{"id":60083,"date":"2020-06-25T02:12:02","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T05:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=60083"},"modified":"2020-07-08T13:58:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T16:58:21","slug":"favela-activists-share-innovative-communication-strategies-to-combat-covid-19-in-favela-hustle-online-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=60083","title":{"rendered":"Favela Activists Share Communication Strategies to Combat Covid-19 at ‘Favela Hustle’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

This is our latest article on the\u00a0<\/i>new coronavirus as it impacts Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

On June 4, Usina de Valores<\/a>, a project launched by the Vladimir Herzog Institute<\/a> to facilitate dialogue on human rights issues, held a live event on Instagram called \u201cFavela Hustle.\u201d Viewers tuned in as Deise Pimenta, an educator for Usina de Valores, interviewed Gizele Martins<\/a> and Raphael Cruz on their experiences as community activists in the favelas of Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> during the Covid-19 pandemic. The conversation focused on Cruz and Martins\u2019 innovative favela-based solutions<\/a>, with an emphasis on local communication and public awareness campaigns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gizele Martins on Community Organizing and Communication<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Martins, a Mar\u00e9 activist, journalist with 15 years’ experience, and chief editor of the local O Cidad\u00e3o<\/em><\/a> newspaper, emphasized the importance of favela resident voices, especially in counteracting the Brazilian government\u2019s false narratives and stereotypes. To do so, \u201cwe have to write our history,\u201d she said. Martins is a leading member of the Mar\u00e9 Mobilization Front Against Covid-19<\/a>, which has been distributing essential food and supplies<\/a> to Mar\u00e9 residents, as well as to spread accurate information regarding Covid-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Challenges to Essential Food and Supplies Distribution<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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

In response to Pimenta\u2019s questions about the difficulties that the Mar\u00e9 Mobilization Front faces, Martins stressed that the sheer size of Mar\u00e9\u201416 favelas housing 140,000 residents\u2014makes the distribution of food and supplies an enormous task. While Martins lamented that \u201cit isn\u2019t possible to serve everyone,\u201d the Mar\u00e9 Mobilization Front has already reached 3,000 families with basic goods. Martins highlighted that, in order to tackle Covid-19, her community \u201cneeds solidarity\u2014if not, we will not survive;\u201d after all, she said, \u201cit\u2019s not the government that\u2019s going to save our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking from her expertise as a writer on public security, Martins discussed the status of police operations in the favelas<\/a> during the pandemic. Mar\u00e9, now a Covid-19 epicenter<\/a>, has long suffered from deadly police operations<\/a>. Throughout the state, such operations have increased in frequency and lethality<\/a> during quarantine, often hindering community relief efforts. Martins reflected on the killing of 19-year-old Rodrigo Cerqueira<\/a>, shot by police during a food parcel distribution in the Provid\u00eancia<\/a> favela in downtown Rio, noting that there have been several other cases of police operations interrupting food distribution<\/a>. Martins explained that such cases reveal that \u201cthe government doesn\u2019t want us to survive.\u201d Instead, \u201cwe are a laboratory for the politics of death<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spreading Accurate Information While Combatting Fake News<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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

Martins underscored the importance of finding creative solutions to share information about Covid-19 with residents of Mar\u00e9. \u201cCommunity communication is not easy [\u2026] we need to continually adapt.\u201d The Mar\u00e9 Mobilization Front has implemented an array of strategies<\/a>: team members drive a rented car equipped with a sound system through the streets, broadcasting Covid-19 safety recommendations, descriptions of the virus\u2019 symptoms, and recently, messages about resources for victims of domestic violence<\/a>; collaborators help distribute informational pamphlets to individual homes, and they have also produced street art and mounted banners at strategic points throughout Complexo da Mar\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Pimenta asked Martins to comment on the impact of fake news in the favela and the danger of such disinformation during the pandemic. Many news outlets, in their portrayal of favela residents, reinforce harmful stereotypes<\/a>. In constructing a unified response to such gross misrepresentations<\/a> of favelas, Martins explained that \u201cit is essential we always touch on racial matters, ideological matters, [\u2026creating] another narrative so that we can have a different society and world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raphael Cruz on Using Visual Media During the Pandemic<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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

Raphael Cruz, a communication activist, visual artist, and creator of the Instagram page, \u201cCorona Favelado<\/a>,\u201d uses videos to disseminate recommendations for Covid-19 prevention. Cruz lamented that there are many barriers to communication in the favelas, but said he is determined to facilitate the exchange of correct, direct information.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the pandemic, Cruz joined the Mar\u00e9 Mobilization Front to create the community\u2019s Covid-19 graffiti mural, where the progression of cases and total deaths are tallied and updated regularly. Encouraged by his important contribution to Mar\u00e9\u2019s Covid-19 communication strategy, Cruz began to create Instagram videos, which \u201cproduced a very strong, very real dialogue.\u201d Thus, Corona Favelado was born. The videos feature Cruz’s face atop a pixelated woman dancing samba on Copacabana\u2019s famous sidewalk, urging viewers to wear masks, wash their hands, and beware of fake news.<\/p>\n

Financial Challenges for the Arts<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Cruz provided insight into the difficulty the art community faces, now more than ever, in generating income. Cruz reflected on the financial burden that Covid-19 has placed on funk music<\/a> artists and funk party organizers: \u201cthe funk ball is a huge economic generator for the favela [\u2026] the favela party is not just a party.\u201d Although safety precautions are difficult to enforce at a funk ball, Cruz acknowledged that \u201c[those] in charge of the parties will have to reopen due to matters of income, since they are out of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz, like so many other visual artists, has had to reinvent himself during the pandemic. The arts community as a whole has \u201cbegun to exchange experiences to begin anew, to learn how to survive again,\u201d said Cruz, noting that this mutual support has strengthened the bonds in the arts community. \u201cIt is time for us to communicate, to network.\u201d Although proving difficult during the pandemic, Cruz has continued to sell his art. Cruz says it\u2019s important that he \u201cpaints mostly for his neighborhood;\u201d to do so, he accommodates his customers\u2019 financial needs, allowing them to pay in installments. As young favela activists and artists, Cruz and others are finding ways \u201cto be able to survive, [\u2026] survive doing what we love, which is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Support our efforts to provide strategic assistance to Rio\u2019s favelas during the Covid-19 pandemic, including\u00a0<\/b>RioOnWatch<\/i><\/b>\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0by clicking here<\/a><\/b>.<\/b><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas This is our latest article on the\u00a0new coronavirus as it impacts Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas.\u00a0 On June 4, Usina de Valores, a project launched by the Vladimir Herzog Institute to facilitate […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":60093,"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":[1294,3071,1288,329,1329],"tags":[396,756,258,280,3068,221,501,918,2999,37,2481,144,809,3069,453],"writer":[3138],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-60083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communitymedia","8":"category-coronaviruswatch","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-solutions","11":"category-by-international-observers","12":"tag-art","13":"tag-community-organizing","14":"tag-community-solution","15":"tag-complexo-da-mare","16":"tag-coronavirus","17":"tag-favela-culture","18":"tag-funk","19":"tag-military-police","20":"tag-necropolitics","21":"tag-north-zone","22":"tag-police-violence","23":"tag-morro-da-providencia","24":"tag-public-security","25":"tag-series-coronavirus-in-the-favelas","26":"tag-stigma","27":"writer-emily-zislis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60083","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\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60083"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=60083"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=60083"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=60083"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=60083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}