Beverley Wang, Oishee Alam, Helen Ngo and Luke Pearson

How can we have constructive conversations about racism when everyone is so defensive? Are laws enough to tackle racism? And what’s the deal with identity politics? In this panel – the first in a series of four talks curated by Santilla Chingaipe – Beverley Wang, Luke Pearson, Helen Ngo and Oishee Alam explore definitions of racism, looking not just at overt examples but also implicit bias and systemic racism, with examples from Australian history.

For many of us, the Commonwealth is associated, for better or for worse, with the old days of British colonial rule: cricket whites, tea plantations, ‘God Save the Queen’.

But whatever our collective ideas around this unusual global entity are, they likely won’t last much longer. The member states have a combined population of 2.4 billion people and more than 60 per cent of those people are aged under 30. The Commonwealth is young, it’s growing and it’s changing.

So, what exactly does the Commonwealth mean, and what does it do in 2018? What do we share with the other 51 countries – including Tonga, Pakistan, Barbados, Canada and Mozambique – in this sprawling, disparate global club? And will this organisation ever wield any real power or influence?

On the opening night of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, a group of Griffith Review writers from around the world join us to look into these questions. Hosted by Julianne Schultz, Timmah Ball, Annie Zaidi and Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm discuss the Griffith Review’s Commonwealth Edition and talk legacy and law, history, health and human rights in the Commonwealth today.

Julianne Schultz, Timmah Ball, Annie Zaidi and Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm