Favelas, AfroReggae & Brazil

A boy takes a bath at a public faucet in the Complexo de Alemao slum in Rio de Janeiro, 2008. (AP)

Brazil’s musical group AfroReggae was born of the streets of Rio de Janiero’s hard-life shanytowns, or favelas.

Now, AfroReggae is trying to give back — to give inspiration, hope, pride and a path to youth surrounded by too much violence, drugs, and poverty.

It’s culture versus violence in the tough streets of Rio. We hear AfroReggae and explore Rio’s favelas.

-Tom Ashbrook

Note: This show was first broadcast March 12, 2010.

Guests:

Damian Platt, co-author of “Culture Is Our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio de Janerio.” He was a human rights researcher for Amnesty International in Brazil from 1997 to 2005, and from 2006 to 2008 he was coordinator for international partnerships at AfroReggae.

Dario Borim, associate professor and chair of the department of Portuguese at UMass-Dartmouth. He hosts a weekly live radio program called Brazilliance, dedicated to the music of Brazil.

 
  • Pancake Rankin, operation condor knows my location

    The United States is following Brazil into the 21st Century where (except for gated enclaves and banking districts) our East and West Coast Megalopolises, and New Chicago, will be all favela all the time. And like the sanitation crews of old, death squad jobs will be opening up. Wealth and income polarization is one big Carnivale. ($4 gasahol is so corny.)

  • Rick Stewart

    Tom never gets the Drug War right.

    Here’s betting he never points out 100% of the violence could be eliminated by legalizing drugs.

  • Rick Stewart

    I win! It’s a re-run …

  • Tom

    How much change can music make? I don’t believe societal change can come through one source alone. Nevertheless the voices of change can and do express themselves in music. I believe Folk Music of the 1960’s was an important part of the changes that occurred during that era. I might call it the spirit or voice of the people of the time. Negro Spirituals also expressed the spirit of the oppressed during the years of slavery and beyond. Music can embody the heart of the people and thereby sustain and propel change.

  • The Pancaker

    Rick: It all depends upon what drugs “IS.”
    Credit-usury is an addictive drug.
    Fast reckless driving, sex acts, pornography, video games, sports gambling, makeovers, serial killing, child and spousal abuse, energy use, economic power, government contracts, perpetual warfare… they’re all drugs. So survival of the environment and people dictates limits and regulation. Entertain this idea- the competitive dynamic between American gun dealing and marijuana legalization along the Mexican border. Remington, Glock and Ruger oppose legalization: Gun control enforcement breaks the tie. If you want pot drop your weapon.

  • Katia

    I’m Brazilian, I worked on the favelas in Sao Paulo in the 1980’s. It’s amazing to see that a place where there is so much violence is also a place where there is so much heart and good people. I was somewhat discussed by my own people and how they dehumanized people from favelas. I think that if anything, music is what could change the culture. Brazilians unite in music. This movement might not be the only solution, but it is a good start.

  • http://www.leapbrasil.com.br Maria Lucia Karam

    I am a Brazilian retired judge, and a Board member of LEAP-Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.leap.cc and http://www.leapbrasil.com.br). LEAP is an international nonprofit educational organization created to give voice to law-enforcers who believe the war on drugs has failed and who wish to support alternative policies that will lower the incidence of death, disease, crime, imprisonment and addiction.
    I listened to your show, and I can say that Afroreggae has been doing a wonderful work. However, violence and the negative stereotypes imposed on people that live in the “favelas” will only be effectively reduced when the war on drugs comes to an end.
    In the Brazilian drug war the role of the “enemy” is assigned to the drug dealers who live in the “favelas” and to those who resemble them. In the last ten years, one out of five of all murders in the city of Rio de Janeiro has been summary executions during police operations in the “favelas.” One of the largest “favelas” in Rio – the “Complexo do Alemão” – is now occupied by the Army, as if it were an enemy territory. During the first week of this military occupation, at least 51 people were killed.
    The only way to effectively change this situation is to stop this insane and bloody war; put an end to prohibition; and legalize the production, supply and consumption of all drugs.

  • http://www.morrinho.com Bryn Hafemeister (from Miami)

    I am so glad that you are focusing on the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and positioning the program on the life that most favela residents live. They are not mostly criminals, nor drug-users, but people that strive to earn an honest living. I have spent months living in in the Pereira da Silva favela in the Southern Zone of Rio, volunteering with the Morrinho project, which works with art and theater to keep local adolescent boys away from the local crime organization. I believe completely that art and culture can keep the youth on a positive path of life, I’ve personally seen it happen with the Morrinho youth.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000014622668 Janet Felks

    ANOTHER “COMMUNITY ORGINIZER” ALL ABOUT SELF ADULATION-YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE A TOTAL DUMBASS TO BELIEVE THAT ANYTHING BUT BIRTH CONTROL CAN CHANGE THESE GHETTOS.THESE PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS IN THE GHETTOS OF THE USA AND AS LONG AS THEY KEEP PRODUCING AT A RAT’S PACE—–NOTHING WILL CHANGE AND CONTINUE TO GET WORSE!!!!!!  THEY LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF VILLAGERS,WHY DON’T YOU ALL GET STERILIZED,STOP BEATING ON GARBAGE CANS LEARN MIME AND SHUT THE HELL UP!!

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