Damian Platt and "Culture Is Our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio De Janeiro"

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Produced by: 
KBOO
Program:: 
Air date: 
Mon, 03/22/2010 - 12:00am
Damian Platt and "Culture Is Our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio De Janeiro"

 The guest is Damian Platt, co-author with Patrick Neate, of CULTURE IS OUR WEAPON: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio De Janeiro.

Damian will talk about his work with the Rio-based NGO AfroReggae, a group who uses music and art to keep the children of Rio’s favelas out of the pervasive drug trade. AfroReggae was forged out of the 1993 police massacre of 21 people in one of the favelas. Founded by ex-drug traffickers, AfroReggae works to take young people out of the drug/gang culture and harness the ingenuity and creativity of their communities to provide positive alternatives for young people. It shows the side of Rio beyond the tans of Ipanema and the pageantry of Carnival - the Rio you won’t find in any tourist guidebook.

DAMIAN PLATT was born in Nairobi and grew up in West London. From the age of fifteen onwards he traveled widely around Europe. He reached Brazil for the first time in 1994. He was a Brazil Campaigner for Amnesty International between 1997 and 2005, where he researched human rights in the USA, Colombia, Haiti and Brazil among other countries. Between 2006 and 2008 he was the Coordinator for International Partnerships at the cultural group AfroReggae in Rio de Janeiro. He is currently involved in a number of cultural projects in Rio, including the setting up of a cultural center in Providência, the first officially recognized favela in Brazil.

Damian will be speaking at Powell’s on Hawthorne on Monday, March 22nd.

POWELL’S ON HAWTHORNE, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 7 PM

 

 

 

 

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