I felt unimpressive and unimportant – it was deadly black women who saved me | Karlie Noon

For so long I persevered with having the lowest expectations placed on me

By the age of eight I had already given up on myself. Identifying as Aboriginal/Gamilaraay and coming from Coledale – an ostracised and largely Aboriginal suburb of Tamworth in New South Wales – I was deemed unimpressive, unimportant and an inconvenience by my teachers, peers and the welfare system.

By year three I had a school attendance rate of less than 50%. The reasons were manyfold, but coming from a poor family meant we had no washing machine to clean my singular uniform, taking food to school was a big ask when we had very little and having a mum with a disability meant I had significant responsibilities at home. School just didn’t seem to fit into my equation.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PPeIbd
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