Marlene Cummins is a jazz blues singer, saxophonist, songwriter, artist, Aboriginal Australian activist, broadcaster, dancer, and actor.
20 Facts About Marlene Cummins
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Marlene Cummins honed her skills at the Berklee College of Music.
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Marlene Cummins wrote a song about Pemulwuy as a way of giving back to the Redfern community who see him as a hero.
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In 2012, Marlene Cummins performed three of her original works, including Insufficient Funds, Pension Day Blues, and Pemulwuy.
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Marlene Cummins has a sense of black humour and sorrow in her lyrics.
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Marlene Cummins provided music for a Griffin Theatre Company production Shark Island Stories based on the work of Sally Morgan.
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Marlene Cummins's first full-length album, Koori Woman Blues, is a mixture of original and traditional blues songs and includes guests Gil Askey, Fiona Boyes, Mark Atkins and Shannon Barnett.
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Marlene Cummins is working on a musical stage show using her songs called Boomerang Alley.
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Marlene Cummins joined the Aboriginal Tent Embassy at age 16 and was at the centre of the Aboriginal rights movement in the 1970s.
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Marlene Cummins was a founding member of the Australian Black Panther Party, which was inspired by the American Black Panther Party.
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Marlene Cummins campaigned for medical, educational, and legal services, land rights and monitored police conduct on the "pig patrol".
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Marlene Cummins was arrested for using obscene language to an abusive police officer, and absconded bail and fled to New Zealand.
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Marlene Cummins is an accomplished painter and was shortlisted for the New South Wales Parliament Art Prize.
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Marlene Cummins has recently been working on portraits and her saxophone in Rabbitohs colours.
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Marlene Cummins has appeared in the TV series Redfern Now and Supernova, the feature film The Matrix Reloaded, and the short film Hush, with Lisa Flanagan and Auriel Andrew.
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Marlene Cummins was born in Cunnamulla, grew up in outback Queensland and Acacia Ridge, and has lived in Redfern for decades.
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Marlene Cummins's mother was a Woppaburra woman from Great Keppel Island.
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Marlene Cummins travelled internationally and established links with Native Americans.
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Marlene Cummins performed a traditional Murri dance at Thomas Hickey's memorial service.
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Marlene Cummins is the focus of Rachel Perkins' documentary, Black Panther Woman, which premiered at the 2014 Sydney Film Festival.