reportage
THE LIVELY SOUL OF RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil is famous for its iconic carnival festival, its talented soccer players, and its favelas. Originally, favelas were illegal settlements built by former slaves that originated in Rio de Janeiro. Favelas have proliferated throughout all Brazilian major cities and form an integral part of Brazil’s landscape. Even some of the world’s biggest superstars, such as Michael Jackson and Beyonce, have chosen Rio de Janeiro’s hill-slope slums to film their music videos.
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t the beginning of the 20th century, Rio de Janeiro needed to undergo reforms to develop into a more modern city. The then-mayor of the city began to carry out extensive urban renovations in the city center, which included the expansion and opening of long avenues. During the renovations, several shantytowns were demolished leaving their residents homeless and forced to seek shelter in alternative locations. This resulted in the sudden and massive expansion of favelas on the hillsides of Rio de Janeiro. The word “favela” originally comes from the name of a tree found in the Northeast region of Brazil that is known to cause skin irritations after touching it. There are currently an estimated 1 000 favelas in Rio. About one out of four Cariocas l i v e s in one of the hundreds of slums clinging
18 - VOICES
to the hillsides of the Marvelous City. Built between two of the city’s swankiest neighborhoods, Rocinha is Brazil’s largest slum with an estimated population of 200 000 squeezed into less than five square kilometers. Santa Marta, Mangueira, Vidigal, and Complexo do Alemão are some of the other most famous favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Located on the city’s outskirts and famously depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie “City of God”, Cidade de Deus is one of the only slums of the city sprawling on a flat land. In 1996, Michael Jackson sang “they don’t care about us”, as a reference to the longstanding governmental neglect faced by these communities. Favelas are inhabited by impoverished people who tend to have darker skin, many of them being descendants of slaves. Favela residents are often discriminated against for living in these communities. Today, favelas are portrayed as lawless neighborhoods populated by violent criminals. The communities suffer from the stigma of being associated with numerous social problems, including extreme poverty, outbreaks of violence, high crime rates, drug trafficking, and
