Julia Michaels
Declaraçâo de missão / Mission Statement
IS IT GOING TO LAST?
I want it to. And to this end I’ll deliver information, independent and objective, bilingual and multimedia, about the momentous transformation that began in 2008 in Rio de Janeiro.
Is it just a mask? In 2017, should we expect the BMWs to revert to pumpkins and the politicians to turn back into myopic rats?A BLOG WITH AN AXE TO GRIND
I want it to last. I want the changes to be deep and real. I can see that the way cariocas are thinking and talking about favelas and their residents reveals new tolerance, concern and solidarity.
The more we know about what’s going on, the more we can contribute to the process, whether we are cariocas born and bred, transplants like me, onlookers, investors, tourists, transients, or cynics.
I will give you links, original reporting, questions, ideas, images, sounds, reflections, answers and more questions. No bullshit. You won’t have to read between the lines. My only agenda is I WANT IT TO LAST.This is Rio Real, a blog created in 2010 by Julia Michaels, an American writer, editor and journalist who has lived in Brazil for more than thirty years.
If you speak both languages, I suggest you read both texts. I’ll be providing more context in English and more detail in Portuguese.
We’re still pinching ourselves. Only five years ago you couldn’t walk in Ipanema and talk on a cell phone, for fear someone would snatch it off your ear. Now everyone has a cell phone, everyone walks and talks. You thought cariocas were a relaxed sort.
But only now are they finally starting to chill!
Construction is booming, favelas have an increased police presence (and more social services as well) rents and real estate are up, jobs and income are on the increase, education indicators are heartening, frozen yogurt is everywhere, health and sewage are getting serious attention for the first time possibly ever, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas is being cleaned, new restaurants and shops are opening, Brazilians are moving here from other cities, the beaches are policed, drunk driving is almost nonexistent, the Olympics are coming, the metro is expanding and best of all, key parts of the city are safer than since just about any carioca can remember. Politicians are buddies: President Lula da Silva, elected in 2002, and then President Dilma Rousseff, after 2011; Governor Sérgio Cabral, reelected in 2010 and mayor Eduardo Paes, reelected in 2012, are working in concert to turn around the decadence that set in back in 1960 when the capital moved to Brasília.
But will it last, will the politicians persist and businesses invest?
Please tell me what you want to know about. Meanwhile, I’ve got tons of questions…VAI DURAR?
Quero que dure. Para que dure, me lanço mar adentro pelas águas da mídia social para fazer oferenda à Iemanjá: informações, independentes e objetivas, bilíngues e multimídia, sobre a transformação histórica que começou há quatro anos no Rio de Janeiro.
É apenas uma máscara? Em 2017, os BMWs irão voltar a ser meras abóboras e os políticos, ratos míopes?UM BLOG POSICIONADO
Quero que dure. Que as mudanças sejam profundas e reais. Constato que os cariocas pensam e falam das favelas e de seus moradores de maneira diferente do passado, que revela uma nova tolerância, consideração e solidariedade.
Quanto mais informações tivermos sobre o que acontece, mais poderemos contribuir, quer sejamos cariocas da gema, adotivos como eu, observadores, investidores, turistas, flaneurs ou cínicos.
Vou postar links, reportagens minhas, perguntas, ideias, imagens, sons, reflexões, respostas e mais perguntas. No bullshit. Nada de entrelinhas. Minha única agenda é QUERO QUE DURE.Chegou Rio Real, um blog criado em 2010 por Julia Michaels, escritora, editora e jornalista americana que mora no Brasil há mais de trinta anos.
Se você fala tanto inglês como português, sugiro que leia os dois textos. O inglês terá mais contexto e o português, mais detalhe.
A gente ainda não acredita. Apenas cinco anos atrás, não se podia caminhar em Ipanema e falar no celular –apesar dos seguranças fortões da Richards e da Mr. Cat— pois um assalto era certeza.
Agora, todo mundo tem celular, todo mundo se dá ao luxo de perambular e fofocar. O carioca tem fama de ser relax, mas só agora a noia está começando a se dispersar.
Cresce o número de construções, temos as UPPs e a ocupação social das favelas, esquenta-se o mercado imobiliário, há mais empregos e a renda cresce, os dados educativos são animadores, as lojas de frozen yogurt se espalham, pela primeira vez a saúde e o saneamento básico recebem atenção pra valer, a Lagoa está ficando limpa, abrem-se lojas e restaurantes novos, brasileiros de outras cidades chegam para morar no Rio, nas praias temos o choque de ordem de verão já adentrando o inverno, a Lei Seca pegou, os Jogos Olímpicos estão a caminho, o metrô se expande, e o melhor de tudo é que partes importantes da cidade estão mais seguras do que qualquer época que o carioca consiga se lembrar. Em todos os níveis governamentais, os políticos se tornaram amigos de infância: Dilma, Cabral e Paes estão trabalhando juntos para reverter a decadência que se instalou em 1960, quando a capital se transferiu para Brasília.
Mas vai durar? Será que os políticos irão persistir e as empresas vão investir— ou seja, se comprometer com o futuro a longo prazo?
Me diga o que quer saber. Da minha parte,tenho muitas perguntas...PESQUISA / POLL
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Tag Archives: Rio de Janeiro transformation
Peace and the police/ Paz e a polícia
“Police reform is happening by way of the UPPs.” –Sílvia Ramos, undersecretary for integrated action in the territory, state UPP social program O Globo reports that Rio’s police are killing fewer people: shooting deaths in police self-defense in August 2010 … Continue reading
What is going on? Sirens and helicopters not effective enough to stem crime
Rio’s police have successfully occupied and “pacified” 13 favelas since late 2008. They’ve also begun to turn their attention to the extortionist paramilitary groups prevalent in poor neighborhoods where drug traffickers are absent. And the state is moving fast … Continue reading
Afternoon Delight in UPP territory: a way to value favela history
O Globo reported today on a new Rio state government program to fund late-afternoon street shows that draw on local memory, in occupied favelas this summer. Dubbed O Verão das UPPs, or Summer in the UPPs, the program has funds … Continue reading
Elite Squad 2: a call for political change
[UPDATE JAN. 19, 2011 With Brazilian ticket sales of over 11 million, Elite Squad 2 premieres in the U.S. this Sunday at the Sundance Festival, hors concours. DVD sales in Brazil begin Feb. 10] Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad … Continue reading
Fewer stray bullets/menos balas perdidas
A report released today by the Rio de Janeiro Public Safety Institute (ISP), a state agency, shows a drop in the number of victims of stray bullets, from 2009 to 2010. In the first half of this year, the victim … Continue reading
Celebrating the new Lapa / a nova Lapa é uma festa só
Cleaning up, opening up and ordering Lapa is just one part of mayor Paes’ choque de ordem, or “shock of order”. He’s also used the term on Rio’s beaches, for parking violators and in a number of other cases. It … Continue reading
Real estate boom is happening in “pacified” favelas, too
Gentrification is called “white removal” in Portuguese. Or just gentrificação. The Estado de São Paulo reports on what could become a major problem in the city’s South Zone. As “pacified” areas become integrated into the rest of the city, favela … Continue reading
“If [the social UPP] doesn’t work,the blame will all be ours”
From Social UPP coordinator Sílvia Ramos, in the Estado de São Paulo newspaper: “It’s easier than I thought. I’m finding that it’s possible to be criticial from within the government. We have all the support we need. There’s money, priority, … Continue reading
Cinéma Verité, for real
Click here to see five short films made by Rio police in action, made available to O Globo newspaper. They show the following: 1) Operation 157, in the Pavão-Pavãozinho favela, which took place in late 2008, a year before military … Continue reading
Veja magazine interview with Rio’s military police commander
Veja’s “yellow pages” interview Sept. 15 with colonel Mário Sérgio Duarte, available in Portuguese online by way of the Acervo Digital icon at the top of the magazine’s home page, portrays a man determined to transform Rio’s main police force, … Continue reading
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