There are days when there's an obvious difference between being on the birdsite and being on a Mastodon server that's anti-racist.

Sure, it's super white here, and on Mastodon in general, so I'll continue to visit the other place because #BlackfullaTwitter is a lifeline. But not being bombarded by racism here is refreshing.

Thanks to those of you committed to anti-racism. And to any racists: well-done for fighting the urge to post your hateful views here.

There's not many #Aboriginal and/or #TorresStraitIslanders on Mastodon, but a significant proportion are on aus.social

I'm sure everyone who is not a racist would like to see Mastodon become less white. And I'm not the only one missing #BlackfullaTwitter

Changes to collective culture on here won't magically happen. And it won't happen without white people getting their shit together.

Inviting more #Indigenous people to join Mastodon is not the solution. Not when they'll be hit by a wall of whiteness. Or subjected to white moderates' pearl-clutching, reply guys' unsolicited opinions, inconsiderate "allies" posting uninformed opinions & articles on the Local Timeline.

Yes, I know we experience all of that on twitter, and other online spaces. But we have built a large, visible Blak presence in those spaces. We support each other, and push back against racists and paternalistic settlers.

What can non-Indigenous people do to make this space more inviting? -

1 Add Content Warnings when sharing articles and your opinions about Indigenous issues and peoples.

2 Listen to First Nations people; and resist the urge to reply.

3 Do not use the reply function to whitesplain, derail conversations, or centre whiteness/yourself.

4 Reflect on your actions; recognise your own power & privilege, and how you help uphold systemic racism/whiteness.

5 Call out racists in your circle. Even the "nice" ones.

6 Don't use hashtags created by Indigenous people to connect with each other.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are still a small, mostly inactive, minority on Mastodon. But we are here, and proudly part of Indigenous Mastodon.

If interested, below are some First Nations people to follow. (Not a complete list)

It's probably not a coincidence that many of us are on aus.social This instance now has two Aboriginal moderators > 20% of the mod team are mob.

(if anyone wants to be added to this public list, I can edit it. I also keep a private list)

@aby
@sharondavis
@Pidj
@Saywhatnathan
@JusticeAunties
@ArabellaD
@TessRyan
@kgt
@Gotsthebug
@CoreyTutt
@mrdtjames
@AnneLapa
@flashblak
@NoturAboriginal
@tisamystery
@raejohnston
@5BNylonTip
@trin20k
@hayden_seek94
@alfreddabuttler
@BundjalungBud
@SueAnneHunter
@amymcquire
@KevinYowYeh

#BlackfullaTwitter #Aboriginal #Blak #Mob #TorresStraitIslanders #Indigenous #FirstNations

@futurebird What are quote boosts? Do you mean quote tweets? I didn't call QTs unethical; but if that's your reading, then it's on me to be clearer.

I regularly see and experience harmful, paternalistic, racist or abusive quote tweets. Being the target of those types of QTs can feel extreme, especially when it spills off twitter (I've had QTs become op eds targeting me).

QTs I like are what you described. I will engage in them. And I've seen good QTs of my work; and others engaging in discourse. And yes, often I would stop by.

And QTs that push back discriminatory narratives within media or topic-of-the-day are good. Also ones that are a call for action, especially for urgent matters.

And the way #BlackfullaTwitter (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on twitter) uses QT is staunch, funny, protective and supportive of each other.

I believe we can learn from the good and bad of other platforms; and find better ways to foster discourse and share information.

RT @cienan_m
What in the colonised hell is this.
@MarkMWrites @Chaosium_Inc were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community involved in this?
We're Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community consulted on wording used in this?
🔴🟡⚫️🔴🟡⚫️
#blackfullatwitter

FYI: #Aotearoa #NZTwits who've been missing the voices of #BlackfullaTwitter, @amymcquire and @flashblak just joined up 🎉 Haere mai 💚

#introduction uh hi I’m Grace, I’m a 20 year old Kanolu person 👋 I love analysing media & I dabble in photography

here to follow other people that are/were on #BlackfullaTwitter,, I guess it’d be #BlackfullaMastadon aye?

today I've seen the biggest sign up of Blackfullas. So happy to have more peeps to talk with on Mastodon. Have really been missing #BlackfullaTwitter but perhaps #BlackfullaMastodon can happen after all.

#Indigenous #FirstNations #Aboriginal #TorresStraitIslanders #BlackFullas

@KarenWyld As the administrator, I have a few questions at the front of my mind. Some technical, and some cultural. The immediate one is related to community and support.

1) Do you feel that this instance which is generic to our region (people who are living in and around Australia) is a suitable place for people to join and communicate with the #BlackfullaTwitter community similar to twitter.

+ Is there anything specific that I/we can do to assist at Aus.Social? If anything comes to mind or there are any problems, please speak directly with myself and the moderation team.

2) This is a technical solution, but if you see fit. I'd be happy to sponsor a whole sister instance with a more explicit focus on first nations people. Mastodon has thousands of instances for different topics by design and won't cut people off from our communicating with our users. (this new instance might have specific terms or rules they wish to enforce that might not be considered here?)

Another thing is.. Mastodon is getting groups soon (in a few months), and this will enable anybody to create communities of people across multiple instances to communicate in a more direct manner...

this should help with people finding and reaching each other.