{"id":47271,"date":"2018-09-25T11:57:37","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T14:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=47271"},"modified":"2018-09-26T10:23:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:23:04","slug":"state-congressional-candidates-from-favelas-debate-culture-representation-and-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=47271","title":{"rendered":"State Congressional Candidates from Favelas Debate Culture, Representation, and Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Por<\/strong>tugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Peneira<\/a>\u2014a creative industry organization that works with artistic interventions in public spaces\u2014is organizing a series of debates with candidates for the positions of federal and state representative as part of a mobilization by\u00a0Rio as a Whole<\/a>, a nonpartisan initiative to increase citizen participation in the electoral process. The debates are held in the Marielle Franco room of the Urban Studies House<\/a>, a co-working and event studio for debating the production of urban space.<\/p>\n

The first two debates, part of the “Culture at Stake\u2014Debates with Legislative Candidates<\/a>” series, focused on cultural policies. These are often neglected in government proposals and programs, but they should be seen as essential not only for leisure purposes, but also for their potential to generate jobs and income, enhance public spaces, and promote safety. The ultimate symbol of disregard for culture in institutional politics was the National Museum fire<\/a>\u2014but this was not an isolated incident. Other examples include the lack of valorization and even attempts to criminalize favela culture<\/a>, such as when City authorities increasingly bureaucratize the process for obtaining\u00a0street event permits<\/a> and affirm that there will not be culture in favelas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first debate took place on August 23, with the presence of the following candidates running for state deputy:\u00a0Dyonne Boy<\/a> (Socialism and Liberty Party), Jaqueline Gomes de Jesus<\/a> (Workers’ Party), Iara Roccha<\/a> (Communist Party of Brazil), Tain\u00e1 de Paula<\/a> (Communist Party of Brazil), and William Siri<\/a> (Socialism and Liberty Party). The second debate, on August 30, was attended by the following candidates running for federal congress:\u00a0Reimont\u00a0Otoni (Workers’ Party), Marcelo Calero (Popular Socialist Party), M\u00e3e Fl\u00e1via Pinto<\/a> (Democratic Labor Party), and Anderson Quack<\/a> (Socialism and Liberty Party). David Miranda<\/a> (Socialism and Liberty Party) was also invited but was unable to attend.<\/p>\n

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There is an interesting correlation between candidates who prioritize culture as an issue that needs to be debated and defended\u2014and were therefore present at the debate\u2014and the percentage of candidates among those in attendance who are from favelas. As pointed out in our previous article<\/a>, Tain\u00e1 de Paula (Favela do Loteamento), M\u00e3e Fl\u00e1via Pinto (Vila Vint\u00e9m<\/a>), Anderson Quack (City of God<\/a>), and David Miranda (Jacarezinho<\/a>) are all from favelas.<\/p>\n

The question of favelas, therefore, permeated the experiences and speeches of several candidates. As such, a third debate<\/a>\u2014entitled “Favela in the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro<\/a>“\u2014was organized on September 17 (at the initiative of the Urban Studies House in partnership with Peneira) to hold a discussion specifically with candidates from favelas. The following candidates participated in that third debate: J\u00falio Cesar (Workers’ Party) from City of God, Louren\u00e7o C\u00e9zar<\/a> (Brazilian Socialist Party) from Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a>, Fernando Ermiro<\/a> (Party of Brazilian Women) from Rocinha<\/a>, and Dani Monteiro<\/a> (Socialism and Liberty Party) from Complexo do S\u00e3o Carlos<\/a>. Patr\u00edcia Honorato (Free Fatherland Party) from Cidade Alta<\/a> had confirmed her participation but did not attend.<\/p>\n

An example of the close intersection of cultural agendas and favelas can be observed in the recurrence of the topic of peripheral culture and the need to promote it. \u201cI believe in requiring and increasing the territorialization of cultural investment. Today the state of Rio de Janeiro concentrates public investment<\/a> in cultural centers and theaters. We have to talk about theater and art from the interior of the state, from the Baixada Fluminense<\/a>. We have to preserve our popular and peripheral culture,\u201d said Tain\u00e1 de Paula in the first debate. \u201cWe have to think of a bill that requires the state to territorialize its public calls for artists. These bids are mainly won by groups from the capital, by big cultural groups. We want winning proposals from railcar poets, artisans from Cabo Frio, and people of the [traditional music and dance styles]\u00a0ciranda<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0coco<\/em>,” she added. Fernando Ermiro made a similar speech at the debate on September 17: \u201c[Let\u2019s stop with statements like] \u2018Let\u2019s take culture to [so and so]…’ It’s [not about that]. It’s about redistributing the public calls and letting favela residents produce their<\/em> culture.”<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAfro-Brazilian, indigenous, favela, and peripheral cultures\u2014these spaces, territories, and cultural producers are completely at the margin of the system,\u201d said filmmaker Anderson Quack during the second debate. \u201cIt is necessary to value these cultural centers, territories, and producers. Promoting culture is aimed at show business. Calls for proposals that offer affirmative action [in the selection process] are embarrassing,\u201d he completed, mentioning difficulties such as the lack of investment and highly bureaucratic accounting procedures.<\/p>\n

Dani Monteiro, in turn, echoed Quack\u2019s point during the third debate: \u201cFavela residents have difficulty responding to calls for proposals. The dances that generate employment and income in favelas are not considered cultural spaces\u2014they are not encouraged.\u201d She further recalled the need for event organizers in favelas to request permission from the Military Police to carry out these events. \u201cThe Military Police do\u00a0not understand culture. The space is public… Samba, funk, and capoeira are not crimes.\u201d In this sense, Reimont\u00a0Otoni recalled his activism in City Hall on cultural affairs, having presided over the Standing Committee on Culture and authoring legislation such as the Gamarra Law<\/a>, which instituted the Municipal Program to Incentivize, Safeguard, and Promote Rio’s Samba<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSamba circles in favelas are what sustain samba. Community funk dances are what sustain funk. And those who circulate in the city don\u2019t consume this kind of culture, so they don\u2019t know,\u201d said M\u00e3e Flavia Pinto on August 30. \u201cHow many times have we not<\/em> consumed [culture] because we didn\u2019t have money to leave the favela? Why can\u2019t we go to Lapa? Why don\u2019t we have money to circulate in the city? People need to have fun and make a little bit of money to survive. This is something that we need to protect\u2014the right of favela residents to keep themselves on their feet. We have developed culture as a survival mechanism,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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

Obstacles to cultural production are found not only in the territory in which it takes place but also by way of racism and religious intolerance, which in many cases has only added to discrimination against peripheral and favela cultures. Pinto talked about a case that she followed: \u201c[There was] the case of a teacher who couldn\u2019t work with [the writings] of\u00a0Luiz Gonzaga<\/a> and Jorge Amado<\/a> in a literature class because they were considered authors of the devil. There were parents who hit the teacher on the head with a bible. He even received death threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the issue of culture, urban upgrading and land security issues heavily permeated the third debate. When asked about land regularization and titling, Ermiro said: \u201cTo solve the issue of eviction, we need to anchor people to the land. Titles don’t prevent evictions, but they do make them more difficult.” Ermiro further mentioned the necessity of mechanisms that come after titling to increase [tenure] security, citing the example of the\u00a0Community Land Trust<\/a> model.<\/p>\n

For Louren\u00e7o C\u00e9zar, it isn\u2019t enough to guarantee land ownership: \u201cThe right to property is [based on] capitalistic logic. A house in a favela isn\u2019t only a place of residence, rest, and leisure. It\u2019s survival. It’s where people carry out their work activities. It’s where a son can build another story [on the house] and continue to contribute to [the family\u2019s] income.\u201d Monteiro added: \u201cIt’s not just pouring cement and installing a power meter. It’s thinking about upgrading in terms of [the distribution of] cultural facilities. It’s thinking about mobility, which includes regulating the motorcycle taxi profession. It’s thinking about access to drinking water. Before thinking about property rights, we have to think about other rights. Regularization in itself just sounds like taxation. It’s not possible to think about property rights in a territory where the right to life hasn’t been enforced.”<\/p>\n

In response to a question from a young resident of Rocinha\u2014who is finishing high school at the age of 27 and doesn\u2019t see job training opportunities for his age group\u2014Monteiro proposed strengthening the Better Youth Path<\/a> program and the Youth Reference Center<\/a>. \u201cBlack youth are behind. We need to make favela territories productive and value the lives of black youth.\u201d Ermiro also stressed the importance of political participation among youth: \u201cOnce we enter public office, half our staff rosters should be filled by new people, without experience. We can\u2019t get elected to be [just] ourselves; we need to develop a new roster. We already saw that this works with the community pr\u00e9-vestibular\u00a0<\/em>(college entrance exam preparatory course). We train the youth and [they themselves] mobilize the favela.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the topics discussed, the importance of this debate became clear in the intersectional issue of representation<\/a> raised by those present. \u201cGovernment does not have the face of Brazil. Black women are underrepresented. People legislate over our bodies but they have no idea about our lives. We need to expand a democracy that still hasn\u2019t arrived in favelas… We need to challenge the budget of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly (ALERJ) to create public policies for our people,” said Monteiro. C\u00e9zar also recalled the importance of bringing political discourse into the favela and not electing people who are openly against favelas<\/a>: \u201cFavelas are producing knowledge and this knowledge has to be transformed into public policies. The Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/a> has done this with memory. The discussion about affirmative action in pr\u00e9-vestibular<\/em>\u00a0courses\u00a0has done this. These things must become public policy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\u00a0 Peneira\u2014a creative industry organization that works with artistic interventions in public spaces\u2014is organizing a series of debates with candidates for the positions of federal and state representative as part of a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":47283,"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":[1668,1288,2242,1333,1268,1271,335,329],"tags":[400,2069,460,641,231,435,280,2806,504,2714,595,221,674,2211,501,499,936,918,2223,2817,2819,2820,2217,2040,1189,233,12,571,1408,2822,259],"writer":[2247],"translator":[2785],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-democracy","10":"category-event-reports","11":"category-favelaculture","12":"category-favelaqualities","13":"category-policies","14":"category-solutions","15":"tag-affirmative-action","16":"tag-alerj","17":"tag-baixada-fluminense","18":"tag-cidade-alta","19":"tag-city-of-god","20":"tag-community-land-trust","21":"tag-complexo-da-mare","22":"tag-cultural-preservation","23":"tag-culture","24":"tag-david-miranda","25":"tag-elections","26":"tag-favela-culture","27":"tag-memory","28":"tag-favela-representation-in-politics","29":"tag-funk","30":"tag-jacarezinho","31":"tag-land-titling","32":"tag-military-police","33":"tag-pcdob","34":"tag-pdt","35":"tag-pps","36":"tag-psb","37":"tag-psol","38":"tag-pt","39":"tag-racism","40":"tag-religious-freedom","41":"tag-rocinha","42":"tag-samba","43":"tag-sao-carlos","44":"tag-vila-vintem","45":"tag-youth","46":"writer-luisa-fenizola","47":"translator-dora-saclarides"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47271","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\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47271"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=47271"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=47271"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=47271"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=47271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}