I sat down with Johanna Perheentupa to discuss her new book on Aboriginal activism and the push for self-determination in Redfern in the 1970s. We discuss the conditions and social changes that made Redfern ripe for such radical change and the development of landmark organisations such as the Aboriginal Legal Service, the National Black Theatre, Aboriginal Medical Service, Murawina preschool, and the Aboriginal Housing Company. We discuss the relationship between these organisations and the well known demonstrations of the time (such as the Tent Embassy). We discuss the way the ALS emerged as a response to police violence, how the Black Theatre sought to shape a national Indigenous identity, and how the ALS and AHC engaged the fight for land rights in the city.