Black and Blue:
A Memoir of Racism and Resilience
Overview
The story of an Aboriginal woman who worked as a police officer and fought for justice both within and beyond the Australian police force.
Black and Blue is a memoir of remarkable fortitude and resilience, told with wit, wisdom, and great heart.
A proud Gunai/Kurnai woman, Veronica Gorrie grew up dauntless, full of pride and a fierce sense of justice. After watching her friends and family suffer under a deeply compromised law-enforcement system, Gorrie signed up for training to become one of a rare few Aboriginal police officers in Australia.
In her ten years in the force, she witnessed appalling institutional racism and sexism, and fought past those things to provide courageous and compassionate service to civilians in need, many Aboriginal themselves.
With a great gift for storytelling and a wicked sense of humor, Gorrie frankly and movingly explores the impact of racism on her family and her life, the impact of intergenerational trauma resulting from cultural dispossession, and the inevitable difficulties of making her way as an Aboriginal woman in the white-and-male-dominated workplace of the police force.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Paperback
- 6in x 9in
- 256 pages
- 9781950354757
- USD$18.00
- 2 November 2021
Awards
- Winner of the 2022 Victorian Prize for Literature
- Winner of the 2022 Victorian Premier's Prize for Indigenous Writing
- Shortlisted for the 2022 Victorian Premier's Prize for Non-Fiction
- Shortlisted for the 2022 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction
- Shortlisted for the 2022 ABIA Awards for Small Publishers' Book of the Year
- Commended for the 2022 State Library New South Wales National Biography Award
Praise
“This is the read for Australia now…it crackles with urgency. Honestly. I was left with a startling clarity after reading Black and Blue. This should be taught in schools, alongside the rest of our history.”
“Every now and then, a story comes along that astonishes with its degree of truth, trauma, and resilience. Veronica Gorrie’s memoir, Black and Blue, is one such, chronicling a life of inconceivable pain, abuse, and discrimination … Her book should be mandatory reading material for all emerging and current cops … Women who have historically been silenced: now more than ever, we need to be reading their stories.”
About the Author
Veronica Gorrie is a Gunai/Kurnai woman who lives and writes in Victoria. Her first book, Black and Blue (2021), won the 2022 Victorian Premier's Prize for Literature and the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing, as well as being shortlisted for the 2022 Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction and the 2022 ABIA Small Publishers’ Book of the Year.
