The unique Youth Rock The Block event held in Redfern last
month featured young performers from the community and elsewhere expressing
their art and culture and raising money for a local women and children’s dance
studio. Foretelling the kind of creativity the dance studio promises to
harness, the day included singing in the Indigenous Darug language, original
dance pieces, renditions of well-known Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal pop songs,
and hip-hop. For the children of a community to hold a public event which
welcomed attendance from all of Sydney
not only showed their courage and pride but also made a powerful statement
about what young people can do to challenge poor perceptions of their
environment, and contribute to its redevelopment. The event was an initiative
of the Aboriginal Housing Company, in collaboration with Sydney rock band
Andorra (who organised well-known adult performers and bands for the May 06
Rock the Block event), and with great assistance from Vibe magazine/Deadly
Awards founder Gavin Jones and crew. The Aboriginal Housing Company, which owns
The Block, hopes to make ‘Youth Rock The Block’ a yearly event.
[South Sydney Herald November 2006]