In 1998, Alex Pereira Barboza began filming the lives of 17 ``falcons,'' teenage boys who work as lookouts for drug dealers in Brazil's shantytowns. By the time the documentary opened in March, 16 of them were dead -- killed in gang warfare or by police. The 17th was in jail. "I thank God that he was put in jail, because that's probably why he is still alive," Barboza, a 31-year-old rap musician who goes by the name MV Bill, said in an interview in Sao Paulo.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Hip Hop against violence
MV Bill, an authentic purveyor of hardcore Brazilian funk, from Cidade de Deus (City of God) in Rio de Janeiro, has made a documentary and released a book about the the lives of young drug runners he knew in his community. Here's the lead, from a Bloomberg News dispatch:
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3 comments:
Hi Robert
I'm a university student in Ottawa and I check your blog every now and again looking for information on slum matters around the world. Any advice for someone who is looking to get involved? Have you come across any orgs that are Cdn-based?
Thanks, and keep up the good journalism!
Thanks for the note. There are many organizing efforts in squatter communities. What do you want to get involved in? Do you want to go to a country and volunteer or to do good works from Ottawa?
I'll try to think of Canadian organizations I can recommend. Also, there probably are some worthwhile Canadian organizations involved in the World Urban Forum which is coming up in June in Vancouver.
I have to stay in Ottawa for the next year or so, due to family committments, but anything I can do to help out from here would be excellent.
If I find anything of merit, I'll post it here.
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