{"id":31812,"date":"2016-08-29T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T11:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=31812"},"modified":"2016-12-30T19:55:50","modified_gmt":"2016-12-30T22:55:50","slug":"social-media-campaign-stopfavelastigma-highlights-resistance-and-creativity-in-favelas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=31812","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Campaign #StopFavelaStigma Highlights Resistance and Creativity in Favelas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

As the Olympics were about to start, RioOnWatch<\/em> ran\u00a0a one-day social media campaign with the intention of denouncing the unfounded stigma<\/a> associated with Rio\u2019s favelas. Using the hashtag\u00a0#StopFavelaStigma<\/a>, over the course of August 3\u00a0RioOnWatch<\/em> published articles and shared posts\u00a0highlighting community voices\u00a0to\u00a0counter the damaging stereotypes\u00a0that\u00a0reinforce\u00a0prejudice against residents of favelas.<\/p>\n

The hashtag gained significant traction on social media: a\u00a0simple Facebook search reveals over 85,000 “People Talking About This”\u2014a metric which includes likes, comments, shares, and tags on posts containing the hashtag.<\/p>\n

Representations of favelas<\/h3>\n

Kicking off the #StopFavelaStigma campaign with an article entitled \u201cFavelas, Popular Territory<\/a>,\u201d community journalist Daiene Mendes<\/a> from Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a> wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe favelas should not be thought about as something exotic, distanced from reality or pitiable. Favela residents carry with them the strength and energy to transform realities. I like to say that almost every favela resident is an activist, because resistance precedes activism, and the only thing that defines the favela context is struggle and resistance.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Daiene\u2019s words speak to favela residents\u00a0utilizing\u00a0their skills and projecting their voices to make positive changes within and beyond their communities.<\/p>\n

Yet, in the months leading up to the Olympics<\/a> and continuing throughout the Games, many of Rio\u2019s favelas experienced extended periods of intense violence. Frequent police operations and near-daily shootings in Alem\u00e3o in recent weeks have led some residents to denounce the current situation as a \u201cstate of war.\u201d A Facebook alert<\/a> posted by Alem\u00e3o community newspaper Voz das Comunidades<\/em><\/a>\u00a0just after 10am on #StopFavelaStigma day\u00a0highlighted the impacts of misguided policies that are based on and justified by\u00a0stigma: \u201cTwo people were shot and killed this morning in a Military Police operation in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o. The tense climate continues in all parts of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Like Daiene in Alem\u00e3o, community journalist Tha\u00eds Cavalcante<\/a> of Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> has actively worked to present an alternative narrative about her community in the face of mainstream media coverage that sensationalizes violence and depicts Mar\u00e9 as an inherently criminal space. Featured in an episode of WNYC<\/em>\u2019s On the Media<\/a>, Tha\u00eds described: \u201cCoverage that talks as if violence is the only thing that happens here\u2026 This kind of coverage is used to affirm certain policies of the state towards us.\u201d Residents have taken action to combat oppressive actions taken by the State, mobilizing through initiatives like the “We are From Mar\u00e9. We Have Rights!”<\/a> campaign to inform citizens of their (often denied) rights in the context of police operations.<\/p>\n

While tensions run high in Alem\u00e3o and Mar\u00e9 with the onset of the Olympic Games<\/a>, selective press coverage during the Olympic period has resulted in a media frenzy. Often, mainstream international outlets frame Rio\u2019s violence only insofar as it affects tourists in the city\u2019s South Zone<\/a>,\u00a0while ignoring how violence is a deeply-ingrained, systemic and structural phenomenon with repercussions for local residents extending far beyond the closing ceremony of the Games.<\/p>\n

Catalytic Communities<\/a>‘ Research Coordinator Cerianne Robertson tackled the misperceptions often reproduced by foreign journalists in her recent article “How Not to Write About Rio<\/a>”\u00a0published in POLITICO<\/em>: “Yes, most favelas lack adequate sewage infrastructure<\/a>, and some favelas are sites of drug trafficking<\/a> and violence<\/a>\u2014symptoms of decades of government neglect<\/a> alternating with government oppression. But contrary to what fans of ‘City of God’ or ‘Elite Squad’ or the Daily Mail<\/em> might imagine, less than one percent of favela residents are involved in trafficking. Most favelas have no trafficking presence at all.”<\/p>\n

Among popular misconceptions about Rio\u2019s favelas is the idea that \u201cfavelas are slums,\u201d as RioOnWatch<\/em> contributor David Robertson<\/a> highlights in his myth-busting Buzzfeed<\/em> article<\/a>. The #StopFavelaStigma campaign highlighted the complex question posed in 2015 by\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0<\/em>Brazil bureau chief\u00a0Simon Romero\u00a0who tweeted<\/a>: \u201cSeeking better options than “slum” for translating favela<\/a>. How to concisely explain such complex, vibrant places?\u201d<\/p>\n

While translating favela as \u201cslum\u201d is problematic because it suggests the condition of misery or depravity, other terms are similarly inaccurate: \u201cshantytown\u201d denotes a condition of precariousness in the form of \u201cshanties\u201d or shacks; \u201cghetto\u201d alludes to residential segregation along racial or religious lines; and \u201csquatter settlement\u201d implies illegality. To accurately write about favelas, we should avoid these lazy, judgment-laden translations and\u00a0just call them favelas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Valuing\u00a0qualities of favelas<\/h3>\n

While favelas are uniquely Brazilian, the stigmatization of low-income neighborhoods (in ways such as labeling them as slums) is a global phenomenon. From the South African Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0\u201cCities without Slums\u201d<\/a> slogan accompanying Target 11 of UN Millennium Development Goal 7,<\/a> i<\/span>t\u2019s important to identify the negative views\u00a0associated with the word \u201cslum\u201d and, moreover, to recognize that eradicating informality is not a viable nor socially desirable<\/a> urban solution.<\/p>\n

Accurately writing about favelas, however, involves more than just avoiding the tendency to blatantly fetishize violence\u2014or on the other extreme, the tendency to romanticize poverty. Understanding Rio\u2019s favelas must begin with an examination of the historical context in which favelas emerged and have developed over more than\u00a0100 years. The short film produced by Catalytic Communities\u00a0called \u201cWhat is a Favela?<\/a>\u201d traces the history of favelas in Rio, from describing the origin of the word \u201cfavela\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to exploring the diversity of these urban neighborhoods in present day.<\/p>\n