Articulating Aboriginality in multicultural Redfern

Abstract

Koori Radio was founded in Redfern in 1993 as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander radio station. Its aim was to give a voice to these communities, acting as a counterpoint to their stereotyped representation in mainstream media and promoting their creative practices (especially music). Rather than ‘thinking only Aboriginal’, it has increasingly embraced the ongoing multicultural diversity of modern Sydney, as well as re-articulating Aboriginality with transnational Indigeneity and Blackness. A Koori Radio worker explained this change as ‘a Black thing of people of colour who have the same struggles and understand each other’. This approach has not been without controversy, with many activists calling for greater emphasis on Aboriginal identity and specific struggles. Ethnographic research at Koori Radio shows, however, that the connections made between different communities have enhanced, rather than diminished, the capacity of Koori Radio to fulfill its objectives.