Mary Graham) and Kaava Watson. As one of 989FM’s most popular and longest running programs, it is expected to remain as a key feature of the stations presence in the social, political and cultural discussions in Aboriginal Media.

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