{"id":24245,"date":"2015-09-10T13:41:47","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T16:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=24245"},"modified":"2015-09-16T10:55:25","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T13:55:25","slug":"everything-is-wrong-complexo-do-alemao-cultural-event-calls-for-end-to-police-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=24245","title":{"rendered":"“Everything Is Wrong!” Complexo do Alem\u00e3o Cultural Event Calls for End to Police Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The #TaTudoErrado (Everything is Wrong)<\/a> protests against escalating police violence<\/a> in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, led by community group Coletivo Papo Reto<\/a>, ended on Sunday, September 6 with a cultural celebration in Areal Plaza. The protests spanned over three weekends, calling residents to the streets to share stories of why \u201ceverything is wrong\u201d in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, which has seen escalating violence between police and drug gangs, resulting in an unprecedented number of civilian deaths<\/a> from stray bullets since the year began.<\/p>\n

The first two events, held on Saturday August 22 and 29, walked protesters and journalists through and around the favela, pointing out danger zones, buildings riddled with bullet holes and places where innocent residents have been shot right in their homes, including a 10-year-old boy<\/a> in April this year.<\/p>\n

Raull Santiago<\/a>, one of the most vocal leaders of Coletivo Papo Reto, galvanized residents arguing\u00a0that the concept of ‘peace’ in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o is no longer relevant: \u201c\u2018Peace\u2019 and \u2018pacification\u2019 are words the government throws around to justify the\u00a0police occupation<\/a> in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, but how are we to experience this \u2018peace\u2019 if we are not alive? We are here to occupy the streets to ask for liberty and freedom. We are here to say that the favela should not be viewed from gunpoint<\/a>.\u201d Children held up poignant signs reading \u201cThis war is not ours. We don\u2019t deserve to die being shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

On Saturday, September 5, residents gathered for a night vigil in the Bulufa Plaza to remember the family, friends and neighbors who have perished in the violence so far in 2015. The following day, residents joined together in the small plaza of Areal for a lively \u2018cultural occupation,\u2019 filled with families, music, food, and activities.<\/p>\n

Residents painted over graffiti tags depicting threats and swear words directed at police officers by the Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u2019s controlling drug gang. Local artisan Mariluce Mari\u00e1 Souza<\/a> led the painting, assisting children as they drew bright red hearts with the words \u201cFriendship,\u201d \u201cLove,\u201d and \u201cPeace & Liberty.\u201d This was Souza\u2019s twelfth mural in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, where she has become a local icon for the favela, bringing together children and art to make Complexo do Alem\u00e3o a brighter place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we can change the reality of our home, doing something small a little at a time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is exciting! As children get involved together, they can collectively take care of this same place later.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Families flocked to Areal despite the drizzly weather to share in the contagious excitement and joyous atmosphere. Children took turns jumping on a trampoline, patiently lined up for paint brushes, and danced to the music playing from loud speakers. Two local artists took over the freshly repainted wall and spent the next three hours painting a detailed mural with\u00a0the word \u201cSOM\u201d (sound), celebrating cultural representations rather than harmful tagging. Local arts NGO<\/a> Barraco 55<\/a> also participated in the day\u2019s events with a hip hop music performance on stage for the families.<\/p>\n

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

Thain\u00e3 de Medeiros, another active leader of Coletivo Papo Reto, expressed that the intention of these events is to evoke change in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope for these types of gatherings\u00a0is that they continue. We plan to host more events for the residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, because we believe that we have the power to transform our situation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are asking the government to listen, because placing police inside the favela when there was previously no concrete governance is not the solution. Allowing tanks to enter the favela is not going to bring peace–it is instead a symbol of war. We are not asking that the UPP<\/a> leave completely, because security is still very necessary, but we ask that they no longer enter our streets with tanks, that they leave our cultural centers and events, and that they not occupy our schools and educational spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o intend to continue protesting for their freedom and right to \u2018better days.\u2019 But as Souza describes, \u201cIt is the people working together who make the favela a brighter place.\u201d The square that once held sinister and foreboding graffiti, now exhibits \u201cart and so much love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas The #TaTudoErrado (Everything is Wrong) protests against escalating police violence in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, led by community group Coletivo Papo Reto, ended on Sunday, September 6 with a cultural celebration in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":24250,"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":[1277,1288,1290,1333,1268,336,1329],"tags":[396,1606,756,32,910,504,221,457,37,1292,15,17,638,18],"writer":[1664,1785],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uppwatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-civilsociety","10":"category-event-reports","11":"category-favelaculture","12":"category-violations","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-art","15":"tag-coletivo-papo-reto","16":"tag-community-organizing","17":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","18":"tag-creative-organizing","19":"tag-culture","20":"tag-favela-culture","21":"tag-graffiti","22":"tag-north-zone","23":"tag-organizing","24":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","25":"tag-police-brutality","26":"tag-police-occupation","27":"tag-protest","28":"writer-julia-jones","29":"writer-laura-gama"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24245","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\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24245"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=24245"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=24245"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=24245"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=24245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}