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For Nyadol Nyuon, the coronavirus pandemic has been a time of introspection and new beginnings.
Amid the chaos, the lawyer, human rights defender and former refugee says living during Victoria’s confinement has given her moments of silence and perspective, as she juggles working from home with two children under the age of five.
He has leaned into what one of his friends called a “holy break.”
“Everyone participates in Victoria and we just have to do what we have to do. But I appreciate the fact that I think it has slowed things down long enough to give you time to think if you can reform your life when things start moving again, ”the 33-year-old told SBS News.
“It’s definitely not all music, but in the end you have to think about what I can control and what not. And what I can control the best I can is how I respond. ”
Nyadol Nyuon is the new president of the Harmony Alliance of Australia
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The pandemic has revealed a variety of reactions, some more helpful than others, he says.
Ms Nyuon has previously spoken about how panic shopping left vulnerable people without access to essential goods and the ‘irrational’ racism that targeted Australians with Asian appearance, as well as other minority communities.
“I’m not surprised [the racism] not at all, ”she says. “Racism has been the pandemic that has always been there.”
It is a topic that Ms. Nyuon has talked about in recent years.
Born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia where her family fled to escape the Second Sudanese Civil War, Ms Nyuon came to Australia as a refugee in 2005.
Nyadol Nyuon came to Australia as a refugee in 2005.
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Arriving in Melbourne at 18 with a dream of becoming a lawyer, she obtained her VCE and studied a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Victoria before being accepted into the University of Melbourne Law School.
Ms. Nyuon now works as a lawyer in Melbourne. About three years ago she began speaking out publicly on racial and human rights issues, including media coverage of so-called African gangs and, more recently, COVID-19 lawbreakers.
“It has been interesting to see how some media organizations tend to focus on the ethnicity or race of certain people when those groups have violated the law,” says Ms. Nyuon. “For me, it shows the double standard that has always been present.”
“The same people who would take such a harsh tone towards a person who is a recent migrant who breaks the rules, suddenly support the right of a group of people to protest against the lockdown laws. The only difference between those two groups is that one is predominantly white. ”
Ms. Nyuon says she doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
“I think how racism is used … fits into that larger business model of using controversy and anger to get attention and generate clicks,” he says. “But what I think is changing, and what I see in Victoria, is that the narrative has been so exaggerated that a lot of people are not fooled.”
“They can see what is being done; You can see the bias … I think most people are reasonable when it comes to that. ”
‘The people are fighting back’
Ms. Nyuon says she is excited to see young Australians of African descent respond by “fighting” against racism in her state.
Four candidates running for the upcoming elections in Victoria hope to make history next month by becoming the first councilors born in the sub-Saharan state.
Nyadol Nyuon at her graduation ceremony.
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The council hopefuls told The Feed last week that the harsh blocking of Melbourne’s nine public housing tours in Flemington and North Melbourne had pushed them to raise their hands.
“I think what happens when people feel attacked is that they sometimes defend themselves. And people are fighting through political commitment, ”says Ms. Nyuon.
Such representation among decision-makers is vital to “reflect the community we come from” and has the power to transform organizations, he adds.
Seeing young Africans take their destiny into their own hands [is] really exciting, and I think it has a lot more benefits for the wider community than just the Africans.
“Even their mere presence in these spaces is creating a larger platform of role models for young Africans growing up in Australia to point, be, and that’s exciting.”
Leading from the front
Ms. Nyuon will also get a bigger platform next month as she takes on her new role as chair of the Harmony Alliance, Australia’s coalition of migrant and refugee women.
She will replace current president Maria Dimopoulos.
“This is a really exciting opportunity for me to grow as a person and to grow in leadership,” he says.
Ms. Nyuon hopes to work with the team to achieve three key goals, one of which is to improve digital literacy among migrant women, a problem that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She says migrant women have gone unnoticed due to the means by which governments have communicated public health messages and the transition of many of their services online.
“When you have a woman who has no computer skills, who cannot navigate a website and now cannot attend certain services, it becomes very, very difficult for her to participate in the society in which we find ourselves. now, ”she says.
Under her leadership, the coalition will also seek to connect with more grassroots women’s organizations and establish relationships with institutions such as universities and research centers to help better integrate migrant women into society.
Nyadol Nyuon begins his new role next month.
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However, Ms. Nyuon’s growing profile has come at a cost. A recent media appearance on ABC’s question-and-answer show led to her receiving abuse, harassment, and threats online.
“It is still leaking; it never ends, ”she says. “But I’m reaching a point in my life where he doesn’t love me like he used to. If it’s just accepting that it is, it doesn’t have to be, but it is, or if it’s because these people have said everything they can say that nothing is shocking anymore. “
Ms Nyuon says she has switched between wanting to ditch social media entirely and taking on her trolls. These days, you’ve found a safe middle ground.
“I’m trying to be online in a safe way … not trying to get involved from all angles, knowing when to step up and how to integrate it into my life in a healthy way,” he says.
“All of those are learning processes, in part because I’m on my own journey of being in a public space.”
Nyadol Nyuon begins his new role at Harmony Alliance on October 1.
