Redfern riot – between indigenous youth and police on 15th February 2004
Redfern – Strong and bold indigenous community and identity on the block.
Consideration for Redfern:
‘Black heart; of Australia – Black Power movement
Strong political, spiritual and cultural significance to indigenous people from all of NSW and across Australia
Birthplace of many indigenous organizations and many activisms since 1970s
the 1970 establishment of the Redfern Aboriginal Legal Service; the 1971 Springbok rugby tour; and the Aboriginal Embassy in 1972. These three events helped define the ideas, personalities, actions and alliances that formed the Redfern Black Power movement, which in turn influenced indigenous political notions and actions for more than a decade. Indeed, today as significant sections of indigenous communities become disaffected with the illusions of progress represented by the era of Mabo and the Native Title Act, many are beginning to call for a return to the political strategies and tactics of the Black Power era. Thus there is a considerable residual perception in indigenous Australia that remembers the Black Power era as a time of greater social, political and economic gains than at any time since.
Identity
Crime – outside moral community – by means enemy
Salvation of the Sport; created as savior from crime.
‘Aboriginal Australians are the most gifted athletes on this earth. Therein lies their chance of survival and advancement’, Priest, T. 'The Australian' (Sydney) 18 Feb 2004, p.13
Survival and advancement refers to assimilation to culture and sport as vehicle accomodation of it. By means its linked to criminality
3 major factors from history that Indigenous Australian community that was bastardized by white:
‘Terra Nullius’ or land belongs to no one (by settlement) lead to land taken
Stolen Generation by white
Reconciliation
Victims Vs. Threats
Police act to protect white but the black people with their cultural power is believed as threat. This means the status of Aborigines never be possible regard as victims.
Implication to the future: Ambiguous and uncertainty to represent the Indigenous and Australian identity. Racial discrimination is believed the result from the past injustice about denial indigenous communities that remove their influence from the lives of Indigenous Australian in the present and future.
As Cathy already mentioned the media concern, here I want to stress that the ambiguity is more or less important struggle to generate the identity. Just to feel and think if we are one of them ‘How can we live in the compilation memories of theft, crime and murder?’. Blaming, threat that constructed and hand wash are the only concern by media and will never lead to fairness to Indigenous communities.
To be continued....(researching still in progress....)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
be careful what you wish for
as architecture students, I believe we have a responsibility
not just to naively wish everything to be 'aesthetically pleasing' +
and 'beautiful' somethings may be more important than that...
here is an interesting quote I have found...
'One must think of the issue in Redfern Sydney which is purely about yuppie housing and greed. Refurn is tribal land aboriginal land not just another suburb like all the rest in Sydney town.'
from ''http://www.pnp.org.au/folios/2006ref/2006Page0.aspx
not just to naively wish everything to be 'aesthetically pleasing' +
and 'beautiful' somethings may be more important than that...
here is an interesting quote I have found...
'One must think of the issue in Redfern Sydney which is purely about yuppie housing and greed. Refurn is tribal land aboriginal land not just another suburb like all the rest in Sydney town.'
from ''http://www.pnp.org.au/folios/2006ref/2006Page0.aspx
Redfern Interview with a local
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XwdHTWHlbo
An interview with a local, asking him about the area and what he thinks of it.
Special thanks to Tribal Warrior (www.tribalwarrior.org)
note: video is still being processed by youtube, and may take a while to be viewed
Pedestrian Routes
http://oldsite.vislab.usyd.edu.au/about/local_info/map/footmap.html
Check out this Pedestrian route with instructions on the "safe" way to travel to Redfern Station. The notion that redfern is not the friendliest place has created a restriction of exploration of the area through this route being the busiest streets of the suburb. making them the safest walking route, if there was a puropse to be able to explore the rest of the streets talking people off track... would more of redferns streets be considered safe?
Check out this Pedestrian route with instructions on the "safe" way to travel to Redfern Station. The notion that redfern is not the friendliest place has created a restriction of exploration of the area through this route being the busiest streets of the suburb. making them the safest walking route, if there was a puropse to be able to explore the rest of the streets talking people off track... would more of redferns streets be considered safe?
Redfern interview with a policemen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgEe7GoOAes
An interview with a policeman, asking him about the area and what he thinks of it.
Special thanks to Seargent W. Baxter
An interview with a policeman, asking him about the area and what he thinks of it.
Special thanks to Seargent W. Baxter
Friday, August 8, 2008
to be or not to be
approx 2-5% of the population of redfern is of indigenous decent...
however 90% of Sydneys indigenous population lives in redfern....
this leads us to the following questions;
should we focus on 'other' issues in redfern?
if we do not focus / pay attention to the indigenous issues, are we
avoiding the obvious? being disrespectful etc??
if we do focus on the indigenous issues, are we just covering
well chartered territory, that most of us are not educated in
aboriginal affairs enough to do so??
is it better for us to focus on the bigger picture?? ie the whole of redferns population? to evolve a more holistic vision? or is this just a cop out?
however 90% of Sydneys indigenous population lives in redfern....
this leads us to the following questions;
should we focus on 'other' issues in redfern?
if we do not focus / pay attention to the indigenous issues, are we
avoiding the obvious? being disrespectful etc??
if we do focus on the indigenous issues, are we just covering
well chartered territory, that most of us are not educated in
aboriginal affairs enough to do so??
is it better for us to focus on the bigger picture?? ie the whole of redferns population? to evolve a more holistic vision? or is this just a cop out?
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Media shapes people's perceptions
I believe media is partly responsible for shaping the general public's image of Redfern in a negative aspect. Sure, the media is not entirely wrong in recognising that there are problems in Redfern and in The Block - drugs, alcohol and crime. But it is clear that when a problem arise in Redfern or when there is a riot etc. and if an Indigenous was involved, the entire Indigenous community would be put in the spotlight creating a negative image for its people. The media is a powerful tool which does contribute in shaping the individuals perception in which people will believe and assume that all Indigenous people in Redfern are drug addicts, alcoholic and nothing but trouble. It is unacceptable to criticise another person because they belong to a particular group. The media should focus on the crime or issue that involved the particular person or people but not pulling the whole - it's race and community.
I believe the media has focused far too much on the negative side of the Indigenous people in Redfern for many years. I will not be suprised to get a response from the public that when they think of Aboriginies in Redfern they associate them as trouble, no-go zone, drug addicts etc. To assume someone is nothing but trouble because they are an Aboriginal, to assume someone is a terrorist because they are Muslim etc. is wrong and it damages our social fabric. There are many great successes in the Indigenous community of Redfern where many Indigenous people are contributing to our society but the media fails to focus on the other side of the story. If the media continues to portray the negative side of Redfern, then I'm not suprised to see the problems in Redfern and The Block not clearing up. If you see your people in the news all the time and being called useless, nothing but trouble etc. and for the general public to believe that too, you will start to loose motivation to be good, to be that someone else because your not getting the chance.
The media should be careful in what they present as they have caused disharmony in the Indigenous community of Redfern where they are responsible for inciting racial hatred and violence.
I believe the media has focused far too much on the negative side of the Indigenous people in Redfern for many years. I will not be suprised to get a response from the public that when they think of Aboriginies in Redfern they associate them as trouble, no-go zone, drug addicts etc. To assume someone is nothing but trouble because they are an Aboriginal, to assume someone is a terrorist because they are Muslim etc. is wrong and it damages our social fabric. There are many great successes in the Indigenous community of Redfern where many Indigenous people are contributing to our society but the media fails to focus on the other side of the story. If the media continues to portray the negative side of Redfern, then I'm not suprised to see the problems in Redfern and The Block not clearing up. If you see your people in the news all the time and being called useless, nothing but trouble etc. and for the general public to believe that too, you will start to loose motivation to be good, to be that someone else because your not getting the chance.
The media should be careful in what they present as they have caused disharmony in the Indigenous community of Redfern where they are responsible for inciting racial hatred and violence.
dispersing information
Watching youtube it became clear that videos with racist intent in their title recieve a far greater number of views
(i.e. 600 vs 14000 with similar post dates) than those with clear educational intent.
Perhaps mislabelling / decieving titles engange a wider audience- especially those with misconceptions they are seeking to justify?
(i.e. 600 vs 14000 with similar post dates) than those with clear educational intent.
Perhaps mislabelling / decieving titles engange a wider audience- especially those with misconceptions they are seeking to justify?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
NATURAL COLLECTIVES
'NATURAL COLLECTIVES'
Humans of similar race, religion, economic status and cultures naturally band together and like to live within communities of common interests. This is a basic human instinct to be near your friends. Redfern's Aboriginal community is comparable to Chinatown's Asian collective, Mosman's yuppie collective, Bondi's creative good-looking collective, etc.
It seems to me that Sartor wants the Aboriginals and drugs out of the area to remove the 'fear' of potential apartment purchasers in the newly developing southern corridor. It wouldn't surprise me if Sartor has many property developer friends (in fact it would shock me if he didn't) that own a lot of the recent development in the area- the value of that property would rise enormously if the drugs and crime were to be removed from that area. So, I'm suggesting that he is hugely biased in the interest of his friend's & benefactor's pockets. It would be nice to expose this if I can prove it's truth.
I am STRONGLY OPPOSED to the idea of disallowing the Aboriginals to do what they please on their site. They own it!!!!
TO ME, THE ABORIGINAL OWNERSHIP OF THE BLOCK IS A SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL OF ABORIGINAL ADOPTION OF WESTERN CULTURE, FENCES, MONEY AND AND THE FUTURE OF THEIR RACE. TO ERADICATE THEIR RIGHT TO CONTINUE A STRONGHOLD IN REDFERN IS ANOTHER STEP TOWARD PASSIVE GENOCIDE BY OUR GOVERNMENT.
The Pemulway project seems like a valid idea. However, I am yet to fully examine its architectural resolution.
In 1778 England claimed the land Terra Nulius ' - land belonging to no-one. Now, even after all we have been through- recognising Aboriginals as humans (as opposed to 'fauna' until 1970), allowing Aboriginals to vote, paying Aboriginals equally, giving Aboriginals Land Rights, finally recognising the issues of easy dole payouts and education, etc, it seems we are about to go back to the start and claim TERRA NULIUS ON THE BLOCK!!!
The Block could be a very important turning point for the future of Aboriginals. With it's accessibility to education, surrounding artistic and upwardly mobile communities it could inspire new life among those Aboriginals wishing to escape the cycles of alcoholism & boredom that do exist in many outback communities. It's hard to talk about these things without sounding like a dickhead but one thing is for sure- if you continually give someone money and they get hooked on drugs out of the boredom of not working, without guidance or encouragement to grow, learn and flourish as a person then they will become a part of the vicious cycle. Money to drugs to money to drugs to addiction to dependency to crime to death. Forever!!
TO ME THE HUGE DOLE PAYOUTS ARE THE GOVERNMENTS WAY OF KILLING OFF THE ABORIGINALS... ITS LIKE-
'HERE, TAKE THIS MONEY, SHUT UP AND GO ROT YOUR BRAINS!
A drunk /addict is no longer a contributing member of society and and the culture they could have passed on will be lost. It's like passive genocide.
I've been to some remote Aboriginal communities west of Alice springs and that is seriously what happens!!
WHAT IF THE BLOCK WAS MADE BIGGER? Say 62 family residences + 150 studio apartments for students + a school + a hospital.
The Natural Collective of hard-working families and students looking to break into money grabbing capitalism that cannot reasonably be ignored (since there is no going back to hunter gathering now we have $$$$!!!!!- unless you want to live in the outback- many of the young Aboriginals out there are dreaming of what they see on Mtv... $$$$).
Surely the presence of these upwardly mobile citizens alone will remove many of the 'dangers ' of the block.
Moreover, could it be better for the crime and drug dependant Aboriginals to be around upwardly motivated people of their own race so they can see the possibilities are there!!??
As for the 'dangers' of the block at night...
I went there last night at about 9pm and hung around for an hour. I had a chat to the people gathered around a fire near the AHC. They were all fine. A little bit of yandi being sold (solely to white customers) but there was no feeling of danger!! Although, I wouldnt have felt comfortable walking into the almost purposefully dark areas alone...
Humans of similar race, religion, economic status and cultures naturally band together and like to live within communities of common interests. This is a basic human instinct to be near your friends. Redfern's Aboriginal community is comparable to Chinatown's Asian collective, Mosman's yuppie collective, Bondi's creative good-looking collective, etc.
It seems to me that Sartor wants the Aboriginals and drugs out of the area to remove the 'fear' of potential apartment purchasers in the newly developing southern corridor. It wouldn't surprise me if Sartor has many property developer friends (in fact it would shock me if he didn't) that own a lot of the recent development in the area- the value of that property would rise enormously if the drugs and crime were to be removed from that area. So, I'm suggesting that he is hugely biased in the interest of his friend's & benefactor's pockets. It would be nice to expose this if I can prove it's truth.
I am STRONGLY OPPOSED to the idea of disallowing the Aboriginals to do what they please on their site. They own it!!!!
TO ME, THE ABORIGINAL OWNERSHIP OF THE BLOCK IS A SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL OF ABORIGINAL ADOPTION OF WESTERN CULTURE, FENCES, MONEY AND AND THE FUTURE OF THEIR RACE. TO ERADICATE THEIR RIGHT TO CONTINUE A STRONGHOLD IN REDFERN IS ANOTHER STEP TOWARD PASSIVE GENOCIDE BY OUR GOVERNMENT.
The Pemulway project seems like a valid idea. However, I am yet to fully examine its architectural resolution.
In 1778 England claimed the land Terra Nulius ' - land belonging to no-one. Now, even after all we have been through- recognising Aboriginals as humans (as opposed to 'fauna' until 1970), allowing Aboriginals to vote, paying Aboriginals equally, giving Aboriginals Land Rights, finally recognising the issues of easy dole payouts and education, etc, it seems we are about to go back to the start and claim TERRA NULIUS ON THE BLOCK!!!
The Block could be a very important turning point for the future of Aboriginals. With it's accessibility to education, surrounding artistic and upwardly mobile communities it could inspire new life among those Aboriginals wishing to escape the cycles of alcoholism & boredom that do exist in many outback communities. It's hard to talk about these things without sounding like a dickhead but one thing is for sure- if you continually give someone money and they get hooked on drugs out of the boredom of not working, without guidance or encouragement to grow, learn and flourish as a person then they will become a part of the vicious cycle. Money to drugs to money to drugs to addiction to dependency to crime to death. Forever!!
TO ME THE HUGE DOLE PAYOUTS ARE THE GOVERNMENTS WAY OF KILLING OFF THE ABORIGINALS... ITS LIKE-
'HERE, TAKE THIS MONEY, SHUT UP AND GO ROT YOUR BRAINS!
A drunk /addict is no longer a contributing member of society and and the culture they could have passed on will be lost. It's like passive genocide.
I've been to some remote Aboriginal communities west of Alice springs and that is seriously what happens!!
WHAT IF THE BLOCK WAS MADE BIGGER? Say 62 family residences + 150 studio apartments for students + a school + a hospital.
The Natural Collective of hard-working families and students looking to break into money grabbing capitalism that cannot reasonably be ignored (since there is no going back to hunter gathering now we have $$$$!!!!!- unless you want to live in the outback- many of the young Aboriginals out there are dreaming of what they see on Mtv... $$$$).
Surely the presence of these upwardly mobile citizens alone will remove many of the 'dangers ' of the block.
Moreover, could it be better for the crime and drug dependant Aboriginals to be around upwardly motivated people of their own race so they can see the possibilities are there!!??
As for the 'dangers' of the block at night...
I went there last night at about 9pm and hung around for an hour. I had a chat to the people gathered around a fire near the AHC. They were all fine. A little bit of yandi being sold (solely to white customers) but there was no feeling of danger!! Although, I wouldnt have felt comfortable walking into the almost purposefully dark areas alone...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
redfern panarama
artist : Juilee Pryor
http://www.redbubble.com/people/juileep/art/66263-15-redfern-panarama
Monday, August 4, 2008
Telstra QR Code excursion today
Sarah and I attended the meeting at the Telstra experience centre today. The experience, although sugar coated with Telstra propaganda, was useful in understanding how the QR code technology works and how it might be used in different contexts.
# QR codes are created using a QR code generator. Telstra will be supplying one for customers or you can find your own on the web such as: http://qrcode.kaywa.com
# The codes should be, will be, international and compatible say with a phone from Japan (and vice versa). The only limiting factor is the resolution of the camera on your phone, eg in japan phones have higher resolution cameras therefore the codes are smaller whereas here they are huge. The amount of information the codes contain will also determine their size.
Here are a few notes that I took:
# QR codes are created using a QR code generator. Telstra will be supplying one for customers or you can find your own on the web such as: http://qrcode.kaywa.com
# Once the code is generated you can then print out the QR code graphic or save it as an image.
# This code can be affixed just about anywhere - on the back of a credit card, to advertising, on a poster, business card etc, shopfront window etc.
# The code can be photographed with a compatible camera and is then scanned to provide TEXT information which could include a link to a website, phone numbers etc for the user.
Hope this helps with any additional research that you may have carried out. Leisa
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Redfern on You Tube - a selection
Night walk from Sydney uni to redfern station
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlLivoQsnSk&feature=related
A major thoroughfare/route am and pm providing lots of
potential eyeballs and opportunities for engagement.
Redfern Rocks - Kids talk about life in Redfern
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVrIyd3Jj0g&feature=related
Love how this provides a positive perspective on youth in the area
post Redfern riots.
Redfern to central - view from train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnRkAhdvEOU
A captive audience for activism?
Paul Keating - The Redfern Address
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqAFLud228
Before Prime Minister Rudd and his sorry speech came this
big moment in Australian political history.
Redfern Waterloo Tour of Beauty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVrbiYDpYIs&feature=related
Leisa
The Block
The Aboriginal Struggle for The Block in Redfern
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSoRHFNMK8g
Redfern 'The Block' Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i7_JIb9Q8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSoRHFNMK8g
Redfern 'The Block' Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i7_JIb9Q8E
Redfern Rocks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVrIyd3Jj0g
It was very strange today at the block.
As much as i would like to feel safe i felt uncomfortable.
It was very strange today at the block.
As much as i would like to feel safe i felt uncomfortable.
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