Vote for CatComm’s Idea and Give Every Brazilian a Chance to Wave Their Flag Proudly at the 2016 Olympics
Earlier this month, Rio de Janeiro celebrated an extremely exciting moment, not just for the city, but for Brazil and South America. For the first time ever, the Olympics will be in South America, in the “Cidade Maravilhosa” Rio de Janeiro. However, some cariocas (Rio de Janeiro residents) are weary. How will the city handle the problems of drug trafficking and violence? Will Rio will adopt an even harsher and more violent policing policy? How will Rio build the infrastructure in areas already home to many communities? Does this mean that Rio will uproot many communities?
The answer is yes. Some communities will be razed, others invaded by police, and finally others will be gentrified. All of this is due to happen in Rio de Janeiro’s infamous favelas (squatter communities) in order to prepare for the much-celebrated 2016 Olympics. And what is worse is that many times these communities aren’t being heard.
But now you can help give these favela leaders a voice. You can help give the chance for every Brazilian to feel proud of their country during the 2016 games. How? VOTE! (For instructions, click here)
Catalytic Communities, an NGO that has nine years experience working with Rio’s favelas, is now in the final round of the ideablob competition to win $10,000 for their idea: “Rio Olympics: Ensuring a Powerful Legacy for Rio’s Favelas.” And they need our help to vote. Its easy and quick, and the idea with the most votes wins.
If CatComm wins, they willtrain 200 community leaders from across the city of Rio de Janeiro in creative use of social media, which will amplify their voices so they are heard by the municipal authorities, the media, and the global community. Rio´s current administration is very sensitive to media and foreign opinion, so there is a lot of power in CatComm’s approach.
Why do I think this is so important? This summer I visited Asa Branca, and I was amazed by their leadership, initiative, and community organization. (You can read my post about it here.) Asa Branca is a peaceful favela and free of drug trafficking and militias, and almost all of their children are in school. Rio plans to build a highway over this community.
Another favela, Villa Autódromo, is the first community the city plans to remove in order to prepare for the Olympics. Villa Autódromo is also a peaceful community with almost full employment and most of their children in school. Municipal authorities are not consulting the community.
One resident from Villa Autódromo speaks: “The emotion for the Olympics isn’t worth the pain from the removal of the people of Villa Autódromo. The Olympics shouldn’t be able to just erase our past, our history… I’m not against the Olympics. I know that they will bring benefits for the city. We will have more jobs, but also more money going to the politicians pockets. Here, we don’t have drug trafficking, we don’t have militias, and we don’t do harm to anybody.”
I have been excited and hoping for Rio to have the chance to get the Olympics and make something out of the opportunity. It will take work to make sure that Rio makes a lasting effect on the city as a whole, and now you can make it happen by taking 2 minutes to vote. VOTE! –
If you haven’t already registered, you will need to register. Registration takes putting in your email address and confirming it’s your address by one click. That’s it. Anyone with an email address, regardless of your country, can register.
Once registered, login and vote for Catlytic Communities before October 31st.
Blog, tweet, and facebook about it! Try and recruit at least five friends! Together we can make sure that all Brazilians feel proud to wave their flags in 2016!
It was at the MOMA, but you can see it on Oct 22 in Washington, DC at Georgetown
With Rio de Janeiro winning the 2016 Olympics, many are becoming more curious about the city, which includes the (in)famous favelas. However, it is incredibly hard to get accurate and unbiased information. (What is accurate, anyway? No one community is the same, and so what is “accurate” in one place may be totally wrong in another.)
O Morrinho is an art project that can enlighten you about life in a favela of Rio de Janeiro, and it is a story that is told from those who live there, not an outsider’s view.
For everybody that has read my posts about favela tourism and O Morrinho, you have heard about O Morrinho and their documentary film. For those that haven’t read my posts, well you should read them! (Hey, a little shameless advertising for myself never hurt ).
If you want to learn more about O Morrinho, check out their new website here and their twitter here.
I met Juan Pablo when I was in Rio de Janeiro this summer. He, like myself, participated in Georgetown’s summer abroad classes held in Rio during the months of June and July. We worked together researching for a professor of ours, Bryan McCann, who is writing a book about the evolution of Rio’s politics, both formal and informal, from 1969-1990s.
Today, Juan Pablo sent me a link to an article in a Spanish newspaper, El Imparcial. Juan Pablo’s life has brought many challenges and he has used these challenges to believe in change: Change for himself and a better Colombia. Juan Pablo said that one day he just might be the President of Colombia, and hey, if he has learned to go to Georgetown full time, be a journalist full time, and wake up at 4:00am every morning to do a radio show, and PLUS be aware and sensitive to what is happening not only in his home country, Colombia, but in neighboring countries, and the United States–well, I would vote for him!
They responded to the New Yorker’s piece about Gang Violence in Rio de Janeiro that portrays Rio as a city of “Parallel Powers.” (If anybody is a reader of my blog, you guys know how I feel about the use of this phrase. “Parallel Powers” is a tricky one, mostly shunned by academics.) It is an interesting photo shoot, but rather typical lets “expose the real world of Rio.” Photo shoots like these, those that are “exposing” the violence that occurs, always makes my stomach turn. How much do photo shoots like these actually create a “better awareness?” How much to the “artists” exploit the violence for their own benefit?
Honestly, hearing what this guy has to say makes me think that he knows very little about what actually goes on. (Not to mention the fact that it annoys me how he tries to talk with a Brazilian accent and fails miserably.) He talks about the Militia when he show the symbol of the BOPE, which is actually a special force of the police, and not necessarily part of a militia. (However, some of these police could be taking part in the militias, as well). He talks about the Ilha do Governador as if there was just one favela, when in fact there are various favelas (as well as other neighborhoods). I’m not an expert of the region, and so I don’t know if there is just one person who controls the drug trafficking, but I highly doubt that there is, and if there was just one person he wouldn’t be chatting up this photographer and journalist. Last but not least, the fact that his last words were, “there was a lot of fresh graves in that cemetery” just put the icing on the cake for me. First, he was trying to be so poetic by ending on a cemetery, which just makes the city of Rio de Janeiro look bad. Second, and worst of all, is that it’s true that a lot of people are killed by the violence in Rio de Janeiro, but the sad thing is they probably don’t even get proper respect and graves in a graveyard like the one he showed in his photo shoot. So not only did he exploit the deaths in order to end really artistically, but he got the story wrong.
There are actually photography projects in Rio de Janeiro that try and paint an image that goes directly against this sort of portrayal of the city and the violence in the favelas. I would love to know what an organization like Observatório de Favelas‘ Imagens do Povo would have to say about this exhibit.
So, because my life as a graduate student has taken up so much of my time, I have been very neglectful to my blog. However, over the past month, I have been learning tons of new information. I have learned a lot about Latin America and have been entering into the world of Latin Americanists in Washington, DC. For this information, check out my Twitter, which I have been much more dedicated to in the last month. I have also learned a lot about what it takes to be a graduate student. I thought I would share with you all ten lessons that I have learned over the past few months.
Ten Lessons of Surviving Graduate School:
There is a lot of reading. Like Nike says, “Just do it.”
There is a lot of reading. If you can’t do it, or waited until the last minute, read the introduction and conclusion and pick out the argument. That is all the teacher will want in the long run anyway and probably the only thing you will remember about the book.
Remember when you were a mere little undergraduate, and you felt really smart a lot of the time? Well, in Graduate School everybody is intimidatingly smart. Suck it up. You can’t be the best at everything. Instead use this wealth of knowledge to your benefit and for inspiration!
On a good note, you will learn about lots of things that really interest you. Take advantage of this…
Especially take advantage of #4 because learning about things that really interest you will pretty much be the only thing that you will be doing over the next year or two.
With all this stress, exercise is a must. Get that stress out! Personally, I started Bikrim Yoga, which is a great stress killer.
Get a group together within your program to study/share the misery of being so busy. It will help you stay motivated and study, and it will also help when all you need is a few minutes of ranting about school!
Network. Network. Network! NETWORK! After all, you do want a job after these years of stress! (Plus, networking could be a good excuse to go to a happy hour or two if you need!)
A professor said to us at the beginning of the semester, “Don’t make your professor feel like you know more than they do on the subject that they are teaching. That is just a bad idea.” You would think that this is obvious, but in my experience, it is not.
Take advantage of every minute. When Graduate School is over, and you’re in the real world, you probably will be looking back on it thinking, “Ahh, those were the days…”
Well, I hope this helps people who are in grad school/thinking about going into grad school! Enjoy!
Helping to host an event w. Marina Silva, researching and writing about Latin America for Masters degree...whew. Not a lot of time lately... 2009-10-28
Subscribe
).
