Brianna Pike & Norman Brewer, Sydney
Aboriginal residents of the Redfern Block and anti-racist activists have rallied to defend the block, and oppose police brutality.
On February 16, an impromptu public speak-out was held on the block. About 200 people gathered to talk through the events of the previous night, and what the next actions should be. Emotions were high, as people discussed the Indigenous-rights movement and how to end the devastating impact of police intimidation on the local community.
Susan Price, the Socialist Alliance candidate for the City of Sydney council, said in a February 16 media release titled "No justice, no peace — Indigenous Redfern is right to resist": "Central to a real answer has to be Indigenous self-determination. Centuries of racism can only be overcome when its victims reclaim real power over their lives."
There was an outpouring of community support on the night of February 18, when more than 500 people, including actor Leah Purcell, attended a concert on the block.
On February 19, 300 people attended a memorial service — again on the block — for TJ Hickey. Federal Democrat Senator Aden Ridgeway opposed what he described as "arresting alleged ring leaders and then throwing away the keys."
Fifty people rallied to protest the police role in Hickey's death in Canberra on February 20, meeting at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Protest organisers called for a national protest to be organised in Canberra in March.
Protest organiser Kerry Reed-Gilbert told Green Left Weekly's James Vassilopoulos that "it was important to demand an independent inquiry of Aboriginal people because we do not want a whitewash like the royal commission into black deaths in custody".
On February 20, a call to action supported by Hickey's family started circulating, agitating for a solidarity march, from the block to Redfern Police Station, to coincide with TJ's funeral on February 24.
The Socialist Alliance has also called for the immediate suspension of the police involved in TJ's death and a for a fully independent inquiry. The alliance has initiated a call for a broad public meeting on March 4 at Redfern Town Hall, to discuss "Solidarity against racism & police violence" with Socialist Alliance member Ray Jackson, who is heading the Aboriginal Legal Centre in Redfern.
The block community maintains a daily updated website <www.isis.aust.com/theblock>.
From Green Left Weekly, February 25, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.