It's National Reconciliation Week. A time for reflection, a time for connection, a time for celebration. And sadly, a time for the racist trolls to set their sights on the social profiles of Indigenous business founders across the country.
Social media is a double-edged sword for Indigenous business owners like me.
On one hand, it helps us create amazing online communities with national reach, where we can connect, educate and engage with our audiences. It's given a voice to First Nations people who in past generations have been completely voiceless. But on the other hand, it also makes us targets for racist abuse.
The kind of abuse that occurs year round, but ramps up around significant dates such as National Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week, National Sorry Day and 26 January.
Dark corners of the internet
After being in business for nearly eight years, I've grown used to it. My skin is thicker, and their ignorant and hurtful comments don't sting in the same way they used to.
But as a business leader with an online community, I have a responsibility to my audience to protect them from the kind of remarks that are traumatising, triggering and downright hateful.
So when the notification appears, and I see yet another abusive comment posted, I immediately block that person and report them. It's like trying to use a bandaid to cover a gaping wound.
Some social media platforms don't consider these kinds of comments as a breach of their community standards, so the troll is free to move on to the next Indigenous business they'd like to hate on.
It's for this reason, the First Peoples Assembly in Victoria recently started a petition calling on Facebook to do better when it comes to racists trolls on their platform.
I know removing the comments of these trolls and racists from our social profiles is the right thing to do for my community, but it also means this kind of abuse is often hidden from view.
If you're not on the receiving end, you can tell yourself that Australia isn't a racist country, and that the kind of commentary that pushed Stan Grant to his breaking point is isolated to just a few small dark corners of the internet.
It means average Australians don't see the tidal wave of hate we're facing, and instead only see their feeds full of positive, life-affirming stories around inclusion, Indigenous achievements and progressive cultural shifts.
But my experience is a common one, and I've had enough of pretending it doesn't happen. Any Indigenous person with a profile or business is a potential target.
Where to from here?
I'd like to think we can start to have conversations where people like me are believed when we say racism is rife in our nation.
And I hope that we can educate our kids so that they grow up expecting more and doing better.
If you're a business owner too, you can show your support for First Nations people year-round and not just during National Reconciliation Week by creating a Reconciliation Action Plan.
These plans are proven to provide tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, increasing economic equity and supporting First Nations self-determination.
If you're a parent, talk to your children about reconciliation, access the resources available online, and ask your children's school or preschool what they're doing to embed First Nations culture into their curriculum throughout the year, and ask if they have a Reconciliation Action Plan in place. If not, then why not?
The good news is, since starting my business in 2015, I've seen a shift towards First Nations culture becoming more embedded in the everyday lives of Australians.
But we still have a long way to go, and pretending the problem isn't there will mean we never actually solve it.
Jessica Staines is an early childhood teacher, speaker, author, advocate, educator and Indigenous advisor to Playschool. She is the founder and director of Koori Curriculum, and a proud Wiradjuri woman.
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