Activists promote unity in Redfern
By Andrew Gianniotis
SYDNEY — Establishment newspapers say the Aboriginal community in Redfern is divided and that the area is experiencing a "crime spree". Is this true?
Resistance activists decided to see for themselves, holding a campaigning stall outside Redfern station on February 5, under a banner proclaiming "Aboriginal rights now — an injustice to one is an injustice to all". They distributed Green Left Weekly and collected signatures petitioning for defence of native title and self-determination of Aboriginal communities, and against cuts to services, Aboriginal deaths in custody and police harassment of Aboriginal communities.
Alana Kerr reports that young residents of the Block first checked out the stall and were then very supportive of Resistance's attempt to promote Aboriginal rights.
Kerr said that the Resistance activists "witnessed first-hand the provocative situation" caused by the high profile of police in the area. At any one time there are at least four uniformed police, and also paddy wagons and plain-clothes police, patrolling the Block.
"Police taunted and intimidated young Aboriginals showing interest in the stall", she said. "They stood on both sides of the stall and made comments like 'When you're not signing petitions, you're stealing handbags aren't ya?'".
Plain-clothes cops "invited" one Aboriginal youth to an interrogation in the sanctity of their mobile command post. When Resistance member Paul Howes offered to accompany the youth, he was verbally abused and threatened with incarceration.
Aboriginal community leaders have pointed out that there is no denying the social problems caused by poverty and discrimination associated with the Block. However, the answer is resources dedicated to promoting development and unity within the area, not an increased fostering of division through antagonistic, heavy-handed policing.
One Resistance activist was spontaneously rewarded with an Aboriginal art T-shirt for her efforts, while the overall attitude amongst the Aboriginal youth towards the police remains justifiably negative.
As the attacks on the Redfern community sharpen with plans for eviction of the residents from land they won in 1973, the need for unity and solidarity with the traditional owners of Australia has never been greater.