I've done a lot of yarns on this podcast. This one went somewhere I've never taken a conversation before.

Sam Johnson grew up in Glebe, raised by the aunties who made sure he was safe when there wasn't much else. He was 18, living on his own, being aged out of a system that had already taken his sister, when he worked out the only door left to him was one he'd have to open himself. He topped his school in legal studies. Then he graduated and was homeless.

Today he runs a 100 per cent Aboriginal-owned agency working on the very systems he came up through, and he's putting money back into our young people.

We got into things I wasn't expecting. Where violence in this country actually began. Why our men were taken, and what it means that they're coming back. What his father asked for once and was refused, six months before they came for his daughter on a Friday night.

And then Sam asked if he could leave us with a poem.

Some of what we talk about in this episode is heavy. If it brings anything up for you, 13YARN is 13 92 76 and Lifeline is 13 11 14.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Sam Johnson
Impact Policy: https://www.impactpolicy.com.au
Impact Policy Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/impact-policy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-alderton-johnson

Amy McQuire
Dr Amy McQuire is a Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist whose work covers the disappearance and killing of Aboriginal women and children, and how media reporting shapes who gets seen as a victim.
Black Witness, published by UQP
Curtain The Podcast, co-hosted with Martin Hodgson, on the BlakCast Network: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/curtain-the-podcast/id1164804753
Substack: https://amymcquire.substack.com

Also mentioned
The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, written and directed by Leah Purcell
Sherele Moody, Australian Femicide Watch: https://australianfemicidewatch.org
Barnardos Australia: https://www.barnardos.org.au

Support
13YARN: 13 92 76
Lifeline: 13 11 14
1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Website: www.blackmagicwoman.com.au
Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please 'Subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or 'Follow' on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you'd like to contact us, please email, info@blackmagicwoman.com.au

Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.