Stolen Man on Stolen Land: Being African-American in Australia

by Tyree Barnette

When Tyree Barnette moved to Sydney from North Carolina, he knew little of his new home. On first arriving, he was pleasantly the police treated him with respect and Black American culture seemed to be widely admired and celebrated.

But in time, Tyree saw the darker side to Australia’s relationship with African American culture – a relationship that often tipped from admiration into fetishisation. The undercurrents of racism in Australia came into view, as did the ongoing struggles of Indigenous Australians against injustice.

Watching from a distance as the USA transformed, its place on the global stage shifting through the rise of Trump, the Black Lives Matter Movement and a new era of political polarisation, Tyree learned the unique joy and pain of migration. Balancing the insistent tug of home with the possibility of a new life, he explores this experience with nuance, self-awareness and kindness.

This is the perspective that has been missing from the race discussion in Australia, one that considers how privilege and race can shift across time and borders. Stolen ?Man on Stolen Land is both a love letter to Australian multiculturalism and a clear-eyed exploration of its successes and its failings.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2026

About the author

Tyree Barnette is an American transplant originally from North Carolina. Having earned a degree at the University of North Carolina, Tyree spent a decade in news writing in the United States. He is currently a Career and Employment Advisor at Macquarie University and is the Company Director of Southern Soul – an all-vegan food business. Tyree’s short stories and essays have been published widely and he is currently developing his debut novel through a 2020 Sweatshop and Affirm Press Mentorship.

Reviews

[Manuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading this book, how related I feel about the safety conditions of Australia and the beautiful multicultural society that the country has. As an immigrant and a woman I have my own fears towards security and stability, but reading this book also made me think about the privilege that one has just for the colour of the skin. This book is also a realisation of how much we can give for granted and how ignorant we can be toward other people's realities. It's also a letter of how everyone feels when moving to anew country the need of building a community, feeling of belonging to the new place and how hard it can be, learning how the new place sees and perceived your culture. Finally the great understanding of history and the clear approach of colonization in both Australia and the USA, to understand the present reality of them and how each reacts toward racism, migration and multiculturalism.

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

While many of the places in this book are familiar to me (and will be to many who call Sydney home), the perspectives that the author shares are refreshing, insightful and thought provoking. It reminds me that everyone experiences this city differently, which is easy to forget when you’re so wrapped up in your own life!

The experiences of immigrants are so diverse and varied, and this often is forgotten in political/cultural discourse. This book provides extremely valuable insights and perspectives that have unfortunately been missing. Not only is it a valuable piece of literary work, but it’s written in a way that feels warm, approachable and funny - like having a good yarn over a couple of beers.

[Rhiana Archie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sought this book out after seeing it suggested in The Age’s books to look out for in 2026 and it delivered. This book was a true love letter…To family, culture, exploration, growth, home and so much more.

I’m a white woman originally from north of Memphis, now living in Australia, and I recognise that my experiences with hardship and discrimination are very different from those faced by many Black Americans. But in saying this, this book made me feel seen and understood in a way I couldn’t have imagined possible.

Tyree Barnette is a storyteller and I hope he continues to write and share his gift with us.

[charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

i adored this book. a beautiful, honest, extremely emotional and educational memoir about moving to australia as an african-american man. tyree has such a way with writing that i just couldn’t put this down. if you ever read this, thank you for your story and love from darkinjung.

[Jim KABLE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changing Hemispheres - Finding Oneself

This is a terrific book. It made me think of my own many years living in the Northern Hemisphere and properly understanding myself. Tyree Barnette and his wife - from North Carolina and their two boys born in Australia - against backdrops of the dangerous possibilities from living in the US - find other ways of living and raising boys which seem safer and fairer. He finds the things he loved in the land of his birth - family, friends, food - when back on a visit and then the things he has learnt by living in Australia, taking on citizenship - travelling the Southeast Asian and Pacific region - understanding the cultural diversity as reflected in his boy’s preschool as much as in the barber shop he finds…such a positive - but the thing which most appealed to me - his contacts with First Australians… Australia is lucky indeed to have this family as part of it.

[Lottie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75⭐️

Interesting discussion on the shared experience between African Americans and Aboriginal Australians. Very enlightening

[Erica Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there would be a bit more on the 'stolen land' aspect, but overall was interesting.