Barbara Miller's Blog, page 2
October 6, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter September-October 2023
NEW BOOK RELEASED THIS WEEKGet it now before the vote – https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CJV6Q6RX
Discover the essential guide to making an informed decision about the Voice to Parliament and government referendum. In this book, Barbara Miller, a pastor, sociologist, and historian, offers an insightful Christian response to the Uluru Statement From the Heart. She shares her 50 years of experience as an activist and researcher in First Nations affairs to help readers understand why she has changed her opinion. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the issues at stake and the consequences of voting yes or no.
The book will empower readers to:
Make an informed decision on this critical issue in Australian historyReconcile the impact of colonialism on First Nations peopleDevelop a vision for a more unified nationTransform their lives with deeper insight into racism, inequality, and separatismInside this book, readers will find:
An expert look at the original sin of colonialismA comprehensive view of the referendum’s consequencesA reflection on the impact of the Christian voiceDon’t wait – get your copy now before the price changes!
BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE
See this in the next newsletter
FIND THESE WILLIAM COOPER BOOKS WHCH GO TOGETHER – HERE
FIND THESE MEMOIRS WHCH GO TOGETHER – HERE
Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:
Guide to Choosing Your NicheGuide to Finding Your Book Topic and TitleGuide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonusList of Resources for AuthorsIf you would like more information, check it out HERE
My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com.
Happy reading!!
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.
Right – Available as an audio book – a first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabahgives a blow-by-blow description of the days of apartheid in Qld and how an Aboriginal community lobbied tirelessly for local government and finally got it in 1984 and their progress to today with land rights and native title. Hear the words of Aboriginal leaders themselves. Find it HERE.
William Cooper Gentle Warrior: Standing Up for Australian Aborigines and Persecuted Jews is the first book by Barbara Miller on William Cooper and tells his amazing story and that of the Australian Aborigines’ League as they work for the uplift of their people and stand up for Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust when Aborigines were not citizens in their own nation. Find it HERE
September 4, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter July-August 2023
Which reading space would you choose?
A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political StrugglesBy Thomas Sowell (a famous black American economist)
Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this book, which the author calls a “culmination of thirty years of work in the history of ideas,” Sowell attempts to explain the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives as a disagreement over the moral potential inherent in nature.
Those who see that potential as limited prefer to constrain governmental authority, he argues. They feel that reform is difficult and often dangerous, and they put their faith in family, custom, law, and traditional institutions. Conversely, those who have faith in human nature prefer to remove institutional and traditional constraints. Controversies over such diverse issues as criminal justice, income distribution, or war and peace repeatedly show an ideological divide along the lines of these two conflicting visions. Get book HERE
Daughter of the River Countryby Dianne O’Brien & Sue Williams
(Dianne is William Cooper’s great-granddaughter)
A heartbreaking, redemptive memoir of raw power, Daughter of the River Country is the story of an extraordinary journey from a childhood as one of Australia’s Stolen Generation to Aboriginal Elder
Born in rural Australia in the 1940s, baby Dianne is immediately taken from her parents and placed with a white family. Raised in an era of widespread racism, she grows up believing her Irish adoptive mother is her birth mother.
When her adoptive mother tragically dies and she is abandoned by her adoptive father, Dianne is raped, sent to the brutal Parramatta Girls Home and forced to marry her rapist in order to keep her baby. After suffering years of domestic abuse, but refusing to let her spirit be broken, Dianne finally discovers she is a Yorta Yorta woman, a daughter of the river country, and is reunited with her birth mother. She learns that her great-grandfather was a famous Aboriginal activist and from here she becomes a powerful leader in her own right, vowing to help others in any way she can.
Daughter of the River Country explores for the first time the devastation caused to Australia’s Aboriginal Stolen Generation, who were forcibly placed with white families as part of a government assimilation programme.
‘A compelling memoir about the power of love and staying the course.’ LINDA BURNEY, the first Aboriginal Member of Australia’s House of Representatives.
Find it HERE
REQUEST A FREE HANDBOOK ON THE HOLOCAUST AND THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL RESPONSE WRITTEN BY BARBARA MILLER & PUBLISHED BY ELI RABINOWITZ OF THE WE ARE HERE FOUNDATION
This contains educational modules with videos and activities and is suitable for high school students, tertiary education and adult education. It also contains antisemitism education. It is highly suitable for the Australian context using examples from the life of Aboriginal William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League. It is a highly engaging and free resource on a difficult topic and is highly relevant today. Get it HERE
The largest collection consists of 1.5 million books!
According to the Guinness World Records, the largest privately owned collection of books is a massive 1.5 million.
They are owned by John Q. Benham who lives in Indiana in the USA.
He has to keep them in lots of different places because he doesn’t have enough space in his house.
They are in the garage, in his two-storey building and even outside!
If you read 20 minutes a day, you would have read 1.8 million words in a year
All it takes is 20 minutes a day.
If you read for this long every day for a year, then you would have read 1.8 million words.
You will be like a human dictionary!
You can read books in many different ways including e-books & audiobooks!
There used to be a time where we only had books to read.
Lucky for us, we can access them in lots of different ways now.
Whether it’s online, an e-book or even an audiobook there are lots of ways to access your favourite stories.
The person who draws pictures in books is called an illustrator.
Take a look at your books and they will say “Illustrated by…”.
The illustrator is the person who draws all the pictures in the book.
Books don’t always have to have one illustrator, there can be multiple.
If you love art then you might like to work as an illustrator when you are older!
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.
We need to thank Johannes Gutenberg for the books we have today.
He invented the printing press, which prints words on to paper.
This was in 1440.
It meant that thousands of books could be produced very quickly!
Send us your favourite facts! Above facts are from:
Top 10 Facts About Books!
Sometimes you just want a book that’ll give you a laugh!
Must admit my books are a bit serious but very interesting!
FIND THESE WILLIAM COOPER BOOKS WHCH GO TOGETHER- HERE
FIND THESE MEMOIRS WHCH GO TOGETHER – HERE
Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.
Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:
Guide to Choosing Your NicheGuide to Finding Your Book Topic and TitleGuide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonusList of Resources for AuthorsIf you would like more information, check it out HERE
My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com.
Happy reading!!
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.”Check it out here.
Right – Available as an audio book – a first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabahgives a blow-by-blow description of the days of apartheid in Qld and how an Aboriginal community lobbied tirelessly for local government and finally got it in 1984 and their progress to today with land rights and native title. Hear the words of Aboriginal leaders themselves. Find it HERE.
William Cooper Gentle Warrior: Standing Up for Australian Aborigines and Persecuted Jews is the first book by Barbara Miller on William Cooper and tells his amazing story and that of the Australian Aborigines’ League as they work for the uplift of their people and stand up for Jews at Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust when Aborigines were not citizens in their own nation. Find it HERE
June 12, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter May-June 2023
Is it hard to choose what to read next? Is it a juggling act?BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE
In Beyond Belief: Rethinking the Voice to Parliament, twelve distinguished Australians set out their reasons why we need to question the wisdom of enshrining a Voice to parliament by amending the Constitution.
Some of these reasons are legal, political and constitutional; but others express concern that constitutional amendment will do nothing to address the social disadvantage endured by many Indigenous Australians – a burden which weighs heavily on each of the contributors.
Beyond Belief: Rethinking the Voice to Parliament will equip Australians who have their own doubts about the proposed referendum with informed and compelling reasons for deciding to vote ‘No’ when asked to change our nation’s founding document.
Edited by Warren Mundine AO, authored by Peter Kurti & others and foreward by Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Find it here https://www.amazon.com.au/Beyond-Belief-Rethinking-Voice-Parliament/dp/1922815284/
The Voice to Parliament Handbook is an easy-to-follow guide for the millions of Australians who have expressed support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, but want to better understand what a Voice to Parliament actually means.
‘We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.’ These words from the Uluru Statement from the Heart are a heartfelt invitation from First Nations People to fellow Australians, who will have the opportunity to respond when the Voice referendum is put to a national vote by the Albanese Government.
Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo and acclaimed journalist Kerry O’Brien have written this handbook to answer the most commonly asked questions about why the Voice should be enshrined in the Constitution, and how it might function to improve policies affecting Indigenous communities, and genuinely close the gap on inequalities at the most basic level of human dignity.
A handy tool for people inclined to support a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum, The Voice to Parliament Handbook reflects on this historic opportunity for genuine reconciliation, to right the wrongs and heal the ruptured soul of a nation. This guide offers simple explanations, useful anecdotes, historic analogies and visual representations, so you can share it among friends, family and community networks in the build-up to the referendum.
Find it here – https://www.qbd.com.au/the-voice-to-parliament-handbook/thomas-mayo-kerry-obrien/9781741178869/
I had a scoop about the Path to Treaty Bill being likely to pass through Qld parliament at its sitting in Cairns May 9-11. This had not surfaced in the national or even the state or local media so I wrote an article for The Spectator which would have been breaking news had it been a newspaper. It was approved to be published on 13 May and came out in the magazine cover attached. Since then, there has been a lot of coverage in Qld and national newspapers and national TV. Most people were surprised the opposition LNP supported the bill which has wide-reaching ramifications.
You will find the article here – https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/05/queenslands-treaty-law-has-had-an-astonishing-dream-run/
L – Author Barbara Miller with Cheryl Buchanan, co-chair Interim Truth and Treaty Board at the Path to Treaty workshop in Cairns 9 May. R – Barbara and Norman Miller with Cheyl Buchanan after the Premier’s breakfast when she announced to media the Path to Treaty Act had been passed the afternoon before.
Fun Facts About Books!The largest collection consists of 1.5 million books!According to the Guinness World Records, the largest privately owned collection of books is a massive 1.5 million.
They are owned by John Q. Benham who lives in Indiana in the USA.
He has to keep them in lots of different places because he doesn’t have enough space in his house.
They are in the garage, in his two-storey building and even outside!
If you read 20 minutes a day, you would have read 1.8 million words in a yearAll it takes is 20 minutes a day.
If you read for this long every day for a year, then you would have read 1.8 million words.
You will be like a human dictionary!
You can read books in many different ways including e-books & audiobooks!There used to be a time where we only had books to read.
Lucky for us, we can access them in lots of different ways now.
Whether it’s online, an e-book or even an audiobook there are lots of ways to access your favourite stories.
The person who draws pictures in books is called an illustrator.
Take a look at your books and they will say “Illustrated by…”.
The illustrator is the person who draws all the pictures in the book.
Books don’t always have to have one illustrator, there can be multiple.
If you love art then you might like to work as an illustrator when you are older!
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.We need to thank Johannes Gutenberg for the books we have today.
He invented the printing press, which prints words on to paper.
This was in 1440.
It meant that thousands of books could be produced very quickly!
Send us your favourite facts! Above facts are from:Top 10 Facts About Books!https://www.funkidslive.com/learn/top-10-facts/top-10-facts-about-books/
Sometimes you just want a book that’ll give you a laugh!
Must admit my books are a bit serious but very interesting!
FIND THESE WILLIAM COOPER BOOKS WHICH GO TOGETHER– HERE
FIND THESE MEMOIRS WHICH GO TOGETHER – HERE
Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:
Guide to Choosing Your NicheGuide to Finding Your Book Topic and TitleGuide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonusList of Resources for AuthorsIf you would like more information, check it out HERE
My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com.
Happy reading!!
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.
Right – Available as an audio book – a first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
March 28, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter March 2023 no 2
Cairns Tropical Writers Festival
Below Left Norman Miller, David Hudson MC, and Barbara at the Writers dinner, and Below Right, Barbara giving Norman’s book Reef and Rainforest: An Aboriginal Voice Through Art and Story to former Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Sallyanne Atkinson AO who hosted a session in conversation with Torres Strait Islander actor and author Aaron Fa’Aoso.
Sallyanne, along with Cheryl Buchanan, is now co-chair of the Interim Truth and Treaty Body in Qld. I gave Sallyanne a copy of my book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir to give to Cheryl, an old friend of mine from University days.
Left – Welcome to Country at the Writers Festival and Right – Aaron Fa’Aoso with a friend
Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:
Guide to Choosing Your NicheGuide to Finding Your Book Topic and TitleGuide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonusList of Resources for AuthorsIf you would like more information, check it out here http://bit.ly/3mbVaU1
My books can be found at the Munganbana Reef and Rainforest Aboriginal Art Gallery at 33 Lake St Cairns, at Cairns Books bookshop at Cairns Central Shopping Centre, on Amazon, and on my website – www.barbara-miller-books.com. Happy reading!!
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.
Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
March 6, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter March 2023
My book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir has continued to be no 1 bestseller in Civil Law and Public Law on Amazon Au for over a year. it is no 2 in International Treaties.
Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. You can get the following guides in the kit:
Guide to Choosing Your NicheGuide to Finding Your Book Topic and TitleGuide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonusList of Resources for AuthorsIf you would like more information, check it out here http://bit.ly/3mbVaU1
My book Secrets and Lies is no 9 and White Woman Black Heart: Journey Home to Old Mapoon, A Memoir is no 10 in Civil Rights and Liberties on Amazon Au. My book The Dying Days of Segregation in Australia: Case Study Yarrabah is no 14 in Civil Rights Law on Amazon Au.
BOOK PUNSBookriot.com brings us the following library puns:
What building has the most stories? The library.
Mind if I check you out?
Libraries are good for circulation.
Dewey belong together?
Are you paying attention? You seem a bit checked out.
What does one library book say to the other? “Can I take you out?”
ISBN thinking about you.
Books stay warm with book jackets.
A man goes into a library and asks for a book on cliffhangers. The librarian says:
Ice cream for a good book.
Beverages are allowed in the library, but please don’t pour milk on our serials.
Page me if you want to read me.
Did you return your books late? Because you have fine written all over you.
I just can’t help my shelf.
May the library bring you many happy returns.
I’ve never metadata I didn’t like.
My love for you is overdue.
I asked the librarian if she knew the author of a dinosaur book. She said try Sarah Topps.
Believe in your shelf.
I wanted to visit the world’s biggest library but it was overbooked.
Exciting Musical CompositionThere is an exciting musical composition with Jewish and Aboriginal collaboration. The article in the Jewish Chronicle says:
“In the ‘cinematic’ song cycle, Lior narrates the story in English, while Lou Bennett — Cooper’s great-great niece — “occupies the spirit” of Cooper, singing in Yorta Yorta. Lior, a fluent Hebrew speaker, opens the piece in his native language — with an extract from Psalm 137.”
The article also quotes William Cooper’s grandson Uncle Boydie’s comments in the foreword of my (Barbara Miller’s) book William Cooper Gentle Warrior.
“Uncle Boydie — whose voice is used in the culminating song by Lior and Westlake — wrote in the foreword to William Cooper: Gentle Warrior, a book by Barbara Miller: ‘Grandfather could sadly recognise that same affliction of fear, desperation, bewilderment and a sense of hopelessness which the Jewish people faced in Europe. When many countries around the world would not act, he did’.”
Photo of Lou Bennett See the full article.
Handbook – The Holocaust and the Australian Aboriginal Responseby Barbara Miller
This 100+ page online resource is offered free of charge to educators and students, as long as the source is credited. To arrange your copy, or for more information, email the publishers, the WAH! Foundation – elirab@iinet.net.au
It covers the current worldwide definition of antisemitism and what we can do today to stand up against it.
Photo: William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines’ League who protested Kristallnacht in 1938
Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection. As a special, I will send a free copy (PDF) of the book of your choice to the first 3 readers who email me.
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.
Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
February 5, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Jan-Feb 2023
L-R WE ARE HERE! Foundation – Dr Bill Allen, Prof Lynne Cohen, Eli and Jill Rabinowitz, based in Perth, Western Australia but working internationallyHandbook – The Holocaust and The Australian and Australian Aboriginal Responses by Barbara MillerWritten by Barbara Miller at the request of Eli Rabinowitz of the WE ARE HERE! Foundation, this handbook is a resource for educators and teachers and for upper secondary students and adult education programs in Australia and internationally. The handbook focuses on Australia’s response to the events leading up to and during the Holocaust, and in particular the specific responses of Aboriginal political and social activist William Cooper and fellow members of the AAL.
This online handbook is free. These online resources are offered free of charge to educators and students, as long as the source is credited. To arrange your copy, or for more information, email: elirab@iinet.net.au
WAH! Foundation chose Aboriginal William Cooper as their ambassador, a fine example of the compassion of an Upstander. He was a prominent activist who set out against the odds to protest the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany, culminating in the tragedy of Kristalnacht in 1938.
Success is not always achieved overnight. William Cooper marched to the Melbourne German Consulate on 6 December 1938 to present his petition in support of Germany’s Jews. His petition was not accepted. This deed was only fully recognised by the German government in 2017.
“Some say that William Cooper only performed one act of solidarity in protesting the Germans’ cruel treatment of the Jews. However, I sense that he has become more than a Christian Aboriginal upstander. He has become a symbol of the bond between Jews and Aborigines which was formed through his protest and which has deepened with the commemoration of his actions.” Barbara Miller, biographer.
The Handbook was launched at Southern Cross Alliance for Israel (SCAFI) zoom meeting in time for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2023. We acknowledge the support of the German Consulate in Perth for this project as well as the WAH! Foundation.
William Cooper statue in Shepparton, Victoria. He is holding the letter of protest to Germany
To arrange your free copy, or for more information, email: elirab@iinet.net.au
Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Published Author? – The Successful Author Kit is for You.Bestselling author Barbara Miller has produced the following guides to help you on your way to fulfilling your dream. It is called the Successful Author Kit. She knows what it takes to have a successful writing career. For a limited time and at the reduced price of $7 Au, you can get the following guides in the kit:
Guide to Choosing Your NicheGuide to Finding Your Book Topic and TitleGuide to Structuring Your Non-Fiction Book, and as a bonusList of Resources for AuthorsIf you would like more information, check it out here
BOOK PUNSBookriot.com brings us the following – Book puns are not only good for a laugh or an eye roll. They’re great for libraries, for teachers, and for other book lovers who want to find clever, catchy ways to draw attention to books and reading. There’s a reason that book puns show up on fun t-shirts, tote bags, and mugs: readers can’t get enough.
Tequila Mockingbird.Never read Fitzgerald? You Gatsby kidding me!“Never mind” —a passive-aggressive Raven.Dystopian novels are so 1984.But first, Kafka.Why is John Milton a terrible guest at game nights? Because when he’s around, there’s a pair of dice lost.What do you call 2000 mockingbirds? Two-kilo mockingbird.Brontë? What a breath of fresh Eyre.Forever Jung.You’re nothing but a Wilde thing.
Who wants some stunning (and Free!) rainforest art?
I’m giving away a complimentary physical art print of my latest Collection, the Rainforest Collection, to anyone who wants one (Yes even you!)
The perfect art to bring the colour green, known for symbolizing life, renewal, nature, energy, and healing to your special space!
Go choose a free print of the 4 available here before the offer ends https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/
Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection. As a special, I will send a free copy (PDF or ebook) of the book of your choice to the first 5 readers who email me.
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.
Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
January 1, 2023
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Dec 2022
Getty Images / BuzzFeed TICK THE RESPONSES BELOWYou’ve told someone “Sorry, I already have plans” when you wanted to get out of something to go home and read a book by yourself.You follow bookstagram accounts on Instagram.You’ve moved your favorite book to the “must read” display shelf at a bookstore.You’ve recommended a book to a stranger at a bookstore.You have your library card memorized.You’ve downloaded an app that’s connected to your library so you can also check out books on your phone.You like reading books before seeing the movie adaptationsYou have your bookshelves organized in a particular way.You’ve wished you could bottle the scent of new booksYou’ve read a good portion of classic literature.In any given year, it’s entirely possible that you’ve read more books than movies watched.You’ve gone to your fair share of recycled bookstores.You have a Pinterest board filled with dream in-home libraries.You’ve Instagram-storied about what you’re currently reading at least once.You can’t stop from commenting on someone’s status if they’re reading a book you read before.You’re normally the first person someone goes to for book recommendations.You’ve brought more than one book on vacation before.You’ve cried real-ass tears on a page of a very tearjerking book.You’ve been to a midnight release of a book.You’ve written/drawn fan fiction for a book you loved.You’ve joined a book club.You’ve read a book that has actually made you hungry.You’ve read a book that a celebrity has recommended.And you’ve read books written BY celebrities.You’ve stayed up past midnight reading a good book even though you had to be up early the next day.You’ve experienced reading a book so good that you don’t know what could possibly top it.You’ve read a book so terrifying you couldn’t read it at night.You’ve dressed up as a book character on Halloween.You’ve made at least one literary reference once in your life.Or a literary pun.You’ve accidentally given yourself a paper cut reading.You’ve read a book with over 600 pages.You’ve visited a location solely because a scene in a book was set there.You’ve finished an entire book on a plane.You’ve read three books in one day before.You’ve called in sick to work because you just wanted to stay home and read.You’ve gone to a book event to meet your favorite author.You’ve had to give yourself a book-buying budget because you have a problem.You and a friend have talked about a book’s plot for hours in depth before.You own more books than pairs of socks.
FIND OUT YOUR RESULTS
Email me your comments
A message from my rainforest Aboriginal artist husband, Munganbana
Who wants some stunning (and Free!) rainforest art?
For the next 7 days I’m giving away a complimentary physical art print of my latest Collection, the Rainforest Collection, to anyone who wants one (Yes even you!)
The perfect art to bring the colour green, known for symbolizing life, renewal, nature, energy, and healing to your special space!
Go choose a free print of the 4 available here before the offer ends https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/
Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection. As a Christmas and Hanukkah special, I will send a free copy (PDF or ebook) of the book of your choice to the first 10 readers who email me.
Left – Who were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil and where did it happen? Find out in “The European Quest to Find Terra Australis Incognita: Quiros, Torres and Janszoon.” Check it out here.
Right – A first-hand account of the Holocaust from a Polish Jewish woman who faced death daily in “If I Survive.” Find out more here.
November 22, 2022
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Nov 2022 No 2
FREE ART PRINT My husband Munganbana Norman Miller and I are a creative duo. I am a writer and he is a rainforest Aboriginal artist. However, he is an internationally acclaimed author too. He wants to share his art with you. He says:
I’m giving my art print away for free. No kidding!
As a rainforest Aboriginal artist, I live and breathe the rainforest, hear its soothing sounds and get strength from walking on it barefoot and touching its healing leaves.
The collection on offer is called “The Rainforest Collection”, and is perfect to bring that
breath of fresh air and beauty from the rainforest into your life and home.
My prints are part of the 200 paintings in my book “Reef and Rainforest: An Aboriginal Voice Through Art and Story” that won an international award.
Looks like I’m being mobbed with orders but I don’t want to leave you out.
If you want to learn more, see the full collection of art and choose your free print,
click this link https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/
BOOK LAUNCH WED 30 NOV 6PM MUNGANBANA ABORIGINAL ART GALLERY 33 LAKE ST CAIRNS OF BOOK SECRETS AND LIES: THE SHOCKING TRUTH OF RECENT AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL HISTORY, A MEMOIR.
This book was no 1 on Amazon USA in the Civil Rights and Liberties category on the weekend.
Check it out here
This book has previously been launched on zoom only because of COVID so we are taking the opportunity of presenting the prizes for a Big Boomerang Colouring In Competition for primary and high school students in Cairns and region that we have organised to combine events. The competition is to build awareness of a project we are promoting to build a Big Icon in Cairns like the Big Pineapple, the Big Banana, the Big Prawn etc. It would be Australia’s only Big Icon focusing on Indigenous heritage. Prizes for the Colouring In Competition are family passes to Green Island on the Big Cat, Event Movies and Ten Pin Bowling and vouchers for accommodation at Coconut Resort and food at McDonalds and the Coffee Club. Norman and Barbara will also be giving away books.
REVIEW OF SECRETS AND LIES
Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Aboriginal History, A Memoir, is both a political chronicle and a personal memoir – a journey the young Barbara took into political activism and personal transformation, which became life-long. Barbara Miller shows the political and the personal can be two sides of a life journey of service.There is critical history in this book from an activist on the inside. Yet the book also shows that political activism is not enough. It must be balanced by personal integrity and pursuit. The journey from the political into the personal, with fulfillment in spiritual practice, is also illuminating. Can we do one without the other? I think not, whatever the spiritual practice is.
Barbara’s book bought memories of the days of the Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council (ACC), both of us working at different levels within the ACC to respond to the directions and needs of the old reserve mission controls moving into deeds of grant in trust and ‘self-management’. Barbara’s political background provided essential insight and sound analysis. Mine saw the failure of the services delivered by a racist regime, with the ACC working to meet their legislative responsibilities. Barbara supported this work through research. Hers has been an inspirational journey of service at many levels.
Judy Atkinson, Emeritus Professor, PhD AM
Plenty of books to choose from in the Miller Collection
Left – Norman and Barbara with William Cooper Gentle Warriorbook and right – Lena Goldstein on her 100th birthday as Norman and Barbara present her with Barbara’s book on Lena’s life story – If I Survive.
November 8, 2022
Barbara Miller Books Newsletter Nov 2022
Munganbana means Mountain Water and aptly describes his work – powerful and peaceful – and the land from which he comes – crystal cascades and volcanic lakes. Munganbana is of the Jirrbal, Bar-Barrum and Tableland Yidinji tribes of the North Queensland rainforest, a World Heritage-listed area. He specializes in limited edition lino prints, acrylic on canvas, greeting cards, batik wall hangings, batik dress lengths, and silk scarves. Munganbana has a workshop in his own gallery in Cairns, one of the few Aboriginal artist-owned galleries in the region and his work is very popular with international tourists. He regularly does art classes for schools or has school groups come into his gallery for workshops. He has a book with 200 paintings and stories to go with them. See https://munganbana.com.au/books/ 
BOOK LAUNCH WED 30 NOV 6PM MUNGANBANA ABORIGINAL ART GALLERY 33 LAKE ST CAIRNS OF BOOK SECRETS AND LIES: THE SHOCKING TRUTH OF RECENT AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL HISTORY, A MEMOIR. This book has previously been launched on zoom only so we are taking the opportunity of presenting the prizes for a Big Boomerang Colouring In Competition for primary and high school students in Cairns and region that we have organised to combine events. The competition is to build awareness of a project we are promoting to build a Big Icon in Cairns like the Big Pineapple, the Big Banana, the Big Prawn etc. It would be Australia’s only Big Icon focusing on Indigenous heritage. Prizes for the Colouring In Competition are family passes to Green Island on the Big Cat, Event Movies and Ten Pin Bowling and vouchers for accommodation at Coconut Resort and food at McDonalds and the Coffee Club. Barbara will also be giving away books.
REVIEW OF SECRETS AND LIESThis passionate and deeply researched book shines a light on what Aboriginal really means. The author’s unique style of gonzo journalism is fascinating, and illustrates the power of on-the-ground reporting. Despite it being a work of history, this story feels incredibly timely, given the ongoing political battles for First Nation rights in other parts of the globe. All told, Secrets and Lies is an eye-opening and fearless reflection on a vital topic.
Self-Publishing Review
Crazy discount for one more week only. William Cooper Gentle Warrior, a biography and history, is on sale and you can get 10 or more copies for the amazing price of $5 each – much less than what it costs to produce them. I have some special projects coming up that will make books on William Cooper in high demand so get in while you can. They will make great gifts and are good teaching tools. William Cooper started the first national Aboriginal organisation back in the 1930’s and was the father of NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Week.) He led his people on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. His legacy lives on and this book is highly acclaimed.
You can get it here – https://barbara-miller-books.com/
ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT 9-10 NOVShattered Lives Broken Dreams: William Cooper and Australian Aborigines Protest Holocaust covers the story of the Australian Aborigines’ League, led by William Cooper to protest Kristallnacht which he did on 6 Dec 1938 in a protest march to the German Consulate in Melbourne. They protested because the Nazis murdered 91 Jews, smashed the windows of numerous synagogues and Jewish businesses, set synagogues ablaze, and arrested thousands of Jews who they sent to concentration camps. The book is on my website https://barbara-miller-books.com/ or on Amazon
What was Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass? This is an excerpt from my book:
What happened that day in 1938 in Australia? A fire, not lit by arsons but by the Australian Government in 1949, burnt the pre-1939 records of the German Consulate in Melbourne. News reports of the 1938 event lay buried in archives for decades. What happened was hidden from our eyes. But when researchers unearthed it, the reverberations were felt as far away as Israel. It catapulted a humble Aboriginal man into the limelight, making him a hero, and it linked the hearts of Jews and Aborigines.Let’s reconstruct it as best we can. It was Tuesday 6 December 1938. The German Consulate was at 419-425 Collins Street, in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. Collins Street was one of the most desired addresses in the city, and its Victorian architecture was imposing. World War 2 had not yet been declared. An elderly white-haired Aboriginal gentleman with a bushy white moustache named William Cooper made an appointment to see consular officials on 6 December at 11.30 am. However, he was just a name at that point. No doubt the Consulate would have seen the article in the The Argus newspaper on Saturday 3 December alerting them that this appointment was not so routine. The paper revealed that a deputation from the Australian Aborigines’ League (AAL) would meet with the German Consul to protest the “cruel persecution” of Jewish people and ask that they convey it to their government.
Perhaps it was a startled guard who first raised the alarm. A large group of Aborigines was fast approaching. It looked like a mob, not a deputation of two or three. They didn’t appear to have any weapons, but they were striding with purpose and getting closer. Would they try to overrun the Consulate? Bust their way inside? Damage any property? Perhaps their dark skin itself was threatening enough with Nazi Germany’s theories of the supremacy of the white race.
The tension mounted. Gruff voices. Commands. Keep them out! Lock the door! We can’t meet with a rowdy mob! No telling what might happen. Don’t take any chances!
If the Consulate had not been located in a peaceful country like Australia, would warning shots have been fired over their heads – or worse?
By now, William Cooper and the AAL were close enough that the fierce determination in their eyes could be seen. This was the only protest march the AAL ever embarked on, and it was for Jewish people in faraway Europe, not for themselves, even though they were not citizens in their own land. Having lived under racism and discrimination in Australia, they felt empathy with another persecuted group. They were cut to the core by what happened to the Jewish people and wanted it to stop. They wanted to stand up and do whatever was in their power to stop the death and persecution of Jews.
Perhaps the Aborigines were simply met with silence and locked doors that day. Closed hearts; closed minds. Or maybe they received curt orders and shouts to disperse. Maybe William Cooper knocked on the door to no avail. Did he push the AAL’s protest letter under the door or did a security guard receive it? The letter has not survived, but its contents contained the AAL resolution recorded in The Argus:
“At a meeting of the Australian Aborigines’ League, a resolution was passed voicing, on behalf of the aborigines of Australia, a strong protest against ‘the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi Government of Germany, and asking that this persecution be brought to an end.’
A deputation of aborigines who are members of the league will wait on the German Consul on Tuesday at 11.30 a.m. to present the resolution and ask him to convey it to his Government.”
Early that morning, they had gathered at William and his wife Sarah’s Footscray home. Today it has been renovated in the style of heritage houses that dated back to the 1880s by new owners. They would like to see it made into a museum as a tribute to William Cooper’s stand. It has a white picket fence, heritage iron lacework under the roof and over the verandah and a small garden in front with green bushes. Its wooden walls are painted yellow ochre with darker yellow ochre window frames. White lace curtains decorate the front windows. It is like a spruced-up step back in time. Amazing that when William Cooper lived here, he could not afford lighting or heating. He had no gas or electricity. He wrote numerous letters to politicians and newspapers by candlelight, sitting up in bed trying to keep warm in the very cold Melbourne winters. He gathered driftwood to keep a fire burning when he could.
William formed the Australian Aborigines’ League in 1932, formalising its structure in 1935. It became the first national organisation for Indigenous people and still exists today under the name of the Aborigines Advancement League. The earliest Aboriginal organisation in Australia was set up in 1924 by Charles Fred Maynard and called the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association (AAPA). Active only until 1927 due to police harassment and internal divisions, it was, nevertheless, a notable achievement.
The Cooper home was the venue for many of the meetings of the AAL, warming themselves in winter over hot soup and sitting close to a fire as they met in the front room of the house. Candles flickered on the mantelpiece. People like Lynch Cooper, William’s son, Thomas James, Shadrach James, Doug Nicholls, Margaret Tucker, Bill and Eric Onus, Caleb and Anne Morgan and white supporters Arthur Burdeau and Helen Baillee were the regulars William and Sarah hosted. These were among the people who likely marched with William that morning to the German Consulate although the AAL did not keep a list of names of those there that day. William would also walk to meeting places as he could not afford a car or public transport. He saved his pension money for stamps for his innumerable letters. But he was a proud man and did not complain …
William probably moved the motion as he was an avid reader of newspapers and tried to keep up with news in Australia and overseas. It was approved. There would have been a passionate discussion as William told them that the Nazis had murdered 91 Jews, smashed the windows of numerous synagogues and Jewish businesses, set synagogues ablaze, and arrested thousands of Jews who they sent to concentration camps. There would have been outrage mixed with tears.”
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Farmers or Hunter-gatherers?: The Dark Emu Debate by Peter Sutton & Keryn Walshe has just been short-listed for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. This is interesting as it is a criticism of the controversial and acclaimed book called Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe. The book description on Amazon says:
An authoritative study of pre-colonial Australia that dismantles and reframes popular narratives of First Nations land management and food production.
Australians’ understanding of Aboriginal society prior to the British invasion from 1788 has been transformed since the publication of Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu in 2014. It argued that classical Aboriginal society was more sophisticated than Australians had been led to believe because it resembled more closely the farming communities of Europe.
In Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe ask why Australians have been so receptive to the notion that farming represents an advance from hunting and gathering. Drawing on the knowledge of Aboriginal elders, previously not included within this discussion, and decades of anthropological scholarship, Sutton and Walshe provide extensive evidence to support their argument that classical Aboriginal society was a hunter-gatherer society and as sophisticated as the traditional European farming methods.
Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? asks Australians to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal society and culture.
October 23, 2022
Newsletter Oct 2022 No 2
Would you like the freshness and tranquility of the rainforest in your home? This is an opportunity to have a free gift of a print by rainforest Aboriginal artist Munganbana Norman Miller. Choose your favourite and enjoy. At the same time, help the artist get his beautiful work more widely known. Please feel free to forward on this great opportunity. Check here for more details – https://www.artprintsbymunganbana.com/
BOOK PRICE SLASHED FROM $29.95 TO $7eaFor October, William Cooper Gentle Warrior, a biography and history, is on sale and you can get 10 or more copies for the amazing price of $5 each – much less than what it costs to produce them. I have some special projects coming up that will make books on William Cooper in high demand so get in while you can. They will make great gifts and are good teaching tools. William Cooper started the first national Aboriginal organisation back in the 1930’s and was the father of NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Week.) He led his people on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht, the start of the Holocaust. His legacy lives on and this book is highly acclaimed.
You can get it here – https://barbara-miller-books.com/
