one of things i'm hoping for in 2011 is more free expression. 2010 has been a good year personally for starting to get stuff out on the street and into the weird bloggy, youtube-y ether, but there's a whole lot i've seen and read about lately that has me screaming at the top of my lungs...
after the über-publicized police and army invasions of the complexo do alemão, a group of favelas in rio's north zone which i conspicuously failed to post anything about (there's always next year, right), local cops took things one step further and rounded up 4 funkeiros (singers of funk music, a local subgenre of hip-hop, which m.i.a borrows heavily) for "inciting violence" by singing songs that supposedly glorify drug gangs. mc smith, mc tikão, mc max and mc frank point out that they're singing about the reality of their communities, but the police chief accuses them of working to spread violence throughout rio, and make themselves rich in the process...they're trying to break into the mainstream, she says, by relying on funk's pirate economy. she makes a lot of other arguments that don't make a lot of sense, either. there's a video here, shot by my friend ludmila curi for rio's main paper, just after they were arrested. it's in portuguese, but worth checking out just for the visuals, which tell a lot of the story - it's a great video, especially considering that it was shot for a paper that tends to support any and all police repression.
http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/video/2010/21548/
ludmila previously made a short documentary about mc smith, one of the funkeiros arrested, and his relationship to music and his community. this one has subtitles - you can find it (and vote for it) by going here and clicking on "grosso calibre":
http://shootingpoverty.org/
meanwhile, in são paulo, a videographer who works with the legendary (and infamous) teatro oficina company has (at least temporarily) lost custody of her 3-year-old son while a family court judge tries to determine whether or not oficina's work constitutes pornography.
teatro oficina is known for outlandish, participatory, sexually charged work. they just toured brasil presenting 4 stadium theatre plays for audiences of 2000 people on a giant grant from the national ministry of culture.
it's not really material for 3-year-olds, but the idea that being backstage with actors while his mom was working would constitute child pornography is inherently ludicrous. given that the work is explicitly endorsed and paid for by the brasilian government should be enough to earn it the legal status of High Art. anyway, rio and são paulo - like any other big city - are a whole lot of questionable parenting decisions that nobody's making a fuss about, and rightfully show. i'm always surprised in rio by the number of toddlers who go to bars late at night with their parents and get giddy on coca-cola, or the 4-year-olds wandering around lapa with mommy and daddy at 4 am. but that's obviously not a good reason to take them away from their parents...
in the case of teatro oficina, there's a messy custody battle at the heart of what's going on (the dad, who comes from a rich family, had already lost custody, but is fighting back with his money and connections). but the big question is one of censorship. in terms of freedom of expression, brasil as a country is moving forward by giant leaps and bounds; the idea that the ministry of culture would recognize teatro oficina as a national treasure (which it is) and foot the bill so that as many brasilians as possible could see it is a big deal, and stands in stark contrast to the repression of previous decades. but there are still plenty of individuals and institutions with just enough power - like police chiefs in rio and family court judges in são paulo - to inflict their own dictatorship-era mentality on the rest of society.
meanwhile, back in the states, my friend and comrade-in-arms brian pickett recently had his high school students' work censored by the new york department of education. they wrote a play, based on antigone, protesting budget cuts and school removals, which they were then forbidden to perform on school property. brian's account is here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-pickett/student-play-censored-for_b_801032.html
and you can read the script (which takes about 15 minutes) here:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/a-student-play-criticizing-sch.html#more
so that's what up in the world of censorship. i'm hoping 2011 is loud and irreverent, incessantly and unapologetically beautiful.
sexta-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2010
quinta-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2010
what's goin' on (part 1)
29 years out my life and still
living down south here in old brasil
i look...for some explanations
i didn't write as quickly as i could
cuz there's shit's going down in and around my hood
i don't...really know what it means
so finally, on the eve of christmas eve, i'm getting back to english, trying to deconstruct the last couple of weeks of hardcore weirdness around these parts. starting with a slight digression...arianna huffington has a piece here extolling the virtue's of brasil's progress under lula, and the emergence of the “south american” dream:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/it-might-be-time-to-rebra_b_800515.html?ref=fb&src=sp
it's a very surface-level analysis with some notable holes (for example: should we really care about the government’s definition of middle class when it doesn't adjust for family size? and what exactly is going to happen in são paulo and the rest of the country if car consumption keeps going up and infrastructure stays at a standstill?) but overall, i think she has a point: on a macro level, brasil as a country is doing some pretty amazing stuff. it's what i've seen recently on a micro level, of brasil as a society, that's got me a little freaked out. exhibit a:
this video was shot 10 days ago, when 23 poor working families briefly took over an abandoned building in lapa on avenida mem de sá, about 20 minutes away from where i live. it's impossible to say how long the building's been abandoned since the ownership papers have apparently gone missing, but it's been about 20 years. under the brasilian constitution, all property has to serve a "social function". basically, that doesn't mean you can't have an empty guesthouse on your sprawling country estate, but it does mean that if the federal social security administration (the last documented owner of the property on mem de sá) leaves a building abandoned in downtown rio for a couple of decades, it pretty much loses the right to administer it.
there's a long process, of course, between squatting in a building and proving that your occupation serves a valid "social function." i don't understand most of the legal details involved, but there are some basic rules that pretty much everybody's clear on. and in the process of forcibly clearing away the squatters and their supporters, the cops managed to break pretty much all of them:
(ALL PHOTOS BY THAÍS MORELLI)
1. i wasn't there when the riot cops arrived and started beating everybody up, but none of the dozens of people i talked (including journalists) remembers hearing the police give an order to disperse. apparently, they just moved in with nightsticks and pepper spray. then they decided to break out tear gas and rubber bullets (which they apparently shot into the crowd instead of on the ground, which is what they're supposed to do)
2. legally, the riot cops couldn't do what they did, because they're military police officers, rather than federal police. the basic rule is that only federal police can clear occupied buildings, and videos and photos show very clearly that this building was evacuated by military police (who pepper sprayed everyone, including journalists on the sidewalk and little kids in the building...which is also not legal)
3. cops arrested 7 people supporting the movement, and took them pretty much at random. one of them - who's a public school teacher and a graduate student in rio's most prestigious social science program - was charged with kidnapping for preventing a security guard from entering the building. which seriously doesn't make any fucking sense. they also charged protestors, who entered through an open door, with breaking and entering, though photos show that it was the riot cops who did physical damage to the building.
people in brasil talk a lot about the difference between a lei que pega (a law that "takes") and a lei que não pega (a law that doesn't). my activist friends tend to categorize most of the 1988 constitution - a really beautiful rebuke to the military dictatorship that explicitly guarantees all sorts of equal rights - as a lei que não pega. again, i don't really understand the legal complexities of what went down on mem de sá last week, but it's clear that there were a lot of really basic and flagrant violations of what's supposed to happen in situations like this. there is still a reliance on old style policing hereabouts, which means just showing up and beating the shit out of everyone.
statistically, the folks occupying buildings in big cities are not nearly as much of a force as the people buying cars or refrigerators for the first time, or moving into the "middle class," or finishing up high school. but if dissent continues to be crushed like it was in the bad old days, i don't know how far that upward mobility extends. if material progress is exploding but political progress isn't really moving, can the "south american dream" really be heading in a very different direction from the american dream?
living down south here in old brasil
i look...for some explanations
i didn't write as quickly as i could
cuz there's shit's going down in and around my hood
i don't...really know what it means
so finally, on the eve of christmas eve, i'm getting back to english, trying to deconstruct the last couple of weeks of hardcore weirdness around these parts. starting with a slight digression...arianna huffington has a piece here extolling the virtue's of brasil's progress under lula, and the emergence of the “south american” dream:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/it-might-be-time-to-rebra_b_800515.html?ref=fb&src=sp
it's a very surface-level analysis with some notable holes (for example: should we really care about the government’s definition of middle class when it doesn't adjust for family size? and what exactly is going to happen in são paulo and the rest of the country if car consumption keeps going up and infrastructure stays at a standstill?) but overall, i think she has a point: on a macro level, brasil as a country is doing some pretty amazing stuff. it's what i've seen recently on a micro level, of brasil as a society, that's got me a little freaked out. exhibit a:
this video was shot 10 days ago, when 23 poor working families briefly took over an abandoned building in lapa on avenida mem de sá, about 20 minutes away from where i live. it's impossible to say how long the building's been abandoned since the ownership papers have apparently gone missing, but it's been about 20 years. under the brasilian constitution, all property has to serve a "social function". basically, that doesn't mean you can't have an empty guesthouse on your sprawling country estate, but it does mean that if the federal social security administration (the last documented owner of the property on mem de sá) leaves a building abandoned in downtown rio for a couple of decades, it pretty much loses the right to administer it.
there's a long process, of course, between squatting in a building and proving that your occupation serves a valid "social function." i don't understand most of the legal details involved, but there are some basic rules that pretty much everybody's clear on. and in the process of forcibly clearing away the squatters and their supporters, the cops managed to break pretty much all of them:
(ALL PHOTOS BY THAÍS MORELLI)
1. i wasn't there when the riot cops arrived and started beating everybody up, but none of the dozens of people i talked (including journalists) remembers hearing the police give an order to disperse. apparently, they just moved in with nightsticks and pepper spray. then they decided to break out tear gas and rubber bullets (which they apparently shot into the crowd instead of on the ground, which is what they're supposed to do)
2. legally, the riot cops couldn't do what they did, because they're military police officers, rather than federal police. the basic rule is that only federal police can clear occupied buildings, and videos and photos show very clearly that this building was evacuated by military police (who pepper sprayed everyone, including journalists on the sidewalk and little kids in the building...which is also not legal)
3. cops arrested 7 people supporting the movement, and took them pretty much at random. one of them - who's a public school teacher and a graduate student in rio's most prestigious social science program - was charged with kidnapping for preventing a security guard from entering the building. which seriously doesn't make any fucking sense. they also charged protestors, who entered through an open door, with breaking and entering, though photos show that it was the riot cops who did physical damage to the building.
people in brasil talk a lot about the difference between a lei que pega (a law that "takes") and a lei que não pega (a law that doesn't). my activist friends tend to categorize most of the 1988 constitution - a really beautiful rebuke to the military dictatorship that explicitly guarantees all sorts of equal rights - as a lei que não pega. again, i don't really understand the legal complexities of what went down on mem de sá last week, but it's clear that there were a lot of really basic and flagrant violations of what's supposed to happen in situations like this. there is still a reliance on old style policing hereabouts, which means just showing up and beating the shit out of everyone.
statistically, the folks occupying buildings in big cities are not nearly as much of a force as the people buying cars or refrigerators for the first time, or moving into the "middle class," or finishing up high school. but if dissent continues to be crushed like it was in the bad old days, i don't know how far that upward mobility extends. if material progress is exploding but political progress isn't really moving, can the "south american dream" really be heading in a very different direction from the american dream?
sexta-feira, 17 de dezembro de 2010
liberdade
(hey gringos - i'll post some translations in the next day or two. i promise).
uma das coisas que mais me encantou na minha primeira visita ao brasil em 2002 foi a sensação de que diferentes perspectivas e pontos de vista estavam brotando em todo canto e assumindo várias formas: hip-hop, funk, e samba, teatro do palco e da rua, discurso político do palanque e do boteco. por eu entender muito menos na época, tanto da língua portuguesa quanto da sociedade brasileira, acho que percebi muito menos de certos tipos de tabu e auto-censura que hoje vejo mais facilmente. mesmo assim, ao longo do tempo que tenho passado no brasil, sempre fiquei impressionado com a variedade não apenas das opiniões que eu ouvi, mas com a diversidade de expressão que aqui existe.
porém...
fico muito nervoso com os casos de censura pesada surgindo por aqui atualmente, principalmente entre são paulo e rio de janeiro, lugares sempre dados como o eixo cultural do país. nem falo da desocupação na segunda-feira: por mais que seja um exemplo muito óbvio de censura social, vejo a violência e irregularidade da ação policial como padrão infelizmente previsível.
mas na quarta-feira, quatro cantores do complexo do alemão foram presos por cantar. são funkeiros, e foram presos acusados de fazerem apologias ao crime. não conheço a musica deles, e nem a lei sob qual serão processados. mas nem me importo. pode ser exemplo da minha gringuice, mas sempre entendi liberdade de expressão como um direito de dizer coisas que talvez não sejam defendidas ou permitidas pelos órgãos oficiais da sociedade. ouvindo o raciocínio deles comparado ao da delegada que os prendeu no vídeo abaixo, acho que fica muito óbvio que os funkeiros entendem a liberdade da expressão muito melhor do que a delegada, que parece juntar qualquer desculpa para proibir o que ela não gosta.
sempre vi no caso do brasil uma consciência de que censurar opiniões não populares é coisa da ditadura. penso que há um reconhecimento geral no brasil de que os anos de chumbo em nada ajudaram o país, e que a transição à democracia tem que ser valorizada; tem exceções, é claro, mas me parecem cada vez mais restritos a velhos bêbados que conheço na rua, ou então a revista veja.
porém...
o caso dos funkeiros é muito preocupante. hoje, saiu no globo a notícia da prisão do mc dido, de borel, na qual a advogada disse que pedir para as upps saírem não é adotar uma postura política, e sim "instigar crime". (não consigo achar o link, mas estava na versão impressa).
enquanto isso, estourou hoje a notícia de que uma videografa do teatro oficina perdeu a guarda do seu filho por trabalhar num teatro experimental que trata de temas sexuais. a carta polêmica do zé celso explica o caso muito melhor:
acho que minha maior dificuldade diante esses casos é ver como um individuo com poder, ou com as ligações precisas, consegue fazer esse tipo de repressão rolar. pelo que eu entendi, no caso da ditadura teve um esforço centralizado, era todo um sistema sincronizado que agiu para inibir a livre expressão. nas grandes censuras desta semana, porém, parece ser pessoas vingativas e suficientemente poderosas para realizar a repressão que quiserem como programa pessoal.
a boa notícia, escondida dentro de todo isso, é que o vídeo de cima saiu no site do globo, pela repórter ludmila curi, uma conhecida minha que tem feita dois grandes trabalhos essa semana. indico também seu tratamento da expulsão na segunda-feira:
é muito bom saber que tem gente usando o poder da grande mídia para mostrar as várias hipocrisias e abusos ao nosso redor.
terça-feira, 14 de dezembro de 2010
de prédios e praias
quem mora no rio de janeiro provavelmente já ouviu da desocupação violenta, desnecessária, e ilegal que houve ontem na lapa, na avenida mem de sá quando um grupo de sem-tetos e seus apoiadores foram tirados do lugar à força pela polícia militar (apesar desse tipo de ação estar muito claramente definido como tarefa da polícia federal). o prédio escolhido está abandonado faz mais de 20 anos, e legalmente não tem dono. o último proprietário foi INSS, dono de vários prédios abandonados no rio de janeiro, que tende a requer à policial para violentar os ocupantes dos seus prédios em vez de se preocupar com a segurança social deles.
a ocupação, feita em grande parte por mães solteiras e suas famílias, foi feita de uma maneira inteiramente pacífica, mas a polícia atacou manifestantes com spray de pimenta, gás lacrimogêneo, e até balas de borracha. onze pessoas foram presas, e uma delas, que é professor estadual, foi acusado de sequestro por supostamente ter impedido a entrada da polícia no prédio (tudo bem que sequestro tem muito mais a ver com impedir a saída de alguém, mas não dá como cobrar lógica numa situação dessas). a brutalidade polícial foi tão exagerada que até a imprensa carioca, que costuma defender qualquer ação policial como um ato de salvação moral e social, condenou claramente a reação dos policiais, e a contrastou com o conduto pacífico dos manifestantes.
artigo do globo: http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/mat/2010/12/13/defensora-publica-diz-que-pms-atacaram-em-desocupacao-de-predio-no-centro-923276302.asp
artigo do dia:
acho essa reação midiática extremamente importante, mas apesar do globo colocar a história na capa e deixar bastante claro que a polícia agiu de um jeito truculenta, repressor, e ilegal, acho que a notícia mais de hoje reveladora foi outra. bem escondida na coluna “gente boa” do segundo caderno, o colunista joaquim de ferreira santos avisa que a prefeitura vai instalar cadeiras altas nas praias do rio para os agentes de ordem pública “coibir altinhos, frescobol, e aplicar o choque de ordem 2011”.
é claro que não vejo na repressão de frescobol um notícia mais importante do que na notícia da repressão dos sem-teto. é que repressão policial não é mais novidade no rio de janeiro. atitudes truculentas e ações ilegais não surpreendem mais ninguém. qualquer aglomeração é vista como suspeita, e spray da pimenta é utilizado como a primeira medida contra qualquer atitude julgada a ser não-obediente. até alexei barrionuevo, correspondente da américa do sul do new york times, escreveu na semana passada sobre os vários abusos de poder durante a invasão do alemão. e ele é um cara que costuma ver dilma como representante da extrema esquerda e apontar a época pinochet como a mais bem-sucedida na história do chile.
é claro, também, que acho muito mais importante divulgar a história da ocupação. mas ver a prefeitura gastando dinheiro público e se esforçando para inibir a quem estiver se divertindo na praia é mais uma mostra de quanto o espaço da cidade não pertence mais aos seus moradores. quem procure se relacionar com o espaço público da cidade, seja procurando abrigo em um prédio que pertence ao povo brasileiro ou simplesmente procurando lazer nas praias, é alvo de punição de autoridades cada vez mais preocupadas em atrair o dinheiro que vai vir de fora com os megaeventos dos próximos anos, e cada vez menos interessadas nos direitos básicos dos seus cidadãos.
quarta-feira, 8 de dezembro de 2010
a paixão do zé carioca/the passion of zé carioca
vídeo novo de uma "performance em quadrinhos" realizada na lapa no dia 26 de novembro. depois de tantos assaltos à boemia carioca, e diante da atual glorificação de violência como ordem e ordem como violência, zé carioca, simbolo de uma malandragem permissível e inofensíva e de um rio "disney-ficado", é sacrificado às ruas cada vez mais limpas da cidade maravilhosa.
a new video from a "cartoon performance" in lapa on november 26. the performance comes after innumerable attacks on rio's bohemian character, and in the face of the current glorification of violence as order and order as violence. zé carioca, a symbol of permissible and inoffensive mischief and of a disney-fied rio, is sacrificed to the ever-cleaner streets of the "marvelous city".
a new video from a "cartoon performance" in lapa on november 26. the performance comes after innumerable attacks on rio's bohemian character, and in the face of the current glorification of violence as order and order as violence. zé carioca, a symbol of permissible and inoffensive mischief and of a disney-fied rio, is sacrificed to the ever-cleaner streets of the "marvelous city".
sábado, 4 de dezembro de 2010
bar da cachaça...
vídeo do que passou segunda-feira no famoso recanto dos cults-pobres da lapa. não há nada de novidade, óbvio, mas se josé beltrame for sério no papo de não tolerar mais pm truculento na força, o cara do spray já deveria ter sido demitido. cadê a liberdade de expressão? da imprensa?
video from monday night at bar da cachaça, the famous hangout for impoverished intellectuals in lapa. there's nothing new about the video, of course, but if josé beltrame (the "secretary of public order" you've probably seen quoted ad nauseum in stories about rio's drug wars in the past 10 days) was really serious about not tolerating abusive cops in the force anymore, the guy with the pepper spray should already have been fired. where's the freedom of expression? where's the freedom of the press?
video from monday night at bar da cachaça, the famous hangout for impoverished intellectuals in lapa. there's nothing new about the video, of course, but if josé beltrame (the "secretary of public order" you've probably seen quoted ad nauseum in stories about rio's drug wars in the past 10 days) was really serious about not tolerating abusive cops in the force anymore, the guy with the pepper spray should already have been fired. where's the freedom of expression? where's the freedom of the press?
terça-feira, 30 de novembro de 2010
seattle, eleven years later...
i'm working on a response to what's been going on in rio over the past week, and planning to post it soon. in the meantime, though, i just found the email i wrote on december 1, 1999, just after the battle in seattle. i apologise for my pretentious teenage writing style - at the time, i was sure that being good with words meant sounding like stephen fry - but i think it makes for an interesting historical artifact... and an interesting lead-in for thinking about the place of law enforcement 11 years down the line, whether in seattle, new york, or rio de janeiro:
Do not read the following if you're not interested in what's going on in Seattle. I am alive, have not been arrested (yet, anyway), and I am doing well, although I may not be able to eat hot sauce for a while.
Since arriving at work today (after scouring downtown for blockades to join or barricades to annoy, neither of which had yet materialised), hundreds of people have been arrested. I fear that I cannot provide an update or firsthand account of the ure of yesterday's charmingly labeled "chaos."
I cannot speak as a member of the (legal) AFL-CIO march, but I do have the pleasure of having taken part in the protest that actually closed down the WTO.
We in Seattle keep hearing of the fantastic "police estraint." Was I witness to police restraint? Yes,
in terms of restraining peaceful protestors and their respiratory passages. Violence against the masses is, of course, an entirely seperate catagory.
Yesterday -- for me at least -- began when the number 27 bus was kind enough to deposit me within a few blocks of the rally that preceeded the much-discussed civil disobedience. At least a thousand people marched together toward the convention site under banners, cardboard ears of corn, and a papier-mache cow. Groups of one hundred or more broke off at various WTO hotspots.
I joined the human chain in front of the Sheraton, which is functioning as the main hotel for the event.
Our blockade was somewhat successful: there was no direct police interference when delegates approached the chain, but when delegates (mostly German and Belgium men) ran at us and attempted to break the chain, the police line behind us moved forward, clubs swinging, to escort the delegates into the hotel. Still, the line held off most of the delegates who attempted to enter for about three hours (we allowedthe Cuban delegates through with no trouble; the police proceeded to detain them for five minutes).
At about ten, there was some trouble at the police barricade about a block south of our position, and the ever-pleasant aroma of tear gas came wafting toward us. The line held, although additional cannisters fired within a hundred feet of us made it neccessary for us to cover our faces completely, thereby compromising our ability to spot delegates.
The tear gas eventually subsided, and I left the front of the line to act as an escort, attempting to move
delegates politely away from the line before they charged, and before they had a chance to berate
protestors. We effectively talked away three or four people by about 10:45.
Shortly thereafter, the police line on the street in front of us began firing tear gas and pepper spray,
and moving protestors back. This was apparently triggered by protestors who threw sticks, although
from our position it looked like a random, police-initiated action.
As the line moved down the street, a cannister was fired toward the hotel entrance. Cannisters went off
to the immediate left of the entrance. The line held, mostly silently, and with no violence or even sudden movements of any kind.
Suddenly, the police line behind the protesters' blockade moved forward, breaking up the line with
their clubs. The line began to break, and the immediate right of the hotel entrance was gassed,
leaving us with no exit. When we attempted to push back toward the hotel, we were pepper-sprayed (I was fortunate enough to get some directly in my right eye; lots of fun). Several people fell, overcome by the panoply of fumes. Police ignored them and continued to beat anyone standing closely enough.
The Seattle police pepper-sprayed another escort -- a 70-year-old man -- so severly that he was unable to speak. Protestors had to pry his hands away from his face in order to rinse away some of the spray. Police restraint? Not as such.
The opportunity for mass arrest presented itself several times yesterday, and thousands of people were
ready to be arrested with no attempts at violence (the violence all occured at least a block away). Instead, we were continually gassed and sprayed, and those within a block of us were shot with rubber bullets. In three particularly memorable minutes, at least ten tear gas cannisters were fired on the same
intersection. One of the cannisters ignited a dumpster, which prompted vandals to burn two others.
Yesterday's protests were undoubtedly a success, and the message sent to the WTO and massive international corporations was evident. But the Seattle police played no part in the calm, and it is they who are ultimately culpable for the majority of the distruction and disorder.
Hope everything is less gassy in your respective necks of the woods.
Viva la revolucion!
Do not read the following if you're not interested in what's going on in Seattle. I am alive, have not been arrested (yet, anyway), and I am doing well, although I may not be able to eat hot sauce for a while.
Since arriving at work today (after scouring downtown for blockades to join or barricades to annoy, neither of which had yet materialised), hundreds of people have been arrested. I fear that I cannot provide an update or firsthand account of the ure of yesterday's charmingly labeled "chaos."
I cannot speak as a member of the (legal) AFL-CIO march, but I do have the pleasure of having taken part in the protest that actually closed down the WTO.
We in Seattle keep hearing of the fantastic "police estraint." Was I witness to police restraint? Yes,
in terms of restraining peaceful protestors and their respiratory passages. Violence against the masses is, of course, an entirely seperate catagory.
Yesterday -- for me at least -- began when the number 27 bus was kind enough to deposit me within a few blocks of the rally that preceeded the much-discussed civil disobedience. At least a thousand people marched together toward the convention site under banners, cardboard ears of corn, and a papier-mache cow. Groups of one hundred or more broke off at various WTO hotspots.
I joined the human chain in front of the Sheraton, which is functioning as the main hotel for the event.
Our blockade was somewhat successful: there was no direct police interference when delegates approached the chain, but when delegates (mostly German and Belgium men) ran at us and attempted to break the chain, the police line behind us moved forward, clubs swinging, to escort the delegates into the hotel. Still, the line held off most of the delegates who attempted to enter for about three hours (we allowedthe Cuban delegates through with no trouble; the police proceeded to detain them for five minutes).
At about ten, there was some trouble at the police barricade about a block south of our position, and the ever-pleasant aroma of tear gas came wafting toward us. The line held, although additional cannisters fired within a hundred feet of us made it neccessary for us to cover our faces completely, thereby compromising our ability to spot delegates.
The tear gas eventually subsided, and I left the front of the line to act as an escort, attempting to move
delegates politely away from the line before they charged, and before they had a chance to berate
protestors. We effectively talked away three or four people by about 10:45.
Shortly thereafter, the police line on the street in front of us began firing tear gas and pepper spray,
and moving protestors back. This was apparently triggered by protestors who threw sticks, although
from our position it looked like a random, police-initiated action.
As the line moved down the street, a cannister was fired toward the hotel entrance. Cannisters went off
to the immediate left of the entrance. The line held, mostly silently, and with no violence or even sudden movements of any kind.
Suddenly, the police line behind the protesters' blockade moved forward, breaking up the line with
their clubs. The line began to break, and the immediate right of the hotel entrance was gassed,
leaving us with no exit. When we attempted to push back toward the hotel, we were pepper-sprayed (I was fortunate enough to get some directly in my right eye; lots of fun). Several people fell, overcome by the panoply of fumes. Police ignored them and continued to beat anyone standing closely enough.
The Seattle police pepper-sprayed another escort -- a 70-year-old man -- so severly that he was unable to speak. Protestors had to pry his hands away from his face in order to rinse away some of the spray. Police restraint? Not as such.
The opportunity for mass arrest presented itself several times yesterday, and thousands of people were
ready to be arrested with no attempts at violence (the violence all occured at least a block away). Instead, we were continually gassed and sprayed, and those within a block of us were shot with rubber bullets. In three particularly memorable minutes, at least ten tear gas cannisters were fired on the same
intersection. One of the cannisters ignited a dumpster, which prompted vandals to burn two others.
Yesterday's protests were undoubtedly a success, and the message sent to the WTO and massive international corporations was evident. But the Seattle police played no part in the calm, and it is they who are ultimately culpable for the majority of the distruction and disorder.
Hope everything is less gassy in your respective necks of the woods.
Viva la revolucion!
quarta-feira, 24 de novembro de 2010
horse's ass/a bunda do cavalo
i've always had issues with mounted cops. as i understand it, they're all about the performance of power: blocking the street, showing how much bigger they are than you (and how well-angled to beat your head in), and parading their domination of wild animals (the better to subjugate any animal urges in the populace). i've also noticed that the powers that put crime-fighting horses on the street in central neighborhoods always seem to impound the transportation-oriented horses in poor neighborhoods, pulling them off the street and turning them into glue.
riding horses through the streets of lapa hasn't made sense for at least a century, but last night, six of them plodded down joaquim silva as we were finishing up the fifth or sixth beer on the sidewalk. i must have been staring a little too closely or critically, because one of the cops kept giving me really ugly looks. he's bigger and stronger, of course. but in spite of his ride, it's still our street, as we proved with a couple hours of rain-soaked poetry on selarón's stairs.
sempre tive problemas com policiais montados a cavalo. no meu entendimento, estão ali para fazer uma performance de poder: blouqueando a rua, mostrando quanto são maiores que você (e bem-posicionados para bater sua cabeça), e desfilando sua dominação de animais selvagens (para também se mostrarem capazes de subjugar qualquer instito animal entre a população). também percebi que os poderes públicos que colocam cavalos anti-crime nas ruas dos bairros centrais sempre tendem a reprimir os cavalos transportadores dos bairros pobres, os tirando da rua e fazendo cola deles.
andar de cavalo pelas ruas da lapa não faz sentido há pelo menos um século, mas ontem à noite, seis cavalos se arrastavam pela joaquim silva enquanto terminamos nossa quinta ou sexta cerva na calçada. acho que olhei fixo demais, ou talvez com um olhar crítico demais, pois um dos policiais me olhou muito feio durante toda a procissão. ele é maior e mais forte, é claro. mas apesar do seu cavalo, a rua continua sendo nossa, como provamos com algumas horas de poesia chuvosa na escadaria do selarón.
riding horses through the streets of lapa hasn't made sense for at least a century, but last night, six of them plodded down joaquim silva as we were finishing up the fifth or sixth beer on the sidewalk. i must have been staring a little too closely or critically, because one of the cops kept giving me really ugly looks. he's bigger and stronger, of course. but in spite of his ride, it's still our street, as we proved with a couple hours of rain-soaked poetry on selarón's stairs.
sempre tive problemas com policiais montados a cavalo. no meu entendimento, estão ali para fazer uma performance de poder: blouqueando a rua, mostrando quanto são maiores que você (e bem-posicionados para bater sua cabeça), e desfilando sua dominação de animais selvagens (para também se mostrarem capazes de subjugar qualquer instito animal entre a população). também percebi que os poderes públicos que colocam cavalos anti-crime nas ruas dos bairros centrais sempre tendem a reprimir os cavalos transportadores dos bairros pobres, os tirando da rua e fazendo cola deles.
andar de cavalo pelas ruas da lapa não faz sentido há pelo menos um século, mas ontem à noite, seis cavalos se arrastavam pela joaquim silva enquanto terminamos nossa quinta ou sexta cerva na calçada. acho que olhei fixo demais, ou talvez com um olhar crítico demais, pois um dos policiais me olhou muito feio durante toda a procissão. ele é maior e mais forte, é claro. mas apesar do seu cavalo, a rua continua sendo nossa, como provamos com algumas horas de poesia chuvosa na escadaria do selarón.
sexta-feira, 19 de novembro de 2010
arte urbana/urban art
por que sair na rua e interagir com a cidade quando você poderia comprar uma visão encantadoramente plástica de arte urbana na segurança e conforto de um shopping? é só pegar uma macarronada artificial, mais um refrigerante, e desembolsar 1.5% do salario mínimo, que você vai ganhar uma visão das ruas sem ter que andar pelas calçadas ou encontrar com pessoas diferente de você.
why go out on the street and interact with the city when you can buy an enchantingly plastic vision of urban art in the safety and comfort of a shopping mall? just pick up some artificial pasta and a soft drink, and shell out 1.5% of the monthly minimum wage, and you'll get a vision of the streets without ever having to go out on the sidewalks or interact with people different than you.
sábado, 13 de novembro de 2010
novo vídeo/new video - cada um no seu quadrado
o vídeo de cada um no seu quadrado finalmente existe! realizado durante mais de seis meses, com 5 apresentações em diversos bairros do rio de janeiro (sendo que 3 apresentações aparecem no vídeo), a performance é uma resposta à crescente "reurbanização" da cidade e uma abertura de diálogo sobre as mudanças trazidas pela reforma urbana carioca. o público é convidado a desenhar seu próprio trecho do espaço público, assim questionando os usos dele e propondo novas visões da cidade.
the video for cada um no seu quadrado (everyone in their own square) finally exists! the performance was produced over more than 6 months, with 5 presentations in different neighborhoods in rio de janeiro, 3 of which appear in the video. a response to the growing "reurbanization" of the city and an attempt to open dialogue about the changes brought about by urban reform in rio, the performance invites members of the public to design their own piece of public space, thereby questioning its uses and proposing new visions of the city.
the video for cada um no seu quadrado (everyone in their own square) finally exists! the performance was produced over more than 6 months, with 5 presentations in different neighborhoods in rio de janeiro, 3 of which appear in the video. a response to the growing "reurbanization" of the city and an attempt to open dialogue about the changes brought about by urban reform in rio, the performance invites members of the public to design their own piece of public space, thereby questioning its uses and proposing new visions of the city.
domingo, 7 de novembro de 2010
de quem é essa rua?
em 1999, durante as grandes manifestações em seattle contra a omc (organização mundial do comércio), o lema que se gritava em todas as ruas foi assim:
whose streets? our streets!
(de quem são as ruas? são nossas!)
estive nas manifestações basicamente por acaso (estava morando em seattle naquela época), mas fiquei muito marcado pela experiência. tomar as ruas através de uma força popular, viver numa zona temporária autônoma, por mais curta que fosse a duração dela, e ficar engasgado com gás lacrimogêneo mudou minha percepção das cidades e as possibilidades de convivência nelas.
morando no rio de janeiro, penso muito em nosso grito coletivo de seattle. mas como gringo morador de um bairro privilegiado, geralmente tenho a sensação de que, apesar de tudo, me resta uma liberdade nas ruas. apesar do eduardo paes falar no new york times que o problema do carioca é tratar do espaço público "como se fosse dele", sinto uma liberdade nas ruas que, por mais que seja muito relacionado a minha classe social, cor, ou gênero, me faz esquecer como a democracia espacial é tão precária.
mas, como eu moro perto da lapa, geralmente tem algum choque de ordem para me lembrar dessa precariedade.
hoje, no final da tarde de domingo, fecharam mem de sá e riachuelo - as duas via principais - para facilitar a filmagem do terceiro filme na série "crepúsculo". ergueram barricadas e muros de zinco fechando as duas ruas (mais um trecho de lavradio), o que basicamente impossibilitou qualquer caminho pela lapa. dezenas de guardas municipais bloquearam a entrada de quem queria passar - consegui atravessar por volta dàs 19h com o último grupo a entrar depois das portinhas dos muros serem fechadas.
obviamente, a situação provocou chatice entre os moradores impedidos a entrar nas próprias casas, e entre a galera que queria andar pelas ruas que até recentemente pareciam ser deles. com a aglomeração nas muros crecendo, começaram a rolar pequenas confusões entre guardas e civis, e entre moradores irritados com a situação e com a maneira dos seus vizinhos. enquanto isso, um grupo de guardas escutaram atensiosamente as ordens de um assessor da filmadora. ou seja, a política de segurança no bairro estava sendo dirigido não pela prefeitura; ela tinha sida alugada, junto com o direito de livre passagem, para a mídia internacional.
vendo que apenas atores internacionais tinham direito de passagem, tentei entrar novamente na zona proíbida, mostrando meu protocolo de estrangeiro e explicando - em inglês e português - que eu sou estrangeiro formado em teatro, e por isso, deveria gozar dos mesmos benefícios que os demais entreteinadores internacionais. os guardas não gostaram da lógica, e me ameaçaram com os cacetes quando pensavam que eu ia entrar de verdade.
sei que fechar uma rua para filmar é algo normal em todas as grandes cidades do mundo. mas fechar as duas ruas principais (e mais seguras) sem avisar os moradores antes, fazendo com que quem estiver na rua se vira prisoneiro no seu próprio bairro, e manter a ordem com bastões é, infelizmente, muito caracteristica da incompetência e brutalidade que caracterizam a reforma urbana no rio de janeiro. ficou muito claro, mais uma vez, que o que interesse na "reurbanização" da cidade não é o melhoramente da realidade atual, e sim a colocação de uma outra cidade em cima de que e quem estiver por aqui agora. o sucesso internacional está chegando - quem estiver no caminho dela, que se fode.
e essa galera de ordem ainda tem a ousadia de chamar de vandalismo pixar parede ou mijar na rua. depois de ver muros de zinco erguidos para nos excluir das ruas onde sempre andamos, fica ainda mais claro que o vandalismo é deles.
whose streets? our streets!
(de quem são as ruas? são nossas!)
estive nas manifestações basicamente por acaso (estava morando em seattle naquela época), mas fiquei muito marcado pela experiência. tomar as ruas através de uma força popular, viver numa zona temporária autônoma, por mais curta que fosse a duração dela, e ficar engasgado com gás lacrimogêneo mudou minha percepção das cidades e as possibilidades de convivência nelas.
morando no rio de janeiro, penso muito em nosso grito coletivo de seattle. mas como gringo morador de um bairro privilegiado, geralmente tenho a sensação de que, apesar de tudo, me resta uma liberdade nas ruas. apesar do eduardo paes falar no new york times que o problema do carioca é tratar do espaço público "como se fosse dele", sinto uma liberdade nas ruas que, por mais que seja muito relacionado a minha classe social, cor, ou gênero, me faz esquecer como a democracia espacial é tão precária.
mas, como eu moro perto da lapa, geralmente tem algum choque de ordem para me lembrar dessa precariedade.
hoje, no final da tarde de domingo, fecharam mem de sá e riachuelo - as duas via principais - para facilitar a filmagem do terceiro filme na série "crepúsculo". ergueram barricadas e muros de zinco fechando as duas ruas (mais um trecho de lavradio), o que basicamente impossibilitou qualquer caminho pela lapa. dezenas de guardas municipais bloquearam a entrada de quem queria passar - consegui atravessar por volta dàs 19h com o último grupo a entrar depois das portinhas dos muros serem fechadas.
obviamente, a situação provocou chatice entre os moradores impedidos a entrar nas próprias casas, e entre a galera que queria andar pelas ruas que até recentemente pareciam ser deles. com a aglomeração nas muros crecendo, começaram a rolar pequenas confusões entre guardas e civis, e entre moradores irritados com a situação e com a maneira dos seus vizinhos. enquanto isso, um grupo de guardas escutaram atensiosamente as ordens de um assessor da filmadora. ou seja, a política de segurança no bairro estava sendo dirigido não pela prefeitura; ela tinha sida alugada, junto com o direito de livre passagem, para a mídia internacional.
vendo que apenas atores internacionais tinham direito de passagem, tentei entrar novamente na zona proíbida, mostrando meu protocolo de estrangeiro e explicando - em inglês e português - que eu sou estrangeiro formado em teatro, e por isso, deveria gozar dos mesmos benefícios que os demais entreteinadores internacionais. os guardas não gostaram da lógica, e me ameaçaram com os cacetes quando pensavam que eu ia entrar de verdade.
sei que fechar uma rua para filmar é algo normal em todas as grandes cidades do mundo. mas fechar as duas ruas principais (e mais seguras) sem avisar os moradores antes, fazendo com que quem estiver na rua se vira prisoneiro no seu próprio bairro, e manter a ordem com bastões é, infelizmente, muito caracteristica da incompetência e brutalidade que caracterizam a reforma urbana no rio de janeiro. ficou muito claro, mais uma vez, que o que interesse na "reurbanização" da cidade não é o melhoramente da realidade atual, e sim a colocação de uma outra cidade em cima de que e quem estiver por aqui agora. o sucesso internacional está chegando - quem estiver no caminho dela, que se fode.
e essa galera de ordem ainda tem a ousadia de chamar de vandalismo pixar parede ou mijar na rua. depois de ver muros de zinco erguidos para nos excluir das ruas onde sempre andamos, fica ainda mais claro que o vandalismo é deles.
segunda-feira, 1 de novembro de 2010
enquanto isso, nas ruas do rio de janeiro...
a ocupação de um prédio do centro por sem-tetos, que logo foram violentamente expulsos. a luta continua...
http://ventamente.blogspot.com/2010/11/ontem-derrotamos-serra-nas-urnas-hoje.html
http://ventamente.blogspot.com/2010/11/ontem-derrotamos-serra-nas-urnas-hoje.html
domingo, 24 de outubro de 2010
friday night in lapa...
in case english-speakers are still reading, here's a not-so-nice snapshot of rio de janeiro last weekend:
the kid who seemed to be a 14-year-old boy was actually a 17-year-old girl. but it was impossible to know that when we saw her kneeling on the ground of the plaza with her head on the ground. behind her, a municipal security guard (sort of a junior police officer) twisted her arms behind her back, while another threatened the girl with his hyper-phallic nightstick, a meter-long hard cock.
there were almost thirty of us watching, but the guards only let the girl stand up when six of us - all white university students, and mostly gringos - made our way to the front of the crowd. the girl - black, with a shaved head, wearing long shorts and with her breasts invisible under her baggy shirt - lifted herself up crying silently, while one of the guards showed the crowd half of a broken bottle, which the girl was supposedly carrying with her as an improvised weapon. one of the university students went to talk with the guards, and told us later that they'd wanted to search the girl, even though she was female and underage (and therefore not legally subject to search by male guards).
the guards, increasingly aware of the crowd's gaze, took the girl to the "shock of order" trailer, which is
right in front of the new "official" graffiti mural. the mural is subsidized by antarctica beer, which is turning into an official brand for the newly "cool" and "good" lapa neighborhood, the historic bohemian nightlife district that's been heavily spiffed up in recent months.
as university students, we followed this small spectacle of order in action knowing that lapa is turning "cool" in this way in order to attract people like us, especially gringos. we also knew that, unfortunately, our gaze has much more power than the other folks out for the night in lapa.
at the trailer, the guards consulted someone - an civilian boss or coordinator - who told them to let the girl go, since there was no video proving anything against. we escorted her away as a group, because the lack of video wouldn't keep her from being held again, and without the weightier gaze of a group associated with human rights, a second time wouldn't be easy.
writing now days later, i see how the girl - in spite of being at the center of what happened - wasn't the central character in the event. for the guards, she was an inconvenience, less worrisome than the 6 white university students watching them. for us, she was a victim, a reflection of various abuses of power that surround us - but we don't know her name, or where she came from, or anything about who she is. and for lapa as a neighborhood, none of this was out of the ordinary...this sort of thing must happen dozens of times every friday.
a lot of the redefinition of lapa has to do with changing the meaning of the word "malandro." traditionally, it's represented scoundrels, rascals, and misfits, the clever guys who know how to use the streets to their advantage, to sweet talk, con, seduce, or fight their way to what they need. a malandro is someone you might admire for his cunning from a distance, but not someone you want to take advantage of you. now, however, "malandro" is losing any sense of danger or otherness. these days, real malandros are the hip kids who go out to have responsible fun and spend their money in expensive bars.
the other kind of malandro hasn't existed for a long time, and now it's being substituted by street cleaners wearing panama hats (on friday and saturday nights in lapa), street vendors wearing official antarctica beer aprons, and a newly painted aqueduct. i know that police brutality is also an old tradition in lapa. in that sense what we saw last friday night wasn't especially significant: beating up poor folks, black people, and gays has been part of the neighborhood's heritage at least since the days of madame satã, the legendary drag queen, malandro, and street fighter from the 1920s. but i also have to think that real malandros don't beat up women, and especially not girls.
the kid who seemed to be a 14-year-old boy was actually a 17-year-old girl. but it was impossible to know that when we saw her kneeling on the ground of the plaza with her head on the ground. behind her, a municipal security guard (sort of a junior police officer) twisted her arms behind her back, while another threatened the girl with his hyper-phallic nightstick, a meter-long hard cock.
there were almost thirty of us watching, but the guards only let the girl stand up when six of us - all white university students, and mostly gringos - made our way to the front of the crowd. the girl - black, with a shaved head, wearing long shorts and with her breasts invisible under her baggy shirt - lifted herself up crying silently, while one of the guards showed the crowd half of a broken bottle, which the girl was supposedly carrying with her as an improvised weapon. one of the university students went to talk with the guards, and told us later that they'd wanted to search the girl, even though she was female and underage (and therefore not legally subject to search by male guards).
the guards, increasingly aware of the crowd's gaze, took the girl to the "shock of order" trailer, which is
right in front of the new "official" graffiti mural. the mural is subsidized by antarctica beer, which is turning into an official brand for the newly "cool" and "good" lapa neighborhood, the historic bohemian nightlife district that's been heavily spiffed up in recent months.
 |
| the plaque celebrating the "union of public and private forces" present in lapa's "revitalization" |
as university students, we followed this small spectacle of order in action knowing that lapa is turning "cool" in this way in order to attract people like us, especially gringos. we also knew that, unfortunately, our gaze has much more power than the other folks out for the night in lapa.
at the trailer, the guards consulted someone - an civilian boss or coordinator - who told them to let the girl go, since there was no video proving anything against. we escorted her away as a group, because the lack of video wouldn't keep her from being held again, and without the weightier gaze of a group associated with human rights, a second time wouldn't be easy.
writing now days later, i see how the girl - in spite of being at the center of what happened - wasn't the central character in the event. for the guards, she was an inconvenience, less worrisome than the 6 white university students watching them. for us, she was a victim, a reflection of various abuses of power that surround us - but we don't know her name, or where she came from, or anything about who she is. and for lapa as a neighborhood, none of this was out of the ordinary...this sort of thing must happen dozens of times every friday.
a lot of the redefinition of lapa has to do with changing the meaning of the word "malandro." traditionally, it's represented scoundrels, rascals, and misfits, the clever guys who know how to use the streets to their advantage, to sweet talk, con, seduce, or fight their way to what they need. a malandro is someone you might admire for his cunning from a distance, but not someone you want to take advantage of you. now, however, "malandro" is losing any sense of danger or otherness. these days, real malandros are the hip kids who go out to have responsible fun and spend their money in expensive bars.
 |
| being a malandro means not peeing in the street |
 |
| malandros don't mess around. don't park illegally. |
domingo, 17 de outubro de 2010
sexta à noite na lapa
parecia um menino de 14 anos, mas na verdade era uma menina de 17. porém, foi impossível saber disso quando vimos ela ajoelhada na praça com a cabeça no chão, diante de um guarda municipal torcendo os braços dela para atrás das costas, enquanto outro a ameaçou com seu cacete híper-fálico, um pau duro de quase um metro.
eramos quase 30 pessoas olhando, mas os guardas só deixou ela ficar em pé quando 6 de nós - todos brancos, universitários, e em grande parte gringos - fomos para a frente da aglomeração. a menina - negra, com cabelo raspado, de bermuda e com os peitos invisivéis debaixo da sua camisa folgada - se levantou, chorando silenciosamente, enquanto um dos guardas mostrou metade de uma garrafa quebrada, o que a menina supostamente estava portando como uma arma improvisatória. uma das universitárias foi falar com os guardas, e disse depois que queriam revistar a menina, apesar dela ser mulher e menor de idade.
os guardas, cada vez mais cientes do olhar da aglomeração, levaram a menina para o trailer do choque de ordem, que fica logo em frente à nova muralha de grafite "oficial", patrocinada pela cerveja antarctica, o que está virando uma marca de uma lapa "boa" e "legal".
nós universitários seguimos esse pequeno espetáculo de ordenamento em ação sabendo que lapa está virando "legal" desse jeito para agradar gente como a gente, principalmente os gringos, e sabendo também que infelizmente, o nosso olhar tem um poder muito maior do que o dos demais lapianos.
no trailer, consultaram alguém - um chefe/coordenador sem farda - que mandou liberar a menina, já que não tinha vídeo comprovando nada contra ela. formamos uma escolta para acompanhá-la, pois a falta de vídeo não impederia que ela fosse pega de novo, e sem o olhar pesado de uma galera associada com direitos humanos, a segunda vez com certeza não seria mole.
escrevendo agora, dois dias depois, vejo como a menina, apesar de estar no centro do acontecimento, não foi o personagem central. para os guardas, foi uma inconveniência, menos preocupante do que os 6 universitários brancos assistindo. para nós, ela era uma vítima, reflexão dos vários abusos do poder que nos cercam...mas não sabemos o nome dela, ou de onde ela veio, ou muito menos quem ela é. e para lapa em si, não era nada fora do normal...esse tipo de coisa deve se repetir dezenas de vezes a cada sexta-feira.
boa parte da redefinição da lapa é fazer com que a palavra "malandro" muda de significado, perdendo qualquer sentido de perigo ou alternatividade. malandro que é malandro agora é cult, é quem sai para se divertir responsávelmente, gastando dinheiro nos botequins mais caros.
a outra tal malandragem não existe faz tempo, e agora está sendo substituida por garis com chapeu panamá, barraqueiros com avental da antarctica, e arcos novamente pintados. sei que brutalidade policial também é uma antiga tradição na lapa, e o que a gente viu sexta à noite era muito pouco: bater em pobres, negros, e gays é património do bairro pelo menos desde os tempos de madame satã. mas tenho que pensar também que malandro que é malandro não bate em mulher, e muito menos em menina.
eramos quase 30 pessoas olhando, mas os guardas só deixou ela ficar em pé quando 6 de nós - todos brancos, universitários, e em grande parte gringos - fomos para a frente da aglomeração. a menina - negra, com cabelo raspado, de bermuda e com os peitos invisivéis debaixo da sua camisa folgada - se levantou, chorando silenciosamente, enquanto um dos guardas mostrou metade de uma garrafa quebrada, o que a menina supostamente estava portando como uma arma improvisatória. uma das universitárias foi falar com os guardas, e disse depois que queriam revistar a menina, apesar dela ser mulher e menor de idade.
os guardas, cada vez mais cientes do olhar da aglomeração, levaram a menina para o trailer do choque de ordem, que fica logo em frente à nova muralha de grafite "oficial", patrocinada pela cerveja antarctica, o que está virando uma marca de uma lapa "boa" e "legal".
nós universitários seguimos esse pequeno espetáculo de ordenamento em ação sabendo que lapa está virando "legal" desse jeito para agradar gente como a gente, principalmente os gringos, e sabendo também que infelizmente, o nosso olhar tem um poder muito maior do que o dos demais lapianos.
no trailer, consultaram alguém - um chefe/coordenador sem farda - que mandou liberar a menina, já que não tinha vídeo comprovando nada contra ela. formamos uma escolta para acompanhá-la, pois a falta de vídeo não impederia que ela fosse pega de novo, e sem o olhar pesado de uma galera associada com direitos humanos, a segunda vez com certeza não seria mole.
escrevendo agora, dois dias depois, vejo como a menina, apesar de estar no centro do acontecimento, não foi o personagem central. para os guardas, foi uma inconveniência, menos preocupante do que os 6 universitários brancos assistindo. para nós, ela era uma vítima, reflexão dos vários abusos do poder que nos cercam...mas não sabemos o nome dela, ou de onde ela veio, ou muito menos quem ela é. e para lapa em si, não era nada fora do normal...esse tipo de coisa deve se repetir dezenas de vezes a cada sexta-feira.
boa parte da redefinição da lapa é fazer com que a palavra "malandro" muda de significado, perdendo qualquer sentido de perigo ou alternatividade. malandro que é malandro agora é cult, é quem sai para se divertir responsávelmente, gastando dinheiro nos botequins mais caros.
a outra tal malandragem não existe faz tempo, e agora está sendo substituida por garis com chapeu panamá, barraqueiros com avental da antarctica, e arcos novamente pintados. sei que brutalidade policial também é uma antiga tradição na lapa, e o que a gente viu sexta à noite era muito pouco: bater em pobres, negros, e gays é património do bairro pelo menos desde os tempos de madame satã. mas tenho que pensar também que malandro que é malandro não bate em mulher, e muito menos em menina.
sábado, 16 de outubro de 2010
hoje na lapa...
como a próxima postagem vai relatar uma história bastante desesperada, queria mostrar antes esse sinal de vitalidade urbana que encontrei hoje, por volta do meio-dia, na calçada a frente à escola de música da ufrj na lapa.
since the next post is going to tell a pretty desperate story, i wanted to show this sign of urban vitality first. i wandered into it today, around noon, on the sidewalk in front of the ufrj school of music in lapa.
since the next post is going to tell a pretty desperate story, i wanted to show this sign of urban vitality first. i wandered into it today, around noon, on the sidewalk in front of the ufrj school of music in lapa.
quinta-feira, 14 de outubro de 2010
limpeza urbana/urban cleansing
suco me ligou hoje à tarde para avisar que os restantes materiais da ocupação carlos marighella estavam sendo descartados. em preparação para a próxima fase, seja ela o que for, o interior do prédio está sendo depositado na rua.
suco called me this afternoon to tell me that the material remainders of the carlos marighella squatters' occupation were being discarded. in preparation for the next phase - whatever that is - the inside of the building is being deposited on the street.
suco called me this afternoon to tell me that the material remainders of the carlos marighella squatters' occupation were being discarded. in preparation for the next phase - whatever that is - the inside of the building is being deposited on the street.
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choque de ordem em tempo real, com direito ao um grande sorriso do governador sérgio cabral.
(a mancha preta nas fotos da fachada vem de um esforço rapidamente implementada para cobrir grafite anti-governamental).
shock of order in real time, with a big smile from governor sérgio cabral.
(the black stain in the photos of the building's facade comes from a quickly implemented effort to cover anti-government graffiti).
quarta-feira, 13 de outubro de 2010
more dipshittery from alexei barrionuevo/nyt on latin america
hey guys,
i don't mean to nitpick in the midst of the truly amazing rescue of the miners, but you keep catching my attention by making it sound like you're writing for "the economist." for example:
"The race to save the miners has thrust Chile into a spotlight it has often sought but rarely experienced. While lauded for its economic management and austerity, the nation has often found the world’s attention trained more on its human rights violations and natural disasters than on uplifting moments."
- Alexei Barrionuevo and Simon Romero, NYT, 10/13/2010
your imagined universal approval board lauding chile's austerity - presumably the same one that's "concerned" about brasil turning to the left - does not exist. a lot of people around the world, especially in latin america, are not so cool with government "austerity" measures, especially when they leave people uneducated, hungry, and homeless.
since you don't give us any idea of what kind of time frame you're talking about - but also since chilean human rights abuses have really been a non-issue during michelle bachelet's presidency - i have to wonder if you're talking about this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet
...whose austerity measures and economic management forced more than half of the population into abject poverty for a couple of decades, opened the country's natural resources to unrestrained international exploitation, and did away with any sort of leverage that well-represented workers might exercise. such as, just off the top of my head, safely maintained gold and copper mines.
please check this out, if you haven't already: http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine
find the whole times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/world/americas/14chile.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
i don't mean to nitpick in the midst of the truly amazing rescue of the miners, but you keep catching my attention by making it sound like you're writing for "the economist." for example:
"The race to save the miners has thrust Chile into a spotlight it has often sought but rarely experienced. While lauded for its economic management and austerity, the nation has often found the world’s attention trained more on its human rights violations and natural disasters than on uplifting moments."
- Alexei Barrionuevo and Simon Romero, NYT, 10/13/2010
your imagined universal approval board lauding chile's austerity - presumably the same one that's "concerned" about brasil turning to the left - does not exist. a lot of people around the world, especially in latin america, are not so cool with government "austerity" measures, especially when they leave people uneducated, hungry, and homeless.
since you don't give us any idea of what kind of time frame you're talking about - but also since chilean human rights abuses have really been a non-issue during michelle bachelet's presidency - i have to wonder if you're talking about this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet
...whose austerity measures and economic management forced more than half of the population into abject poverty for a couple of decades, opened the country's natural resources to unrestrained international exploitation, and did away with any sort of leverage that well-represented workers might exercise. such as, just off the top of my head, safely maintained gold and copper mines.
please check this out, if you haven't already: http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine
find the whole times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/world/americas/14chile.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
segunda-feira, 4 de outubro de 2010
dear new york times/alexei barrionuevo...
A few minor complaints about your recent coverage of the Brasilian elections:
1. When you cite sources like Datafolha or Veja, it would be a nice to tell your non-Brazilian readers that they have a strong and freely admitted right-wing bias.
2. You could at least try to hide your disappointment that the "scandal" you tried so hard to peddle didn't really take off.
3. When you say that Lula "deepened" Fernando Henrique Cardoso's economic policies, it would be good to point out that this did not include the wholesale privatization of public resources, or the meek obeisance to the IMF and World Bank.
3b. Actually, maybe it would be better not to say it at all, given that it is not true, per se.
4. The idea that Dilma might steer the country to the left is not, as you suggest, a universal "concern." Nobody really believes that this will happen, but a lot of my friends think it would be a good idea.
I'm not trying to endorse Dilma or anybody else, but I think it's important to look at how relentlessly the NYT distorts its coverage of Latin America to promote a neoliberal agenda that's in line with Brasil's right wing. Given the paper's importance on the world stage and its supposed neutrality, its coverage is often cited in Brazil as an example of unbiased outside reporting, even though most of its content comes cribbed from ideologically slanted sources (imagine reporting on the States based only on what's in the Wall Street Journal or Fox News).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/americas/03brazil.html?ref=americas
1. When you cite sources like Datafolha or Veja, it would be a nice to tell your non-Brazilian readers that they have a strong and freely admitted right-wing bias.
2. You could at least try to hide your disappointment that the "scandal" you tried so hard to peddle didn't really take off.
3. When you say that Lula "deepened" Fernando Henrique Cardoso's economic policies, it would be good to point out that this did not include the wholesale privatization of public resources, or the meek obeisance to the IMF and World Bank.
3b. Actually, maybe it would be better not to say it at all, given that it is not true, per se.
4. The idea that Dilma might steer the country to the left is not, as you suggest, a universal "concern." Nobody really believes that this will happen, but a lot of my friends think it would be a good idea.
I'm not trying to endorse Dilma or anybody else, but I think it's important to look at how relentlessly the NYT distorts its coverage of Latin America to promote a neoliberal agenda that's in line with Brasil's right wing. Given the paper's importance on the world stage and its supposed neutrality, its coverage is often cited in Brazil as an example of unbiased outside reporting, even though most of its content comes cribbed from ideologically slanted sources (imagine reporting on the States based only on what's in the Wall Street Journal or Fox News).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/americas/03brazil.html?ref=americas
segunda-feira, 20 de setembro de 2010
campanha legal... (cool/legal campaign - english at the bottom)
logo depois da performance na sexta-feira passada, encontrei o suco - guerreiro austríaco que filmou várias encarnações de "cada um no seu quadrado" - em frente ao "studio portátil" da campanha de rodrigo bethlem, o responsável para a implementação do choque de ordem e atual candidato a deputado federal.
os produtores de "choque tv" negaram fazer parte da campanha do bethlem, evidentemente por pensar que eu e suco fomos apenas mais dois gringos sem noção. dizeram que a cidade agora estava mais limpa, mais segura, etc e tal, e que as remoções de ocupantes de prédios abandonados, favelas, e a população da rua estavam sendo feitas para "cuidar" dessas pessoas, apesar de não saber responder para onde eles vão. mas é assim mesmo:
acontece que a campanha do bethlem já violou centenas de vezes as leis criadas por ele.
http://oglobo.globo.com/pais/eleicoes2010/mat/2010/09/09/campanha-de-rodrigo-bethlem-ex-secretario-da-ordem-publica-poe-propaganda-em-locais-proibidos-pela-legislacao-917598090.asp
...e a ordem continua tomando conta.
english:
soon after the performance last friday, i found suco - an austrian warrior who filmed several encarnations of "cada um no seu quadrado" - in front of the "portable studio" for rodrigo bethlem's campaign. bethlem, who's currently a candidate for national congress, is responsible for implementing the "shock of order" campaign in rio.
the producers of "shock tv" denied being part of bethlem's campaign, apparently because they thought that suco and i were just two more clueless gringos. they said that the city is cleaner now, safer, etc, and that the removal of residents from occupied buildings, favelas, and the street was taking place to "take care of" these people, though they didn't know where these people went after being "cared for." but that's how it goes...
so-called urban cleaning tends to have an exterminatory vision of "lower" populations. the killings of amadou diallou and shawn bell - both unarmed black men shot by the police - are well-known cases in new york of the amplification of force under "zero tolerance." could it really be that in rio, where the police already kill more people proportionally than in any other city in the world (according to a study published last year), there will be any other effect? accompanying bethlem's discourse, it's hard to believe...
in other words: for the "shock of order," living on the street is another example of bad behavior, like parking illegally or pissing in the street. all three are inconveniences that bethlem will do away with.
as it happens, bethlem's campaign has already violated the laws that he created hundreds of times...and order keeps taking charge.
os produtores de "choque tv" negaram fazer parte da campanha do bethlem, evidentemente por pensar que eu e suco fomos apenas mais dois gringos sem noção. dizeram que a cidade agora estava mais limpa, mais segura, etc e tal, e que as remoções de ocupantes de prédios abandonados, favelas, e a população da rua estavam sendo feitas para "cuidar" dessas pessoas, apesar de não saber responder para onde eles vão. mas é assim mesmo:
the medicine is bitter
as chamadas limpezas urbanas tendem a ter uma visão exterminatória das populações mais "baixas". os assassinatos de amadou diallou e shawn bell - ambos negros, sem armas, baleados pela polícia - são casos bem conhecidos em nova iorque como efeitos da ampliação de políticas de força no esquema "tolerância zero". será que no rio, onde proporcionalmente a polícia já mata mais do que em qualquer outra cidade do mundo (segundo um estudo publicado no ano passado), terá algum outro efeito? acompanhando o discurso do bethlem, é difícil acreditar:
cars on the sidewalk
peeing in the street
population on the street
ou seja: para o choque de ordem, o fato de alguém morar na rua é outro exemplo de mau comportamento, como estacionar ilegalmente ou mijar na rua. os três são inconvências com quais o bethlem vai terminar...
the sheriff getting rid of this stuff
http://oglobo.globo.com/pais/eleicoes2010/mat/2010/09/09/campanha-de-rodrigo-bethlem-ex-secretario-da-ordem-publica-poe-propaganda-em-locais-proibidos-pela-legislacao-917598090.asp
...e a ordem continua tomando conta.
english:
soon after the performance last friday, i found suco - an austrian warrior who filmed several encarnations of "cada um no seu quadrado" - in front of the "portable studio" for rodrigo bethlem's campaign. bethlem, who's currently a candidate for national congress, is responsible for implementing the "shock of order" campaign in rio.
the producers of "shock tv" denied being part of bethlem's campaign, apparently because they thought that suco and i were just two more clueless gringos. they said that the city is cleaner now, safer, etc, and that the removal of residents from occupied buildings, favelas, and the street was taking place to "take care of" these people, though they didn't know where these people went after being "cared for." but that's how it goes...
so-called urban cleaning tends to have an exterminatory vision of "lower" populations. the killings of amadou diallou and shawn bell - both unarmed black men shot by the police - are well-known cases in new york of the amplification of force under "zero tolerance." could it really be that in rio, where the police already kill more people proportionally than in any other city in the world (according to a study published last year), there will be any other effect? accompanying bethlem's discourse, it's hard to believe...
in other words: for the "shock of order," living on the street is another example of bad behavior, like parking illegally or pissing in the street. all three are inconveniences that bethlem will do away with.
as it happens, bethlem's campaign has already violated the laws that he created hundreds of times...and order keeps taking charge.
quinta-feira, 6 de maio de 2010
tortured justice...
in my "generation and communication of knowledge" class on monday, we started talking about - or around - torture. last week, brasil's supreme court issued a new ruling on 1979's general amnesty law, which allowed political exiles back in the country at the same time as it protected everyone in the hierarchy of official state torture. according to the supreme court, the torturers are still untouchable. this included everyone from the guys doing the actual shocking, beating, cutting, and killing to the higher-ups who invented new forms of keeping people in intense pain. maybe most of all, it covers the ones who gave the orders, and who determined that torture would be an official state policy. the ruling's not much of a surprise. based on a lot of what's happened since the official end of the dictatorship in 1985, the laws enacted during the dictatorship are still valid, even though they were created by a political class that was ruling illegally.
the ruling made some headlines the day after it came out, but it doesn't seem to have attracted too much attention or protest. this is what we were trying to decode in class. inevitably, someone brought up argentina, where the memory of the dictatorship is a lot more vivid, and where citizens and (to a lesser extent) the state have done a lot more to keep it visible.
las madres de la plaza de mayo - a protest group made up of the mothers of disappeared children - in june, 2007.
painted design on the sidewalk of the plaza de mayo.
it's a fascinating and necessary comparison, though in a lot of settings in brasil, it's colored by a persistent inferiority complex that sees argentina as more sophisticated, cultured, intellectual, and "advanced" (in other words, more white and "european"). and the student who brought up argentina bought into that stereotype completely, positing that argentina is a more developed (re: better) country, and that brasil still wasn't advanced or sophisticated or first world enough to confront its past.
(no mention, of course, of argentina's genocide of its black population in the 19th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Argentine
but i digress).
so of course, i had to go ahead and point out that i come from an "advanced," "sophisticated," "first world" country that for at least the past 8 years has maintained torture as an official state policy. no one here had heard of the fahad hashmi case, which the us media seems to finally have noticed now that it's too late. i don't know much about the specifics of the case, though my friend brian pickett has been the main force behind keeping protests and vigils outside the manhattan correctional center for almost a year. more info here, via nimm:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2010/04/28/hashmi-symbol-0?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/27/syed-hashmi-american-stud_n_554211.html
it's hard to imagine anyone who, after 3 years in solitary confinement wouldn't plead guilty to trumped-up charges, especially if doing so meant avoiding a lifetime spent in similar conditions. it's one of the ways the brasilian dictatorship broke the resistance, using torture to break their opponents and get them to name names. it's sad to see a present-day example of how well this strategy works, and sad to know that - across decades and continents - the torturers are still untouchable.
the ruling made some headlines the day after it came out, but it doesn't seem to have attracted too much attention or protest. this is what we were trying to decode in class. inevitably, someone brought up argentina, where the memory of the dictatorship is a lot more vivid, and where citizens and (to a lesser extent) the state have done a lot more to keep it visible.
it's a fascinating and necessary comparison, though in a lot of settings in brasil, it's colored by a persistent inferiority complex that sees argentina as more sophisticated, cultured, intellectual, and "advanced" (in other words, more white and "european"). and the student who brought up argentina bought into that stereotype completely, positing that argentina is a more developed (re: better) country, and that brasil still wasn't advanced or sophisticated or first world enough to confront its past.
(no mention, of course, of argentina's genocide of its black population in the 19th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Argentine
but i digress).
so of course, i had to go ahead and point out that i come from an "advanced," "sophisticated," "first world" country that for at least the past 8 years has maintained torture as an official state policy. no one here had heard of the fahad hashmi case, which the us media seems to finally have noticed now that it's too late. i don't know much about the specifics of the case, though my friend brian pickett has been the main force behind keeping protests and vigils outside the manhattan correctional center for almost a year. more info here, via nimm:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2010/04/28/hashmi-symbol-0?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/27/syed-hashmi-american-stud_n_554211.html
it's hard to imagine anyone who, after 3 years in solitary confinement wouldn't plead guilty to trumped-up charges, especially if doing so meant avoiding a lifetime spent in similar conditions. it's one of the ways the brasilian dictatorship broke the resistance, using torture to break their opponents and get them to name names. it's sad to see a present-day example of how well this strategy works, and sad to know that - across decades and continents - the torturers are still untouchable.
quarta-feira, 10 de fevereiro de 2010
eduardo paes fala no new york times sobre espaço público
O prefeito do Rio de Janeiro parece um pouco mais honesto sobre o Choque de Ordem quando ele fala com a imprensa gringa. Olha só:
O espaço pública defina a “alma do carioca,” disse Sr. Paes. Mas nos ultimo’s anos, moradores da cidade “se identificaram tanto com o espaço público que eles começaram a querer usa-lo como se fosse deles,” disse o prefeito.
- New York Times
10/2/2010
Coloco o link aqui, mesmo sabendo que não vai dar:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/world/americas/10rio.html?scp=1&sq=eduardo%20paes&st=cse
O espaço pública defina a “alma do carioca,” disse Sr. Paes. Mas nos ultimo’s anos, moradores da cidade “se identificaram tanto com o espaço público que eles começaram a querer usa-lo como se fosse deles,” disse o prefeito.
- New York Times
10/2/2010
Coloco o link aqui, mesmo sabendo que não vai dar:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/world/americas/10rio.html?scp=1&sq=eduardo%20paes&st=cse
sexta-feira, 29 de janeiro de 2010
memórias nova iorquinas
estou muito felizmente de volta no brasil, e super-empolgado para mergulhar novamente na vida d'aqui, nas ruas, becos, praias, bares, e presidios da cidade maravilhosa. na primeira postagem, porém, queria deixar uma pequena lembrançinha dos estados unidos, meu país natal, que eu deixa alguns dias atrás.
escrevo hoje, então, uma simples reportagem dos estados unidos. deixo a reportagem aqui porque a globo mente, que nem o new york times. eles poderiam até te apresentar os acontecimentos atuais mais ou menos como elas são, mas sem um único motivo, sem uma única raiz, sem nada no fundo que não seja inventado, destorcido. assim, as notícias se tornam em algo como uma refeição que se diz completa, mas que, olhando só um pouco mais fundo, se revela como quase totalmente artificial. estou cansado de ver essas notícias papinhas sem sal, ou como se diria em inglês, sem sangue.
por isso, eu trago comigo hoje uma reportagem limitada, mas bem temporada, uma historia sangrada, recem-extraída do meu país ferido, daquele império sangrento.
segunda-feira passada, passei o ínicio da noite em frente ao manhattan correctional center, o maior presidio e carceragem da cidade de nova iorque. lá, desde os meados de 2007, está preso o fahad hashmi, rapaz da minha idade nascido no paquistão e naturalizado norte-americano. o suposto crime dele, que nesses dois anos e meio ainda não foi julgado, é ter deixado um amigo dormir no sofá dele e deixar uma mala de capas de chuva no apartamento. esse amigo apareceu, mêses depois, no paquistão, onde foi capturado por forças norte-americanas supostamente tentando entregar as roupas para al quaeda. fahad hashmi foi preso pouco depois por supostamente ter dado "apoio material" a terrorismo. por isso, já passou quase 1000 dias em prisão solitário, sem direito a ler notícias ou correspondência que não sejam pelo menos 30 dias ultra-passadas (mesmo assim, qualquer leitura que ele recebe passa por censura antes dele recebe-la). desde o final de outubro, fahad perdeu até o direito de ter visita dos pais e advogados. ele está 100 dias sem nenhum contato humano.
e tudo isso só por ter a "sorte" de ser um cidadão norte-americano naturalizado. caso fosse estrangeiro, seria torturado pela cia em guantanamo ou algum "sítio preto" escondido pelo governo em qualquer lugar do planeta fora dos estados unidos.
ou seja: meu país ainda está aguardando as mudanças prometidas há mais de um ano. fahad hashmi foi preso pelo governo bush, mas o caso dele foi revisto pelo procurador do obama, e foi com a autorização do governo atual que ele passou a ser deprivado até dos visitas familiares. obama disse que voltariamos a ser um país respeitado, e que comecaremos a respeitar os tratados globais básicos de direitos humanos. mas continuamos uma terra torturadora, tanto em nova iorque quanto em guantanamo. me parece cada vez mais que reforma não vai vir do governo.
a boa notícia é que, pelo menos em alguns cantos, eu vi uma resistencia começando a se organizar, aglamorar. acho que alguns das pessoas que agiram mais fortemente contra a regime bush estava esperando desesperadamente para ver algum resultado do novo governo. mas já passou mais de um ano, e estamos começando a realizar que obama está aumentando as guerras, que não sabe como fechar guantanamo, que por mais bem-intencionado que até poderia ser (pelo menos em áreas como saúde e educação), não faz a minima idéia de como combater um partido republicano (o do bush) cada vez mais reacionário, brutal, feroz. então as ações populares estão começando. estão começando devagar, mas já dá para sentir uma nova energia.
na segunda passada, fomos 200 pessoas em frente da prisão, cantando, gritando, chorando, apresentando discursos e teatro da rua e músicas contra os abusos que nosso governo chama de "justiça." foi uma aglomeração pequena - o caso do fahad obviamente ainda não chegou à grande imprensa - porém vital. é o ínicio. estou muito feliz estar de volta no brasil, aliviado por ter deixado tudo que os estados unidos para trás (por enquanto). mas fico fortalecido por ter visto que há uma resistência engajada em nova iorque, e que - por mais pequena que seja - está crescendo.
essa semana, morreu howard zinn, grande historiador norte-americano cujo livro "a people's history of the united states" (uma historia popular dos estados unidos) teve e tem um papel crítico no entendimento de muitos americanos sobre o passado genocido e imperialista do nosso nação. dedico essa pequena postagem a ele - que a sua memoria seja uma inspiração, e que a sua luta continue fortalecida!
escrevo hoje, então, uma simples reportagem dos estados unidos. deixo a reportagem aqui porque a globo mente, que nem o new york times. eles poderiam até te apresentar os acontecimentos atuais mais ou menos como elas são, mas sem um único motivo, sem uma única raiz, sem nada no fundo que não seja inventado, destorcido. assim, as notícias se tornam em algo como uma refeição que se diz completa, mas que, olhando só um pouco mais fundo, se revela como quase totalmente artificial. estou cansado de ver essas notícias papinhas sem sal, ou como se diria em inglês, sem sangue.
por isso, eu trago comigo hoje uma reportagem limitada, mas bem temporada, uma historia sangrada, recem-extraída do meu país ferido, daquele império sangrento.
segunda-feira passada, passei o ínicio da noite em frente ao manhattan correctional center, o maior presidio e carceragem da cidade de nova iorque. lá, desde os meados de 2007, está preso o fahad hashmi, rapaz da minha idade nascido no paquistão e naturalizado norte-americano. o suposto crime dele, que nesses dois anos e meio ainda não foi julgado, é ter deixado um amigo dormir no sofá dele e deixar uma mala de capas de chuva no apartamento. esse amigo apareceu, mêses depois, no paquistão, onde foi capturado por forças norte-americanas supostamente tentando entregar as roupas para al quaeda. fahad hashmi foi preso pouco depois por supostamente ter dado "apoio material" a terrorismo. por isso, já passou quase 1000 dias em prisão solitário, sem direito a ler notícias ou correspondência que não sejam pelo menos 30 dias ultra-passadas (mesmo assim, qualquer leitura que ele recebe passa por censura antes dele recebe-la). desde o final de outubro, fahad perdeu até o direito de ter visita dos pais e advogados. ele está 100 dias sem nenhum contato humano.
e tudo isso só por ter a "sorte" de ser um cidadão norte-americano naturalizado. caso fosse estrangeiro, seria torturado pela cia em guantanamo ou algum "sítio preto" escondido pelo governo em qualquer lugar do planeta fora dos estados unidos.
ou seja: meu país ainda está aguardando as mudanças prometidas há mais de um ano. fahad hashmi foi preso pelo governo bush, mas o caso dele foi revisto pelo procurador do obama, e foi com a autorização do governo atual que ele passou a ser deprivado até dos visitas familiares. obama disse que voltariamos a ser um país respeitado, e que comecaremos a respeitar os tratados globais básicos de direitos humanos. mas continuamos uma terra torturadora, tanto em nova iorque quanto em guantanamo. me parece cada vez mais que reforma não vai vir do governo.
a boa notícia é que, pelo menos em alguns cantos, eu vi uma resistencia começando a se organizar, aglamorar. acho que alguns das pessoas que agiram mais fortemente contra a regime bush estava esperando desesperadamente para ver algum resultado do novo governo. mas já passou mais de um ano, e estamos começando a realizar que obama está aumentando as guerras, que não sabe como fechar guantanamo, que por mais bem-intencionado que até poderia ser (pelo menos em áreas como saúde e educação), não faz a minima idéia de como combater um partido republicano (o do bush) cada vez mais reacionário, brutal, feroz. então as ações populares estão começando. estão começando devagar, mas já dá para sentir uma nova energia.
na segunda passada, fomos 200 pessoas em frente da prisão, cantando, gritando, chorando, apresentando discursos e teatro da rua e músicas contra os abusos que nosso governo chama de "justiça." foi uma aglomeração pequena - o caso do fahad obviamente ainda não chegou à grande imprensa - porém vital. é o ínicio. estou muito feliz estar de volta no brasil, aliviado por ter deixado tudo que os estados unidos para trás (por enquanto). mas fico fortalecido por ter visto que há uma resistência engajada em nova iorque, e que - por mais pequena que seja - está crescendo.
essa semana, morreu howard zinn, grande historiador norte-americano cujo livro "a people's history of the united states" (uma historia popular dos estados unidos) teve e tem um papel crítico no entendimento de muitos americanos sobre o passado genocido e imperialista do nosso nação. dedico essa pequena postagem a ele - que a sua memoria seja uma inspiração, e que a sua luta continue fortalecida!
domingo, 24 de janeiro de 2010
leaving gringolândia...
you can’t go home again, but it’s nice to visit from time to time. of course, as you do it, home will probably do plenty of things to embarrass and repulse you. like electing a republican senator on the basis of his pick-up truck.
the longer you stay, too, the more you will start to breath these failing and inadequacies and shamefulness into yourself, forgetting – or at least abstracting – whatever you’ve done and wherever you’ve gone that could serve as a counterpoint. but that’s not what this poem/epistle/blogpost is about.
what it’s about is actually just the opposite. it’s about how home can build you up if you visit it the right way or follow it with the right headspace. not just by fattening you up with doritos, donuts, designer ice creams, chinese soup, indian buffets, nostalgic candy bars and high-fructose everything. though, of course, it will do that. and not just by attending to and/or provoking material whims and longings you didn’t even kneow you had somewhere in the depths of your brand-new iBoxer fiber-optic underwear (by calvin klein), or else inside the textures you remember but assumed you’d done away with or forgotten or dismissed. turns out these urges miss you just enough to make you miss them, to vie for your attention and for the resources and suitcase space that sounded infinite (from where you live now) but that seems more and more limited the longer you stay “home.”
but that’s not what this poem/epistle/word missile/reflection (like narcissus)/brand new set of sheets or dishes/way to fill a notebook/blogpost is about.
what i’m actually trying to say is how ready i feel, for the first time in a long time. how i see that what i’ve set out for myself is daunting and impossible by fits and starts, and maybe a little bit dangerous.
over the course of the past two months, i’ve gotten to re-connect with pretty much everybody i wanted to, in north america. in most cases, i got to see them. and i feel so filled up, in a powerful way. like after a good lunch of solid hippy stew. i feel so stretched out in a limber way, so ready to go out. this is the beautiful part, the not-sure-why-i-get-to-be-so-lucky part. i get to go out and do exactly what i want to do.
here’s the plan:
the plan is to keep this energy going, the energy that i’ve been absorbing and pushing against and into in parks in brooklyn, concerts in new haven, rehearsal spaces in toronto, kitchen tables in san francisco, couches and futons and borrowed beds from manhattan to somerville to honolulu and over phone lines and internets from all sorts of points in between.
the plan is to get to rio and hit the streets and make things, whether dressed as a parrot or carrying a guitar or maybe not wearing too much of anything at all (TBI).
the plan is to get back into the jails asafp, and try to prod and tease and ease and fight the stories out, no matter what form they take. the plan is to spend a whole lot less time on facebook and a whole lot more time recording songs and coercing poems out of or into thin air, or talking to puppets, or out on the street, discovering for the thousandth time why i’m so madly in love with rio de janeiro, and with brasil.
people ask me why brasil, and i don’t have an answer beyond the isadora duncan line: if i could say it, i wouldn’t have to dance it. but there’s always a moment in rio – usually on my 6th or 7th night in town, almost always in someone’s backyard, or else somewhere in santa teresa – when i start to feel the tropics, when i start to feel brasil.
it’s something about the way the air is thick, the way i can sense the bright greens and pinks and yellows and reds of flowers and trees, even if i can’t see them. something about how the night feels more penetrating, more total, how the streets feel cracked and danced on and haunted and alive.
(if i come up with a better answer, i’ll let you know).
i’m feeling very ready to go back to those streets. i’m feeling very charged. what i’ve actually been trying to say in this blogpost/poem/epistle/discussion/dissection/digression is:
thank you.
(and stay tuned).
the longer you stay, too, the more you will start to breath these failing and inadequacies and shamefulness into yourself, forgetting – or at least abstracting – whatever you’ve done and wherever you’ve gone that could serve as a counterpoint. but that’s not what this poem/epistle/blogpost is about.
what it’s about is actually just the opposite. it’s about how home can build you up if you visit it the right way or follow it with the right headspace. not just by fattening you up with doritos, donuts, designer ice creams, chinese soup, indian buffets, nostalgic candy bars and high-fructose everything. though, of course, it will do that. and not just by attending to and/or provoking material whims and longings you didn’t even kneow you had somewhere in the depths of your brand-new iBoxer fiber-optic underwear (by calvin klein), or else inside the textures you remember but assumed you’d done away with or forgotten or dismissed. turns out these urges miss you just enough to make you miss them, to vie for your attention and for the resources and suitcase space that sounded infinite (from where you live now) but that seems more and more limited the longer you stay “home.”
but that’s not what this poem/epistle/word missile/reflection (like narcissus)/brand new set of sheets or dishes/way to fill a notebook/blogpost is about.
what i’m actually trying to say is how ready i feel, for the first time in a long time. how i see that what i’ve set out for myself is daunting and impossible by fits and starts, and maybe a little bit dangerous.
over the course of the past two months, i’ve gotten to re-connect with pretty much everybody i wanted to, in north america. in most cases, i got to see them. and i feel so filled up, in a powerful way. like after a good lunch of solid hippy stew. i feel so stretched out in a limber way, so ready to go out. this is the beautiful part, the not-sure-why-i-get-to-be-so-lucky part. i get to go out and do exactly what i want to do.
here’s the plan:
the plan is to keep this energy going, the energy that i’ve been absorbing and pushing against and into in parks in brooklyn, concerts in new haven, rehearsal spaces in toronto, kitchen tables in san francisco, couches and futons and borrowed beds from manhattan to somerville to honolulu and over phone lines and internets from all sorts of points in between.
the plan is to get to rio and hit the streets and make things, whether dressed as a parrot or carrying a guitar or maybe not wearing too much of anything at all (TBI).
the plan is to get back into the jails asafp, and try to prod and tease and ease and fight the stories out, no matter what form they take. the plan is to spend a whole lot less time on facebook and a whole lot more time recording songs and coercing poems out of or into thin air, or talking to puppets, or out on the street, discovering for the thousandth time why i’m so madly in love with rio de janeiro, and with brasil.
people ask me why brasil, and i don’t have an answer beyond the isadora duncan line: if i could say it, i wouldn’t have to dance it. but there’s always a moment in rio – usually on my 6th or 7th night in town, almost always in someone’s backyard, or else somewhere in santa teresa – when i start to feel the tropics, when i start to feel brasil.
it’s something about the way the air is thick, the way i can sense the bright greens and pinks and yellows and reds of flowers and trees, even if i can’t see them. something about how the night feels more penetrating, more total, how the streets feel cracked and danced on and haunted and alive.
(if i come up with a better answer, i’ll let you know).
i’m feeling very ready to go back to those streets. i’m feeling very charged. what i’ve actually been trying to say in this blogpost/poem/epistle/discussion/dissection/digression is:
thank you.
(and stay tuned).
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