October 19, 2015
Lesley and Tammy Williams’ award-winning book, “Not Just Black And White”, has its roots back in 1993 when Tammy was just 15 and Lesley was beginning a quest for justice.
Lesley was researching what had happened to her wages.
“I’d come home from school and would help by transcribing mum’s words,” Tammy told southburnett.com.au on Friday, at the official launch of the “mother and daughter conversation” at Cherbourg.
Along the 22-year journey to publication there was a trip to Michael Jackson’s “Neverland”, as well as the United Nations in Geneva …
But let’s wind back the clock.
As a young woman, Lesley was forced to leave Cherbourg to work as a domestic servant.
Like many Aboriginal workers at the time, she never saw her wages. They were kept “safe” by the State Government and then just disappeared.
“There was a work agreement between the government and the employer on behalf of the employee,” Lesley said.
“Three generations of my family were covered in that scheme.”
Desperation later drove Lesley to start searching for what had become of her wages. She became inspired to dig deeper into her history when a neighbour gave her copies of records she did not know even existed.
While Tammy was recording her mother’s search for justice, she was encountering her own problems with discrimination at school which were causing her to “act out”.
Then a life-changing event occurred for both women.
“Sony was having an international competition inviting children to write about the biggest problem in the world. I wrote about discrimination, not just racial but all types of discrimination,” Tammy said.
“I was selected out of 47,000 entries in Australia.
“Mum and I travelled to Neverland – Michael Jackson’s house – and met him with 40 other kids.”
Michael Jackson’s foundation gave Lesley and Tammy some financial support, but more importantly he gave them confidence.
“A complete stranger took interest in us. He was very interested in what mum had to say,” Tammy said.
“It also gave me confidence about what I wanted to do in life.
“We stayed in the U.S. for three months with the support of Michael Jackson’s Heal The World Foundation.
“And then, with six other people, we were invited to go and visit the United Nations in Switzerland.”
They could have had their fares paid for them, but they decided to try to raise the money in Australia to allow other people from poorer countries to make the trip, too.
Tammy said the support they received at home was amazing. Money started flowing in from Cherbourg, Murgon, Proston, Kingaroy, Nanango and Gympie. Schools held special fundraisers and even a talent quest was held in Cherbourg. Cherbourg Council also provided support.
“Mum and I went to Geneva in 1995 and there mum spoke about the Stolen Wages,” Tammy said.
“Without that support from the South Burnett and Gympie region it would never have happened.”
Tammy was in her last year of high school while this was all happening and she was still thinking about what to do with her life.
It was The Cosby Show that inspired her. A main character, Clair Huxtable, an African American lawyer, became a role model at a time when it was rare to see indigenous faces on Australian TV.
“I realised that I had to have knowledge to protect my rights. I wanted to make the most of the opportunities that had been given to me. I wanted to return the favour,” Tammy said.
She studied law at QUT and in 2001 was admitted as a barrister.
Since then she has worked with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, as well as the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
All the while, the mother and daughter team continued working on their manuscript which tells their life story, their struggles and their successes.
While still in manuscript form, it was submitted to the Queensland Literary Awards where it won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished indigenous writer.
The University of Queensland Press then published the manuscript, where it has sat at the No 1 spot on their bestseller list for five weeks.
And the rest is history …
FOOTNOTE: The title of the book pays homage to Michael Jackson’s hit “Black or White”
- Copies of “Not Just Black And White” can be bought at The Ration Shed in Cherbourg and at all major book stores
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