Black Panther Woman (ATOM Study Guide)

Black Panther Woman is a one hour documentary directed and produced by Rachel Perkins. It tells the story of Marlene Cummins. In 1972 Marlene Cummins fell in love with Dennis Walker, the leader of the Australian Black Panther Party. With the breakup of that relationship, she spiralled into a cycle of addiction that left her on the streets and vulnerable. More than forty years later Marlene travels to a gathering of international Black Panthers in New York. The journey takes her back in time. Still struggling with addiction, she reveals the secrets she has held onto, to face her demons today. Black Panther Woman explores the complex position of Aboriginal women during the progressive but turbulent period of the 1970s and the contradictions they found themselves dealing with — fighting oppression externally but being oppressed from within by men from their own community. The film tells the story of one of those women, who's speaking out in an attempt to stop today's violence against Aboriginal women. Marlene Cummins is breaking a code of silence amongst Aboriginal women that you stand by your man, no matter how hard the abuse, for the sake of the black movement.

Curriculum Links:

While filmmaker Rachel Perkins describes her audience for this documentary as 'primarily Indigenous men and women', saying that she wanted to make 'a film that resonates with them but also challenges their thinking', several issues in the film will resonate with many people who grew up in the 1970s and were involved in protesting inequities in society. While the baby boomers, born at the end of World War II, protested against many of the sexist and racist views of the time, they were also still subject to ingrained attitudes about women and black people that took generations to really begin to be overturned. Many women had to make difficult choices about their priorities and often chose 'what they believed to be for the greater good' of the movement or the family or a particular cause.

In presenting the memories of Marlene Cummins, Black Panther Woman tells a story of the struggle of many Indigenous women in Australia's recent history to have their voice heard as part of the movement for political and social change taking place in Australia and around the world in the 1970s.

The Australian National History Curriculum guidelines for Year 10 level outline how students can develop an understanding of the struggle for human rights through exploring particular case studies and periods. Basic human rights have often been ignored and denied, demanded, fought for and in some cases achieved but usually only through the collective action of groups and individuals over generations.

This documentary focuses on the ongoing struggle for civil rights and freedoms for Indigenous Australians as well as the movement's links with the United States civil rights movement. It also reveals the price that was often paid for these actions through the very personal story of one activist, Indigenous woman and blues singer Marlene Cummins.

The documentary would be an excellent film text to incorporate in VCE English Context studies — particularly 'Encountering Conflict' and 'Identity and Belonging'. Students could consider how varied approaches to dealing with conflict in protesting against injustice can be used by people to achieve similar ends. In relation to 'Identity and Belonging', students could explore how this film shows the ways in which both negative and positive life experiences have an important role in shaping identity.

Apart from the film’s value in these specific learning areas, Black Panther Woman connects to the crosscurriculum priorities of integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures across the school curriculum. It demonstrates one aspect of the strength and resilience that has been so crucial to the preservation and development of Indigenous life and culture in Australia. It also opens a window on the often hidden truths of how some women suffered in silence to support the cause.