There are many empty buildings in the most economically important city of Brazil. Is the famous real state speculation.
But, there are so many people who can´t pay the hight rent and buy food. Their accounts do not close.
The Brazilian's Law ensure the "social function of property". It´s necesserly being used. And, the same law guarantee a dignous home for every brazilian person.
So some people (who don't have much choice) ocupy the empty buildings. This is so comum that they organized theirselves. The MTST and FLM is a urban verson of MST (the popular movement where agricultores ocupay ocious lands to plant).
Since 2004 a hotel of 20 floors (name Aquarius) is abandoned. So some people, above 800, start to live there, at begninning of this year. Until last Tuesday (16/09/2014), when a lot police mans use force and brutality remove the residents. The people resisted, and throw things to stop the police. In vain.
And now the people are living in the streets, 70 in the jail, and the building are peacefuly empty again. Order.
This song of Zé Geraldo (Cidadão/Citizen) tell the history of a constructon work. Who helps on the construction of many buildings, like school, hospital, apartments, but hiself never could use these buildings.
Tell the hard work, and the difficulty of their lives. In a part of song, the worker is admiring the building height when a person thinks he wants steal. Sad, the worker want to drink.
This song is amazing! It is so
metaphoric. It was clearly inspirited on the book Brave New World, of Adous
Huxley, and was composed in 80's when Brazil lived a terrible dictatorship.
Despite the present time is (little) different the song as well as the book
portrait some aspects of reality.
The focus of the music is about
social alienation,
mass culture and control.
The workers conditions is hard.
Even more for the real workers, who produce things. There are a long workday,
high tax rate without return in quality public services, low wages, no access
to culture and leisure, and no share of the profits. And there are a migrants,
inside the country. People from northeastern goes to southeast looking for work
and access to infrastructure. But they face bias, injustice, and just
underemployed opportunity.
But these situation is not so
clear. Is difficult recognize it, and even more hard to overcome it. On the
Huxley's book the control, for maintenance of the order, is doing for a drug
named “soma”. Here (on our current society and) on the song is the promises of
a better future. You know the discourse "work hard and the things will be
get better", and populist promises.
Exist also "the opium of the people".
The belief on a divine cataclysm in which a hero, like Noah, will do everything
and the people/cattle will just need follow him.
And, the most cruel of domination,
the powerful ideological control: the media. The lies and manipulation in news.
Even if the people (middle class in yours cars) try to get away from ignorance,
it is hard because we are surrounded by it.
In June 2013 the bus ticket in São
Paulo increased 20 cents. It seems a little change for middle class, but for a numerous Brazilian is so expensive (monthly transportation expense exceed 20% of minimum wage). There are no options for those who don't have a
car, we don't have bicycle lanes and distances are long. The "public" transport is not so
good, ordinary is crowed. Even for those who have a car is difficult,
cause the traffic is really intense. So add to diverse discontentment in 6 June
thousand of people took to the streets in protest. I think we were inspired by Arab Spring
too.
It's not for cents, is for rights.
A famous and true phrase on that
day was "It is not just about 20 cents". So this protest energy
spread around the country. All the big and medium city watched the people in the
street, in a really heterogeneous, spontaneous and popular movement.
On this time I began to politicize
me. In my particular view the dictatorship keep silent about us, I recognize in
me and most of my friends a huge empty space in sociology and politic topics, that doesn't exist in most schools.
So, this interactions on the street with middle class and social concerns formed
a mix stave. And some recurring topics [for who fight in the battle for human
rights] started to appear and confuse those who were not familiarized with social
problems, who, like me, only clomplain(ed) about corruption.
In July 2013 a question started to
be projected "Cadê o Amarildo/Onde está o Amarildo"
(Where is Amarildo?). So it impact all media, that can't ignore this question. Even with Pope coming.
Pope, where is Amarildo?
Amarildo lived in a Rio favela
(slum), on a one-room house with his wife and 6 sons and daughters, he worked as
mason assistant. On 14 July when he backs of fishery he was taken by police on "pacification" operation, and never was seen again.
The police that acts in Brazil is
the same that do in dictatorship, is violent. Probably in others countries the violent repression
and abuse of human rights from police is common too. Here the poor suffer much
more, the excuse is drug trafficking, but much activist call this practice of
"criminalization of poverty". In Rio's favela this problem is more
evident. So, the people who worked on this social problem use the manifestation to drawing attention to this kind of situation.
The brazilian musician don't
say/sing about current problems. Presumably exist a censorship of media corporations, which buy the artist images, like Sony and Globo. Elis Regina talk about this on her last interview. Caetano Veloso and Marisa Monte do a beneficent show, all
money was given to Amarildo family, and to a ONG that work on missing people from
police case. But they didn't talk about the case on the show, or about the actual social
situation and world cup, just sang their old songs. There are no famous outspoken opponent of world cup.
Nevertheless, the comom people [that
doesn't have a contract with corporation and can see the injustice] doesn't speak
out. So I find this song, of an unknown artist.
When the Pope came there was much protest. "Beijaço" was a public gay kissed. (Renan) Calheiros is the President of the Brazilian Senate, accused of corruption. (Sérgio) Cabral is the governor of Rio de Janeiro, who is taking 'ultra-liberal' measures, like expropriate thousand of persons (using police repression) to favour contractors companies. "O gato comeu" (The cat have eatn) is a child's play. We say that when something desapear but no one wants to accept responsibility. Here go the letter:
Onde está o Amarildo?
Habemus hermanos o Papa chegou.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo?
Protestos na rua, beijaços na praça.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo?
Spray de pimenta polícia jogou.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo?
Calheiros, calhordas e outros Cabrais.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo, onde está o Amarildo?
Cadê o docinho que estava aqui?
Onde está o Amarildo?
O gato comeu, o
gato comeu.
Onde está o Amarildo?
Atirei o
pau no gato mas o gato não morreu, miau. Tem sete vidas.
Sete vidas para gastar toda nossa paciência já
não dá mais pra curar toda essa decadência.
Hoje o cidadão que some, amanhã
mortos de fome.
Minha barriga tá doendo tio.
Desculpa, mas eu tô no hand-phone.
O príncipe herdeiro nasceu na Europa.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo?
Assaltos, desvios olímpicos, copa.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo?
Disseram a favela se pacificou.
Eu me pergunto onde está o Amarildo?
Mistério novela da vida real.
Cadê? Onde está o Amarildo?
Cadê o docinho que estava aqui? Onde está o
Amarildo?
O gato comeu, o gato comeu!
Onde está o Amarildo?
Atirei o pau no
gato mas o gato não morreu, miau.
Tem sete vidas. Onde está o Amarildo?...
É irmão são muitas perguntas a serem feitas mas
a de hoje é: Onde está o Amarildo?
E se
você não se perguntar deixar pra lá amanhã ou depois poderemos ser nós os
sumidos, nossos pais, nossos filhos.
Porque o sumiço desse cidadão representa
muito mais que o sumiço de um homem.
Representa o sumiço de todos nós da nossa
voz, da nossa dignidade humana.
E se você também está cansado desse vandalismo
institucionalizado talvez seja a hora de se perguntar:
I want to write about Brazilians
songs that make a social commentary. But not with a patriotic purpose. Patriotism just doesn't make sense to me.
I can't say "I love my country" because I don´t know what that mean.
Does it mean that I
love people who live (or were born) inside of the border? I think that is
unfair to people I love and that live or were born in other countries,
outside of my border!
Or does it mean that I
love the landscape of my country? Well, I recognize that Brazilians
landscapes are amazing! Here we have beautiful beaches, rivers, mountains,
waterfalls, even wonderful caves and canyons. But I have had the opportunity to see
amazing landscapes in other countries too and I know that there exist so many special
places around the world, that I will probably also love.
If "I love my
country" does that mean that I love the culture of my country it´s complicated. Brazil is so heterogeneous. And I like the culture of all brazilian states (Real culture not what appears on TV). I appreciate in
especially native culture, that I know next to nothing about. I love to meet other people of different cultures.
So I don´t want to write about Brazilian songs because of patriotic pride. I want to write about Brazilian songs because I know there are a lot of people, like me, who love and defend justice and freedom
and who want a better society. Many excellent Brazilian musicians sing about
these values in wonderful melodies. But these inspiring messages are inaccessible for those who don´t understand Portuguese. So I think that I can be
helpful in this "bridging this gap".
To conclude, this
blog is for those of you who like messages with dignified values, with a purpose, and who like Brazilian idioms and songs!
I know I may make some mistakes in English. It’s not my native language. But I hope that doesn’t limit the ideas I’m trying to express.
