LABOR HISTORY TODAY Podcast: Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia
Chris Garlock | Published on 3/9/2025
This week’s edition of the show takes us to Australia but the history of slavery and
the ongoing failure to come to terms with the resulting racism and discrimination there echo uncomfortably loudly here in the United States as Donald Trump ramps up his campaign to stamp out any effort to acknowledge that such things exist, as though by simply abolishing the words diversity, equity and inclusion we can magically erase generations of oppression.
It cannot do so, but we clearly have a long way to go here at home, and it’s instructive – and a bit inspiring -- to hear how our brothers and sisters Down Under are struggling with the same issues.
Today’s show comes to us from the Melbourne-based radio show Stick Together; host James Brennan talks with author Santilla Chingaipe about her book “Black Convicts: How slavery shaped Australia.”