Jay Walljasper, Senior Fellow at On the Commons and editor of OnTheCommons.org, created OTC’s book All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons. A speaker, communications strategist and writer and editor, he chronicles stories from around the world that point us toward a more equitable, sustainable and enjoyable future. He is author of The Great Neighborhood Book and a senior associate at the urban affairs consortium Citiscope. Walljasper also writes a column about city life for Shareable.net and is a Senior Fellow at Project for Public Spaces and Augsburg College’s Sabo Center for Citizenship and Learning. For more of his work, see JayWalljasper....
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Australia’s Redemption Song
By Jay Walljasper
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Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd’s words of apology to his country’s Aboriginal people will surely make the history books one day—they represent one of the few times a leader has apologized for his government’s mistreatment of indigenous groups and destruction of their commons traditions.
But Rudd’s words—“On behalf of the government, I am sorry”— already made it to pop music charts. Rudd’s apology was sampled on the song “From Little Things Big Things Grow,” which has climbed to 4th place on Australia’s top ten list despite the fact it is only available as a download on the internet.
The song is remixed from an twenty-year-old rock hit by the activist group Get Up!
Posted May 5, 2008
