Author Archives: w3media

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Connect with Zac Wone at both Mount Druitt and Tweed BLACK events!

Zac Wone

Findem Baek Famili workshop delegate, Zac Wone will be on the Black Voices panel at both Mount Druitt and Tweed BLACK events.


Zac Wone is the recipient of the Community Youth Award at the 11th annual NSW Council for Pacific Communities Awards-2016.

He received the award for his voluntary community services in representing the youth of the Western Sydney region on the Board of the Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) Committee, Findem Baek Famili workshop delegate in the Solomon Islands and for acting as coordinator for the these very Bold Leadership Awareness Culture Knowledge workshops, where he’ll also be on the Black Voices panel.

Connect with Zac Zachary Joseph Wone at both Mount Druitt and Tweed BLACK events!

Register now by visiting THIS PAGE and selecting the registration link next to your preferred location.

Meet Kobie Duncan.

Kobie Duncan

Kobie Duncan will be performing for guests at BLACK forum Mount Druitt October 22nd and 23rd 2016.


Meet Kobie Duncan. Kobie is 19 years old and was born and raised in Maroubra, Sydney. Kobie’s mob is the Yuin Nation from the South Coast and Gamilaroi people from Moree. He has been involved with Weave Youth and Community Services through the Kool Kids Club Program since he was in primary school and is currently still connected to support through Weave. Kobie is a Youth Ambassador for Just Reinvest NSW.

Kobie believes that justice reinvestment is important to provide services that guide young people and provide opportunities for them to reach their goals. He is a talented musician and has written and performed his own original rap songs, including songs about justice reinvestment and the impact of incarceration on families and communities.

Kobie is a committed and successful boxer and he holds the current NSW Featherweight title. Kobie has presented at conferences and told his story at Change the Record forums. He is a role model and peer mentor for children and young people in his community.

Kobie will be performing for guests at BLACK forum Mount Druitt, this weekend.

This is a FREE youth event and initiative of the Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson).

We would LOVE to see you there – so REGISTER NOW!

Say halo to Louise

Louise Togo

You can see Louise as part of the BLACK youth forum, South Tweed Community Centre – HACC, October 29 and 30 2016.

With heritage stretching from the Solomon Islands to Vanuatu, Louise Togo has been teaching in Indigenous education for more than 13 years.

She is the founding member of contemporary island dance group, Pasifika Breeze, which has been sharing and performing for the past four years.

Louise currently volunteers in community events, specifically in suicide prevention and awareness.

You can see Louise as part of the BLACK youth forum in Tweed Heads, October 29th and 30th 2016, where we’ll talk all things culture, leadership and South Sea Islander history.

To register for this empowering event, follow THIS LINK.

Islander awareness on agenda

A WORKSHOP designed to encourage greater community awareness of Australian South Sea Islander history and ignite inspiration and connection in local youth is coming to Tweed Heads on the 29th and 30th October 2016.

Headlined by rugby league star and Koori Mail columnist Preston Campbell, BLACK (Bold Leadership Awareness Cultural Knowledge) is aimed at people aged 17-30 from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds, and features rap, influential speakers and engaging workshops.

Similar events will be held in Mount Druitt, western Sydney, on October 22-23 2016, featuring Aboriginal and South Sea Islander broadcaster Lola Forester.

Event organiser and Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) president Emelda Davis said the workshops would include sessions on leadership, Australian South Sea Islander and broader community culture, storytelling, panel discussions and live performances.

Emelda Davis President of Australian South Sea Islanders - Port Jackson

Emelda Davis – President of Australian South Sea Islanders Port Jackson.

“The event will provide the opportunity to share diverse insights into education, training and wellness, including creating and sustaining a strong sense of community,” she said. “It will also be beneficial in confronting common challenges, developing leadership skills and promoting social enterprise.”

Ms Davis said participants would glean inspiration and broader cultural understandings from the wealth of knowledge and repertoire of the speakers. “We are encouraging all community members to join us for this event, which also includes complimentary catering and wonderful networking opportunities,” she said.

Ms Davis said South Sea Islander history in Australia was rich, and one that was largely unknown despite the sacrifices and huge accomplishments made in the establishment of the sugar cane industry in Queensland.

“More than 62,000 individual South Sea Islanders, 95% of them men, were kidnapped, tricked and coerced from Vanuatu, the Solomons and 80 surrounding islands starting in NSW in 1847, with the majority entering Queensland between 1860 and 1908,” she said. “Around 15,000, or 30% of these people, died due to lack of immunity and maltreatment.”

Deceased estate wages were used to pay for the Commonwealth Government’s inhumane mass deportation of up to 10,000 islanders under the White Australia Policy.

“Today, there are more than 50,000 descendants living in Australia, many residing on the Tweed, and theirs is a story that is vital for all Australians to understand and recognise.” The Australian South Sea Islander community has strong links with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, given they worked in many of the same areas, were placed on some of the same missions – particularly on the east coast – and subject to the same oppressive laws.

They built direct bloodlines through marriages. There are many close connections with the Torres Strait Islander community, as South Sea Islander people were taken into the Torres Strait from 1860 for the pearling and beche-de-mer industries as well as through the London Missionary Society.

The most significant Australian South Sea Islander ‘colony’ is on Mua (St Paul’s) Island in the Torres Strait, established by the Anglican Church in the 1900s. Australian South Sea Islander people also worked closely with Aboriginal people in the pastoral industry.

The BLACK events are the first significant youth workshops funded by the NSW Government for an Australian South Sea Islander organisation.

Islander awareness on agenda

Izzy N the Profit headline act at BLACK at Mt Druitt on the weekend.

Izzy N the Profit is a headline act at BLACK at Mt Druitt

Izzy N the Profit is a headline act at BLACK at Mt Druitt

RESPECTED hip hop artist Izzy N the Profit will lend their music talent to raise community awareness of South Sea islander history this weekend.

Whether alone or as part of the group, Izzy n the Profit, Izzy is always a man that commands heaps of respect

He has put in the hard yards for Hip Hop culture and it shows. No doubt you’ve seen him freestyling at any number of events, his staged performance shows a maturity and ease that can only come with time and practice.,

Bold Leadership Awareness Cultural Knowledge (BLACK) will be held at Mt Druitt Hub on Saturday from 9am and Sunday from 10am and feature performances, discussions and workshops designed for 17 to 20 year-olds.

“There are more than 50,000 South Sea islander descendants living in Australia and theirs is a story that is vital for all Australians to understand and recognise,”

Australian South Sea islanders Association president Emelda Davis said. “It will also be beneficial in confronting common challenges, developing leadership skills and promoting social enterprise,”

Izzy N the Profit is a headline act at BLACK at Mt Druitt on the weekend.

Mitch King live at the BLACK youth forum, Tweed Heads

Mitch King

Hear Mitch King live at the BLACK youth forum, Tweed Heads.


A Bundjalung and Yaegl man from North Coast NSW, Mitch King is a creative soul that continues to learn, teach and perform dance and music through the elements of Hip Hop.

Running dance and song writing workshops throughout Australia. Mitch uses these skills to mentor young people giving them healthy lifestyle choices and creative pathways.

Also a rhymer in the three piece hip hop outfit – Teddy Lewis King, Mitch uses the art of lyrics and flow to represent the North Coast and his people.

Having travelled from Normanton to Deniliquin performing at the Byron Bay Falls Festival and Sydney Opera House, the trio uses high energy sounds to connect with ideas of family, community and culture.

Hear Mitch live at the BLACK youth forum, Tweed Heads, 29th and 30th October 2016.

Places are limited so REGISTER NOW!

Nathan Brennan on the Black Voices panel at BLACK Mount Druitt

Nathan Brennan

Nathan Brennan is on the Black Voices panel at BLACK Mount Druitt.

Nathan Brennan is a South Sea Island descendant, as well as descendant of the Gumbainggirr and Gumilaroi Aboriginal Nations of NSW. Nathan was born and resides in Newcastle. He has worked in the education sector with TAFE NSW and the NSW Dept of Education.

Nathan is currently employed by the Newcastle City Council in Human Resources and is a board member of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition which oversees the SEED Indigenous Climate Youth Network. He is passionate about the environment and climate change and is currently undertaking an Advanced Diploma of Applied Environmental Management.

Nathan is a skilled Aboriginal cultural performer and likes to spend his free time walking country and connecting physically and spiritually.

See Nathan on the Black Voices panel at BLACK Mount Druitt this weekend – REGISTER NOW!

Rachel Jordan on the Black Voices panel at BLACK Mount Druitt

Rachel Jordan

See Rachel on the Black Voices panel at BLACK Mount Druitt this weekend.

Rachel Jordan is an accomplished filmmaker, theatremaker, director, writer, actor, producer, educator, consultant, an activist since 17 years old, and a creative entrepreneur since 23, always with a focus on empowering people of colour, particularly black people.

She spent two years as a producer and broadcaster of radio show Panther Jams on 88.9FM which focused specifically on black social empowerment through linking issues throughout the diaspora, social analysis and speaking to a variety of local and international guests, activists, authors and musicians.

Rachel is founder and creative director of Onyx Native Intelligence, Hi Rise Centre for the Arts, The Archetype Gallery, The Archway 1 Theatre Company and The Archway 1 Art Studio. All are not-for-profit, volunteer-run, unfunded arts initiatives with a socially conscious focus.

Rachel has directed, produced, acted and adapted ‘A Sunday Morning in the South’ and most recently ‘Bronze’ by African American Playwright Georgia Douglas Johnson – a play dealing with America’s systemic practice of lynching black people in that time.

See Rachel on the Black Voices panel at BLACK Mount Druitt this weekend – REGISTRATION IS A MUST!

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