Every January, Blakfullas barely get a chance to embrace a new year, before being met with the dread and racial violence that surrounds the Day of Mourning. This year, Caroline reflects, our mobs are carrying more than their fair share, and it's a reminder of the importance of looking after ourselves.

We are still here, we have survived. I am a bookworm at heart, and keep track of all the books I read, I know when I was at an Invasion Day march on Gadigal Country two years ago, I was reading Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe at the time. Carrying it around in my backpack, next to my water bottle and my phone, switched off. Why would I need my phone when everything I need to feel connected to my people is right here?

I am an Aboriginal women, born in 1987 into a staunch family who were ready to teach me and my siblings the truth from birth.