The Trouble With TJ

On Altartist

2009-12-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Altartist
Established in 2008, Alt Artist travels the globe capturing the innovative spirit of artists, many of whom are isolated by geography, disability, poverty and conflict. Inspired by their environment, the artists seek to create change through their work.

There Goes the Neighbourhood

2009-05-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

Token Justice
“The biggest thing that hit me was that it wasn’t a riot, it was organised resistance. There was no looting, no disorganised chaos. It was all community getting together and holding down the Block and saying ‘Enough’s enough - we are sick of you police officers killing our young people.”
Choo Choo – MC with Redfern based hip hop outfit, CuzCo.
24 November 2008

There Goes The Neighbourhood:
Redfern and the Politics of Urban Space

Edited and compiled by Keg de Souza and Zanny Begg (You Are Here)
Designed by Tom Sevil (Breakdown Press)
Printed by Break Out

There Goes the Neighbourhood

Troubled Justice

2009-02-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

At GRANTPIRRIE, Redfern. February, 2009

The Trouble with TJ

2009-01-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

At FraserStudios Project - Chippendale.
18 December, 2008

Click on images to enlarge.

T.J. – Total Justice

2008-12-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

Cuzco – Wire MC & Choo Choo discuss the "Redfern Reaction" and the events surrounding the death of TJ Hickey in February 2004.

Wire MC & Choo Choo – "Sound Claim"

2008-11-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Cuz Co - Wire MC & Choo Choo drop an excerpt of "Sound Claim" in Redfern, Sydney.

View at Engage Media

Wire MC
Choo Choo

ABC Radio National,The Law Report: The sentencing of Lex Wotton

2008-11-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

"...criminal lawyering is a very complex process and it's never been about truth and justice, it's about perceptions, and I dare suggest that the acquittal had as much to do with that community forgiving Senior Sergeant Hurley and all police that have to work in these extreme circumstances, to forgive them for a death that occurred, because you've got to remember, a senior sergeant, in his evidence in the Coronial Inquest, accepted he killed Cameron Doomadgee..."
Andrew Boe – Queensland criminal lawyer, counsel for the Palm Island community in the coronial inquiry which followed Mulrunji Doomadgee's death.

Indigenous man Lex Wotton has been sentenced to six years in prison, with a non-parole period of two years, for being a ringleader in the riots on Palm Island that followed the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004. Lex was charged under anti-rioting legislation that carried a maximum penalty of life in prison. Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about the move to give bravery awards to the police officers who responded to the riot.

here

The Riot Act

2008-11-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

Ray Jackson of the Indigenous Social Justice Association talks about the "Redfern Riots" as a spectacle for the media to divert attention away from the true cause of the unrest. The interview took place at Ray's home in Waterloo, 14 October 2008.

View here at Engage Media

Riot Style

2008-11-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

Black and Blue

2008-11-12T04:11:00.000-08:00

Ray Jackson of the Indigenous Social Justice Association talks about "Police Culture" and Aboriginal and Police relations.

Riot Wallpaper

2008-11-08T21:04:00.001-08:00

Mechano–Brutalist 08-Ikebana Brút

2008-11-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

Ikebana Brút

Unorthodox
boy
enthusiasm.

Jap World
frenzy.

Auto
erotic
ornamentation.

Disembowelled
neo–primitive
post–industrial
idol.

Extended
debris.

Simultaneous
technique.

Multi–layered
multiplied
multi–angle
arts and craft
explosion.

SMH–How the Riot Happened

2008-11-06T03:49:00.000-08:00

More here

Riot, Resistance and Moral Panic: Demonising the Colonial Other – Chris Cunneen

2008-10-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

The concept of ‘moral economy’ as a way of analysing crowd behaviour derives from the work of the historian E.P. Thompson. Thompson was interested in understanding how riots were seen as legitimate action by the participants and their communities, originally in eighteenth century England. As Emsley (2006: 250) has noted, ‘[Thompson] concluded that the men and women in the crowds were motivated by beliefs that they were defending customs or traditional rights.’
Others have broadened the concept to consider how riots can be understood as a form of community politics (Emsley 2006). The important point here is that riots are seen as a rational response to perceived injustices.

...Indigenous riots are invariably associated with the aftermath of perceived injustices by criminal justice agencies – almost always the police. If we look at Indigenous demonstrations, uprisings or riots they usually occur after some heavy handed police operation and/or a death in custody. By way of contrast the ‘moral panic’ depiction of the riot invariably combines narratives of unbridled criminality with victims of disadvantage.

...In the months following the riot there was a strong emphasis on increasing police capabilities in Redfern. The building of a new $6 million seven story police station was announced. Police numbers in Redfern were increased by one third from 170 to 226, and a new permanent 46 member fulltime riot squad (the Operational Support Group) was formed. In relation to social policy, the Redfern Waterloo Partnership Project was further strengthened and funded. This project had been established in 2002 to provide whole of government responses to various issues affecting the area.

Virtually no attention was paid in these official explanations to the long history of volatile conflict between Aboriginal people and the police in Redfern. The death of TJ Hickey sparked a riot, but did so in the context of constant complaints of police harassment, particularly of Aboriginal youth. Part of this harassment derived from a renewed focus on ‘zero tolerance’ style police operations and the use of public order legislation that clearly targets young people. The fact that TJ was classified as a ‘High Risk Offender’ by police meant that he was subject to constant scrutiny. His bail requirement not to visit a particular housing area where his mother resided almost certainly imposed a condition that he would constantly breach. Indeed on the morning of his death he had been to visit his mother and was subsequently followed by police (although it turned out that this was in relation to a different matter not involving young TJ).

Professor Chris Cunneen
New South Global Chair in Criminology
Faculty of Law
The University of New South Wales

Read it here.

The Garbage God! The Overlord!

2008-10-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

I am the law...

2008-10-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

Technicality...Wha?

2008-10-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

Then came Senior Constable (he had been promoted since the tragedy and such is not an uncommon practice) Michael Hollingsworth. Two Barristers argued on his behalf that he could not take the stand as he may incriminate himself and such incrimination could lead to police disciplinary action. The Coroner could grant a Certificate giving him immunity from other legal use of his evidence but the Coroner could not protect him from the Police Commissioner. Ergo, therefore, Hollingsworth is excused from taking the stand!

here

TJ's last ride

2008-10-28T05:36:00.001-07:00

Ramellzee, Toxic C1, and Basquiat @ the Rhythm Lounge 1983

2008-10-27T21:04:00.001-07:00

Ray Jackson talks TJ Hickey and the "Redfern Riots"

2008-10-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ray Jackson of the Indigenous Social Justice Association talks about what he believes are the true events leading to the death of 17 year old TJ Hickey and the "Redfern Riots", February 2004. The interview took place at Ray's home in Waterloo, 14 October 2008.

Redfern Rocks

2008-10-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

mad limo production produced & directed by Elise Potaka, Melissa Harrison, Meredith Ferguson, Kathie Smith. UTS 2005 Music courtesy of Local Knowledge. With special thanks to Michael and June of the Settlement.

Politicians talk about them, journalists and commentators label them, but the kids of Redfern are rarely given the space to tell their own side of the story. REDFERN ROCKS puts names and faces to those growing up in Redfern, in particular 'The Block'. They talk about their suburb - the positive aspects - and paint a picture of a place which has a strong sense of community and family. AFC notes

Watch it here

The Rammellzee – Rubbish Ocean

2008-10-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

Lex Wotton on Palm Island

2008-10-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

On August 9th 2008 Lex Wotton, invited by Indigenous Social Justice Association Melbourne, spoke at the Solidarity Fiesta at the MUA Auditorium prior to his trial relating to the riots in Palm Island. He was charged with "riot with destruction" and describes in his own words the events that day.