On the morning of September 19, a City demolition crew arrived in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone neighborhood of Canal do Anil without warning and forcefully removed 52 structures, almost all homes. Less than a week later, residents came together in a show of solidarity, highlighting their intention to challenge the threat of future demolitions and calling attention to their right to housing. Marking their homes and the wreckage where homes once stood with words of resistance, solidarity, and demands for rights, Canal do Anil’s residents “gathered to show their indignation” said Allan Silvio, Vice-President of the Residents’ Association of Canal do Anil, whose photos documenting the intervention are featured below. Their words are not only powerful reminders of the damage inflicted by the callous demolitions, but also of the struggles still to come for the community.
Canal do Anil Resists
Two Different Realities
“In the background, Vila do Pan, and I, amidst the wreckage of a humble house.” — Allan Silvio, Vice President of the Residents Association of Canal do Anil
We want our rights, our homes
We want a home, not eviction
I raise my children here
[Mayor] Crivella, destroyer of homes
We are workers
The city destroys our homes. We want housing, not eviction.
SOS Canal do Anil
The right to housing—Yes
Here stood a home
A family lives here
Housing yes. Evictions no. Get out Crivella.
We want dignity. Get out Crivella. They destroyed dreams.
We want our rights, our homes.
We want housing, not eviction.
Get out Crivella
Home of a working family
No to evictions, yes to housing
