Lecture and Documentary: "Favela Rising"

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• Joe Piper
• Tuesday 05 February 2008, 19:45-21:30
• Ramsden Room.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Joe Piper.

“FairTrade cocaine” is a development education project that’s been launched in Cambridge. We run and design workshops and presentations about the cocaine supply chain, in particular looking at Favela life and the teenage drug gangs of Rio.

“Drugs are bad for you, so don’t take them.” Young people have been fed this message for years, with largely disappointing results. But there is a more important, global message when it comes to drugs, one which is rarely heard by young people (or indeed adults) in this country. It goes something like: “When you take cocaine in Britain, you’re actually killing child soldiers in the drug armies of South American slums.” We believe this is a powerful, ethical message, reinforced by recent films such as City of God, Maria Full of Grace and Favela Rising. It is a message we would like to spread. There is no “FairTrade” cocaine.

If you would like to get involved, come at 7.45pm to the film or presentation afterwards. We already collaborate and run youth workshops with Harambee, a local Cambridge based youth development charity.

One night in a favela, an impoverished barrio on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, an infamous druglord shot and killed four policemen, launching what the favela residents refer to as “The Massacre”: in retaliation, the military police, known for their oppressive corruption, made a sadistic surprise attack on the community and slaughtered 21 of its innocent citizens. Short-listed for an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Documentary, Favela Rising focuses on Anderson Sá, the brother of one of the victims. Instead of seeking revenge by further entrenching himself in drug trafficking-often the only mode of survival for those living in the favelas-he began to wonder how to counteract this cycle of violence.

This talk is part of the 'There is no FairTrade Cocaine' series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• 'There is no FairTrade Cocaine'
• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• Ramsden Room

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