{"id":22864,"date":"2015-06-30T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=22864"},"modified":"2015-08-25T13:54:43","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T16:54:43","slug":"leaders-of-community-collectives-discuss-role-of-grassroots-media-in-reversing-favela-stigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=22864","title":{"rendered":"Leaders of Community Collectives Discuss Role of Grassroots Media in Reversing Favela Stigma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"PT\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Wednesday June 24, NGO\u00a0Viva Rio<\/a>\u00a0hosted a public meeting\u00a0in Gloria, in the South Zone<\/a>\u00a0of Rio\u00a0to discuss the importance of collectives as a new form of community organization and their\u00a0role inside and outside favelas.\u00a0The debate was part of the organization’s digital inclusion project,\u00a0Viva Favela<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The discussion\u00a0was led by a panel of four leaders of communication collectives<\/a>: Rom\u00e1rio Regis of Ag\u00eancia PapaGoiaba\u00a0in\u00a0S\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alo<\/a>\u00a0(Greater Rio<\/a>), Thamyra Th\u00e2mara of GatoM\u00cdDIA\u00a0in\u00a0Complexo de Alem\u00e3o<\/a>\u00a0(North Zone<\/a>), William da Silva of Anti\u00e9ticos\u00a0in\u00a0Vila Kennedy<\/a>\u00a0(West Zone<\/a>), and Carla Siccos of CDD Acontece\u00a0in\u00a0City of God<\/a>\u00a0(West Zone), and was mediated by Francisco Marcelo, director of Caminho Melhor Jovem<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Complexo da\u00a0<\/a>Mar\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0(North Zone).<\/p>\n

The panelists kicked off\u00a0the debate\u00a0by introducing themselves and their collectives, discussing the theme of collectives and their rising importance in favelas<\/a>. Thamyra of GatoM\u00cdDIA began the introductions, congratulating the initiative on such a \u201cblack and beautiful panel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Introducing the theme of collectives, Marcelo began the discussion by emphasizing the rising importance of social networks in creating media activism and \u201cthe possibility that favela residents have today of building\u00a0their [own] channels and communication platforms.\u201d With the rise of social media and social networks on the Internet, residents are able to self-organize in a decentralized manner that \u201cbrings an autonomy and legitimacy that is very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VivaFavela<\/a><\/p>\n

The panelists then described\u00a0how their respective collectives\u00a0developed, and what role they’ve played in the community. Thamyra said: \u201cWe speak for ourselves with our own language and I think that\u2019s what really attracts those who don\u2019t live in a favela.\u201d GatoM\u00cdDIA<\/a> focuses on orienting community residents on social media so their content can be used as effective mechanisms of \u201ccommunication, production, and resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThere have always been tons of things happening in the favela. The Internet, with these social media platforms, empowers and provides visibility to attract others and create more empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carla Siccos said her collective, CDD Acontece<\/a>, serves a similar function: to inform City of God residents about the positive services that are available in the favela. When discussing the origin of her organization, she said: \u201cEveryone learns about the negative events in the community. No one is aware of the good things happening\u00a0because there is\u00a0a lack of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

William of Anti\u00e9ticos<\/a>, a hip-hop group that acts as a platform for denouncing racism and promoting positive favela aspects, says his collective gives individuals a voice to express their wants and needs, and helps people develop their own projects.<\/p>\n

Romario, of Ag\u00eancia PapaGoiaba<\/a>, a digital communication collective that\u00a0provides visibility to cultural productions in S\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alo, emphasized the importance of collectives in helping individuals find a trajectory in life.<\/p>\n

When asked by an audience member what can be done to reduce youth involvement in drug trafficking, panelists agreed that collectives can play an important role in informing young residents of alternative job opportunities. However, Romario and Thamyra both emphasized that the majority of favela youth\u00a0work at places like Bobs Burgers and McDonald’s and not in\u00a0drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

The panelists were also asked to discuss other topics, such as violence in the favelas, the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs)<\/a>\u00a0and the reduction of <\/a>the age of criminal responsibility<\/a> and how their communication collectives can have an impact in these realms.<\/p>\n

Thamyra explained that communication collectives can help de-stigmatize favelas<\/a>, not by avoiding the discussion of violence, but instead by presenting it from the point of view of the residents in the favela. She adds, \u201cWhen collectives publish something, it\u2019s not from those outside [the community] but from those inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

When discussing proposed legislation to\u00a0lower the age of criminal responsibility<\/a>\u00a0in Brazil, all panelists expressed opposition. William da Silva cited education<\/a> as the best means of hope and opportunity for young people, which he explained would be limited by reducing the age of criminal responsibility<\/a>. He shared a compelling story of two minors who assaulted him with a gun on the bus. A few months later he saw one of the same boys on TV helping with a community project in Mar\u00e9; the boy was on his way to university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what their motivations were that day on the bus,\u201d William said. \u201cBut they\u2019re just kids, they\u2019re still learning… I\u2019ll never stop having hope for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With\u00a0regard to the UPP police presence, panelists such as Carla said\u00a0police should\u00a0interact more with favela residents to increase their knowledge of the community and reduce their\u00a0stigmatized view<\/a>, prejudice and, thus, tension.<\/p>\n

Following the discussion, audience members praised the panel for their innovative community projects. The event ended with a\u00a0mutual understanding that anyone can be a leader and have a voice by working collectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On Wednesday June 24, NGO\u00a0Viva Rio\u00a0hosted a public meeting\u00a0in Gloria, in the South Zone\u00a0of Rio\u00a0to discuss the importance of collectives as a new form of community organization and their\u00a0role inside and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":22866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1294,1288,1290,1333,1271,329,1329],"tags":[1361,1648,231,219,1653,280,32,842,1197,1681,37,15,120,796,156,453,612,21],"writer":[1680,1677],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communitymedia","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-civilsociety","10":"category-event-reports","11":"category-favelaqualities","12":"category-solutions","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-endfavelastigma","15":"tag-age-of-criminal-responsibility","16":"tag-city-of-god","17":"tag-collective-action","18":"tag-community-media","19":"tag-complexo-da-mare","20":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","21":"tag-debate","22":"tag-greater-rio","23":"tag-media-collective","24":"tag-north-zone","25":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","26":"tag-sao-goncalo","27":"tag-social-media","28":"tag-south-zone","29":"tag-stigma","30":"tag-vila-kennedy","31":"tag-west-zone","32":"writer-brenda-serpas","33":"writer-gabriela-weldon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22864"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=22864"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=22864"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=22864"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=22864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}