Saturday, January 5

5 - A community leader

The blacks have been struggling to carve themselves a road out of misery ever since they were brought over from Africa, slaved away for almost four hundred years, and left to fend for themselves as underdogs in a ruthless system. Today, five hundred years later, their struggle continues.
 
Let it be known, Brazil is a country in segregation. In today’s Brazil there is no need to have the words ‘No Blacks’ to create apartheid. The historical progression over the years has created an apartheid society that is quite evident to the naked eye. Yesterday I went to one of the biggest cinemas in Rio de Janeiro, cinema Leblon. There was not a single black person in the whole queue. And we are talking about the mother of all queues that wrapped itself half way around the building. In a country where x% of the population is non-white, this speaks for itself. If there was a rich area full of black people you could attribute it to cultural neighbourhoods, but there isn’t. There were two black people there though; they checked that all the white people had bought a ticket before being allowed in to watch the film.
 
The struggle therefore continues, and favela leaders are doing their best to take the movement forward, and to carve a way out of poverty and exclusion for their community.
 
I am standing outside the office of an organisation called the Human Rights Foundation of Bento Rubiaon. They, together with the NGO Ibase, are in charge of co-ordinating the working groups of the Agenda Social. I am meeting Itamar, a well known community leader, representing the people of the favelas for over 25 years. A black, bearded, man with a soft friendly smile welcomes me with a warm hand shake and shows me to his office. He is very calm, confident and humble.
 
Itamar has been involved in numerous projects and organisations since 1976. This process has earned him the honorary title of community leader. I ask Itamar how he imagines a favela in 30 years time. He laughs, “If public politics does not change, I see the favelas exactly as they are today... Today there are between 600 and 700 favelas with continually growing populations. So here is how I would like to see favelas in 30 years here in Rio de Janeiro: First I see them with all their problems of infrastructure completely resolved, with quality public investment. There are favelas out there, such as Rossinia, with 80,000 residents, which are basically cities in their own right. I see hospitals, schools and a job market in all these communities. I also see people’s personal space altered, such as houses completed and painted. I see all the people frequenting high quality schools. I also see, between now and 30 years time, the rest of the city respecting the favelas. Not seeing the favelas in a negative light, but as they view the barrios, a place where citizens live with their problems and qualities.”
 
I ask Itamar what he believes are the biggest obstacles to achieving his dream. “ In my opinion the obstacles are political. To tell you the truth our agenda is suffering from a method of governing by the city and the state. It’s very, what’s the word, political. They use public instruments to maintain their personal power. So the way they invest in the favelas is done in a very private way in order to gain personal dividend to promote themselves; and not for the public good. They should perceive their investments as meeting people’s rights, and not as a favour. This is a big obstacle. What needs to change is the culture of these politicians, these governments, so that they understand that the people have rights, and that all investments should be made in light of this fact.”
 He continues to explain that the other major obstacle is that with each change in government, the projects initiated by the previous government are cancelled, and the whole process starts from scratch. Each step foreword is taken back two by changes in government. 
 
I ask Itamar if he thinks globalisation offers hope for the people of the favelas. “The topic of globalisation is very distant from the people living in favelas. For sure globalisation reaches the favelas through television, through the media. But I certainly don’t think the poor see globalisation as an opportunity. They don’t think it will change their practical life, their daily life. So they don’t see globalisation as an opportunity. They see it as a world that is opening, a world that is nearer, brought to them through the media. So for the poor globalisation is what they see on television.”
 
As I walk towards Rio Branco with Itamar’s words spinning in my head, one thought emerges as key: Itamar considers the investment in favelas as people’s rights, not a favour.
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Note: Pictures taken in art college in Parque Lage- Rio de Janeiro.

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