Fear of A Brown Planet

Last week I attended a public forum on the topic of Australian Identity. This was part of the Melbourne Festival, so it cost me $20 to listen to the one hour panel discussion. You would expect a quality discussion for that price. Rather than being stimulated intellectually through exposure to some new perspectives and contentious arguments, I left feeling somewhat disappointed by the simplistic level of discourse, especially at an Arts festival of this international standing. With one exception (Aamer Rahman), all the panelists seemed to be more interested in pushing their agenda to gain funding for The Arts (a noble cause, yet seemingly irrelevant to the focus of the forum). Fortunately, Aamer's presence made it worthwhile and I left feeling encouraged at the fact that we are finally providing a platform for the voices of young Australians from diverse backgrounds.

I recognised Rahman from a few years ago when I attended a live taping of an episode of Salam Cafe. A quick online search revealed that he was now a member of the comedy act, Fear of A Brown Planet.The show won the best newcomer award at the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and recently returned from a tour of the UK. In 2011, Australian Story featured these young men in an episode that explored some essential issues related to identity and belonging, specifically, the experience of growing up Muslim in Australia, being visibly different due to skin colour, personal challenges faced within their families and overt racism. The program also shows how Rahman and Hussain have taken up such challenges through social activism, political engagement, community work and creative self-expression.

Growing up Muslim in Australia is not a happy experience. I’ve only started to realise how different my childhood has been when you start to speak to somebody else who has lived in the same street as you, who went to the same school. Ever since I can remember, if a kid wanted to tease me it would be about the colour of my skin or it would be about my mum and her accent or about my lunch. (Nazeem Hussain)



Fear of A Brown Planet: Nazeem Hussain is 24, he went to school at Melbourne High and studied law at Deakin University. He is a youth worker and a Director of the Islamic Council of Victoria. Aamer Rahman is 27 and graduated with a law degree from Monash University. His childhood was spent moving between Australia and the Middle East.