From now on, when sharing or discussing Blackness in a global context, this blog will use Bla(c)k as a descriptor to be inclusive of Black voices and experiences that are not African or a part of the Afro-Diaspora. However, when talking about specific Bla(c)k experiences, "Blak" or "Blackfella/Blakfella" will be used to talk about Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian, Torres Strait Islanders, Aboriginal Tasmanians), South Sea Islander, Papuan and Melanesian experiences of Blackness. Meanwhile, for African/Afro-Diasporic experiences of Blackness the terms "Blac/Black" or "African/Afro-Diaspora" will be used to denote African and Afro-Diasporic experiences of Blackness.
Why is this important?
Because Bla(c)k lives and experiences are important to this world. Recognizing the extreme diversity in Blackness as well as its negative universality in a racialized world is important in the deconstruction of antiblackness and the preservation of Bla(c)k Indigenous cultures.
Disclaimer: I only include those in the term Bla(c)k who have a consistent history of being racialized as Black by colonizers, have consistently suffered and experience institutional abuse because of that racialization, embody blackness more often than not and have claimed and reclaimed Blackness as an identity both in politic and embodiment.
(From top to bottom: Pan-African flag, Australian Aboriginal flag, Torres Strait Islander flag, Flag of Papua New Guinea, Flag of West Papua and the West Papua Liberation Movement, South Sea Islander flag, Flag of Vanuatu.)