{"id":51013,"date":"2019-02-07T11:26:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T14:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=51013"},"modified":"2019-02-07T23:13:22","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T02:13:22","slug":"street-corner-poetry-collection-launched-in-city-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=51013","title":{"rendered":"Collection of \u2018Street Corner Poetry\u2019 Launched in Rio de Janeiro’s City of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

“Art is salvation? And then what?” challenges Deborah Fadiga in her poem “Art is Salvation!” The poem appears on page 53 of\u00a0Street Corner Poetry: Collection Volume 0<\/em>, a 242-page book that brings together 38 authors from favelas, alleyways, and street corners across the state of Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

Two years in the making, the book was born long before assuming its physical form\u2014which, by the way, is beautiful. The Street Corner Poetry movement blossomed over time\u2014eight years, to be precise\u2014writing history and transforming it in the interstices\u00a0<\/span>of City of God<\/a>, a favela in the West Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

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

It has transpired in ways both small\u2014competing with songs playing on jukeboxes at the bars along Marechal Miguel Salazar Road\u2014and large, at the Tom Z\u00e9 Bar<\/a> earning applause and respect upon reciting one’s life in the ear of someone who, until that moment, could only feel rhythm in the icy cold glass filled with warm beer.<\/p>\n

As though it were nothing out of the ordinary, on Thursday, January 24, the poetry movement introduced the world to\u00a0Collection Volume 0 <\/em>on a fiery night full of flaming words\u00a0at the City of God House of Culture<\/a>. <\/em>The book features a red cover with a timeless collage design, with text on the dust jacket by poet and novelist Jess\u00e9 Andarilho<\/a>\u00a0that reads: “I’m someone who discovered myself as a poet through Street Corner Poetry. I would arrive at poetry readings and recite some lines; people would clap to the beat and it was poetry. I believed in myself and became a poet.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe launch of\u00a0Street Corner Poetry<\/em>\u00a0was organized in four parts, beginning with a discussion. The conversation revolved around a constructive question: “How can reading and writing poetry be stimulated in the peripheries?” The discussion was mediated by Wellington Fran\u00e7a\u2014co-founder of the Street Corner Poetry movement\u2014who opened the night alongside writers Let\u00edcia Brito<\/a>\u00a0of Slam das Minas<\/a>; Jess\u00e9 Andarilho, a member of the\u00a0Marginow<\/a> project; Yolanda Soares<\/a>; and Anderson Quack<\/a>, a filmmaker and social activist from City of God and co-founder of Central \u00danica das Favelas<\/a> (CUFA). The poets shared their journeys and reflections with the audience members in attendance, focusing on the importance of grassroots and community movements and collectives for the social development of favelas that are excluded from the exercise of the most fundamental rights\u2014human rights.<\/p>\n

The event went far beyond small talk: it was a gathering of free souls. Dona Tuca<\/a>, 85\u2014a\u00a0black actress, self-taught visual artist, poet, singer, and songwriter (what an incredible woman!), City of God resident, and co-founder of the Street Corner Poetry movement\u2014interrupted the discussion to make a revolutionary intervention. Microphone in hand, she recited:<\/p>\n

[I am] Ana\u00edde dos Santos Muniz\u2014also known as Tuca, “The Diamond.” I’m not going to talk; I don\u2019t want to talk. I want to share my poetry:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI beat my chest with Pride<\/em>
\nAnd tell you I am happy.<\/em>
\nYou say that I am Black\u2026<\/em>
\nBlack is my root.<\/em>
\nI am timber, I am wood.<\/em>
\nI am ember, I am charcoal.<\/em>
\nI am daughter of a Black Nation.<\/em>
\nI am daughter and<\/em>
\nI am Nation.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nNo words could follow this recitation by Dona Tuca, “The Diamond” of City of God<\/a>\u2014perhaps only artistic expression. Inspired by the vitality of those who teach us life lessons, between songs and verses, the event continued with book signings. In one area of the space at the House of Culture, musician Pedro Carvalho shared some of his songs and poets recited their works.<\/p>\n

Marginal literature from the peripheries, such as the mimeograph generation of the 1970s<\/a>, has healed the body that is Brazilian culture. It has transformed Rio\u2019s reality without asking for recognition. It has already gained recognition, though sometimes it is born from the fissures, perforations (!), and holes pierced by “762 assault rifle bullets manufactured in Belgium,” recounts the unsettling poem “European Domination” (page 205) by Vivi Salles\u2014a sociologist, poet, resident of City of God, co-founder of Street Corner Poetry, and the organizer of the poetry collection.<\/p>\n

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

With this release, the Street Corner Poetry movement marks an important new chapter for City of God. The favela is known worldwide for the violence that\u00a0is said to be its defining characteristic<\/a> in creative productions and narratives ranging from film<\/a> to the daily news<\/a>. Let’s recall when a Rio de Janeiro Military Police helicopter crashed to the ground<\/a>\u00a0in an area of City of God two years ago (later explained as an emergency landing), taking the lives of four policemen.<\/p>\n

The moments that followed resembled a real battle scene, full of horror and entire days of panic. From a distance, it was easy to view local residents\u2014buried in the chaos, accused of crimes they did not commit\u2014as fragile, powerless, and incapable of recreating the flow of life through art at the time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nHowever, resilient and wise from over fifty years in the trenches, the favela continued to rise day after day, reinventing its existence and rewriting the fate imposed upon it. For this reason,\u00a0Collection Volume 0\u2014<\/em>the\u00a0first work written and produced by the\u00a0Street Corner Poetry movement, published by Corner Editors\u2014traces the present and future of a community that, at its core, bears the violence of existence.<\/p>\n

Peace without voice is fear<\/em>
\nVoice without fear<\/em>
\nIs empty struggle<\/em>
\nWar for money<\/em>
\nIs tyranny<\/em>
\nAction in silence<\/em>
\nIs struggle without inspiration<\/em>
\nWithout rage<\/em>
\n\u2013 Poetry of Sub-Guerilla Life by Wellington Fran\u00e7a, Page\u00a0215<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The next launch by Street Corner Poetry and Corner Editors is a book of poems by Edison Veoca\u00a0on February 12 at\u00a06pm at Folha Seca Bookstore (Rua do Ouvidor 37, Centro).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas “Art is salvation? And then what?” challenges Deborah Fadiga in her poem “Art is Salvation!” The poem appears on page 53 of\u00a0Street Corner Poetry: Collection Volume 0, a 242-page book that […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":51015,"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":[1328,1333,1268,1271,1334],"tags":[231,600,504,25,678,666,1521,438,293,21],"writer":[2893,2894],"translator":[2603],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-51013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-by-community-contributors","8":"category-event-reports","9":"category-favelaculture","10":"category-favelaqualities","11":"category-reviews","12":"tag-city-of-god","13":"tag-cufa","14":"tag-culture","15":"tag-human-rights","16":"tag-launch-event","17":"tag-literature","18":"tag-marginalization","19":"tag-periphery","20":"tag-poetry","21":"tag-west-zone","22":"writer-jota-marques","23":"writer-leticia-lemos","24":"translator-cheyne-bull"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51013","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=51013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51013"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=51013"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=51013"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=51013"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=51013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}