AMRITA HEPI ON ADVOCACY

Dancer, choreographer, writer, activist and Bundjalung and Ngapuhi woman Amrita Hepi wants you to own your body and activate your mind.

It feels like we’re at a tipping point, nationally and internationally. A postal vote to decide on something that shouldn’t be questioned, an eruption of torchbearing neo-nazis, the loss of another young black life in regional Australia at the hands of unfair justice, climate change, a dangerous potato of a US President and someone who thinks wearing a burqa in parliament is an accessory to making a statement, rather than deeply offensive. I promise there’s hope, and if you felt a pang of anger at any of these things, then stay with me.

I’ve spent a lot of my life dissecting shame. I frittered away a good chunk of my life because of it, and beneath that I realised there was another force at play: a silent and mounting rage. The shame seeped in through my posture – or lack thereof at times – and I kept a lid on the fury for a really stupid reason. Ready for it? I didn’t want to seem undesirable. God forbid I said how I felt, dressed how I felt, danced how I felt, was the tiniest bit difficult or showed I cared.

I’m writing this not to console you out of your fury, but to ask you to look at it. To let it be useful. There’s no shame in your rage; it may be passion in disguise. What these turbulent feelings mean is that you care, and maybe sometimes you care more than you want to admit so you stay silent or let it go or let it fester into something else completely. Forget about “looking good” or being “chill” for a minute. Don’t “just let it go”. Look at what you’re holding on to. Dissect why you care or feel rage about something instead of throwing it aside.

There’s no shame in taking action. In writing a letter to your MP, to volunteering your time over money, to showing up, to using less in order to feel more, to checking in thoroughly with those who need your help, to listening, really listening, to having a scream and a cry and a laugh and wholeheartedly showing you care. Nonchalance is overrated (and often fabricated).

I’ll be the first to admit I have a heap of privilege and access, even as a woman and a person of colour in this country. I’ve been able to dedicate my life to a career that nourishes me, and has meant putting my body on the line. While activism may be a hype word in the zeitgeist of marketing at the moment, don’t let advocacy be beyond you. Shit ain’t fair (or easy), but you don’t have to accept it point blank. As corny as quotes are, one of my favourite sayings of late is, “If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you.” So go on and serve, yourself and others, with hope, with love and with an active and compassionate fury.