Indigenous Nowra rapper Nooky has hit out at the result of Saturday's Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
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Speaking during his radio program Blak Out on Triple-J, the Yuin man described Saturday as "a moment in history where a dark cloud will forever cast a shadow".
He said listening to the results coming in was "the most overt, unconcealed manifestation of racism I've ever experienced in my whole life".
"They said our pain and our suffering continues, the disadvantage and the inequality continues, but so does our love, our happiness, our strength and our pride," Nooky said.
And he emphasised the importance of looking to the future, and the children who held "the power to heal, and the power to bring change".
"When I look at them, I see the hope that hasn't died," he said.
Nooky said he had seen the word "defeat" tossed around following the referendum, but dismissed it because, "I'm broken, but I'm not defeated".
A conversation with his nan Colleen in Nowra helped put things into perspective.
"Nan was still nan, she was yarning away and laughing, and she told me to keep on going," he said.
"And hearing my nan holding herself with so much composure at this moment, I didn't feel defeat."
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Defeat was "when we stop having joy, stop having hope, that's when we stop loving and caring for ourselves and this land of ours, that's when we stop being strong and proud of who we are, and we all know that will never happen," Nooky said.
Instead of "licking our wounds", Nooky said his people were "sharpening our spears" and preparing to continue the battle.
"We will not sit in silence, they will hear us, as we rejoice as a people and light our sacred fire in the face of their broken promises," he said.
"Our people are the most caring, welcoming, loving, generous, strong and resilient people, and in the darkness we hold the light - we always have.
"We all know the reality that we live in, it's just now more apparent."
