Shades of Me: My Many Lives Through Many Dreamings

Melinda Brown (Ngunnawal woman) shares the story of discovering her heritage and how the journey to understand her culture gave her the strength to find her place in the world.

Mel Brown is an Australian Aboriginal Ngunnawal woman. This is her story.

Growing up white, Mel always felt that there was another shade to her soul.

Despite an early life marred by moments of sheer despair and the agony of domestic violence, somehow Mel found the strength to survive. Then, as a young mother, she unlocked her ancestry’s secrets without realising the challenges that came with identifying as Aboriginal in Australia.

Shades of Me follows Mel’s journey as she redefines who she is and how she sees her place in the world. As Aboriginal families are being torn apart, this is a story of one woman’s fight to keep them together - one family at a time. And in helping others, finds her true path in life.

Mel’s memoir is not just one of black or white or even a single shade in between: as she has discovered in her work for the community, everyone’s story is different; hers is simply Shades of Me.

Mel Brown is a professional speaker, author and artist known for her expertise in cultural competency and lateral violence both nationally and internationally. Mel works with families and organisations to ensure Aboriginal children who are unable to live at home are not excluded from cultural connection to their families. She has a Masters in Indigenous healing and Trauma from the Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.