Video-taped Dialogues on Dignity
Dignilogues
#dignism


 

 

We often use #dignism when we upload videos on YouTube
See Evelin Lindner's channel, and Gaby Saab's WDUi channel


Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogues

Evelin Lindner had been invited to Rio + 20 in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, but chose to go to Marabá in Pará with her video camera instead. She chose Marabá over Rio + 20 because, as she had learned, the voices of the people in the Amazon are not heard. She wanted to hear them and bring their voices to larger audiences. Her hosts were Daniel Baron Cohen, known in Brazil as Dan Baron, or Dan, and Manoela Paula Latronica de Souza, known as Mano Souza, or Mano, and their Rivers of Meeting community project (Rios de Encontro) in Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), which is the founding community of Marabá at the confluence of two rivers, Rio Tocantins and Rio Itacaiúnas (the name "dry hair" comes from the observation that the hair of Africans is so tightly coiled that it does not get wet when bathing in the river).

See the article "Norueguesa Troca Rio+20 por temporada em Marabá" in Correo do Tocantins (translated by Google Translator and summarized in Evelin's South America 2012 "digniventure" reflections. See also some still pictures.

Please see also the bilingual masterpiece Harvest in Times of Drought - Colheita em Tempo de Seca, by the pedagogic collective Voices of the Country with Daniel Baron, published by Transformance Institute, Tocantins and Itacaiunas Rivers, in 2011. See also Dan's presentation Identity, Diversity and Collective Action (Rio+20, Maraba, Amazon) further down, a presentation that gives an introduction to Dan Baron's work. See, furthermore, his description of the monument "As Castanheiras of Eldorado dos Carajás."
01 Vozes do Campo / Voices of the Country, autoria coletiva
02 Eu canto / I sing, Raimundo Ferreira
03 A planta e o jardineiro / The plant and the gardener, Adriano Rosa
04 Criança alegre / Happy child, Margarete Ferro
05 Sonhar / To dream, Raimundo Ferreira
06 Falam com X / Speak with X, Raimundo Ferreira
07 Piratas / Pirates, José Hilton
08 Que bom seria / How good it would be, Geane Lopes
09 Vento norte / North wind, Raimundo Ferreira
10 Cheiro da terra / Smell of the land, Airton Pereira
11 Alerta Amazônia / Alert Amazon, Zequinha Souza

• The fragility of the Cabelo Seco community is illustrated by the case of the killing of a man in a wheel chair that Dan describes as follows:
Alexandre
Last night, as we were returning from the June fest on the riverfront of the Tocantins, enjoying a Tacacá stew, we learned that Alexandre had been executed in his rusty old wheelchair. We were devastated. He was one of fifteen special needs young people from our community who had received a gift of 100 Brazilian Dollars from the artists of our youth-band during the final cultural fest of 2011, after they and their mothers decided to recycle a performance fee of $1500 from the global Brazilian mining company Vale do Rio Doce into a currency of solidarity.
The next morning, the streets revealed more detail. Alexandre had been playing with his one-year old son on his lap. As a car drove at him to tip him into the street, Alexandre had thrown his child onto the sidewalk. He was shot in the head and died instantly. Alexandre had been paralyzed from the waist a year earlier in a drug-trafficking feud, but had continued to command the circulation of oxy (a lethally addictive, cheap derivative of crack-cocaine), and even executions, from his wheelchair. Alexandre simply met our 'Rivers of Meeting' project a little too late, our emerging artist-leaders said, at the crossroads between two worlds: a midnight project of death and a dawn project of life. Was he crossing their threshold? He knew he would end up on the front-page of the local newspapers, but was not yet aware his death would be used to promote the industrialization of the Amazon, to fuel 'electricity for all'.
His days were numbered, the street whispered, and it's good that he died. Now we will all sleep easier. If Alexandre had known how his death would be used to justify the accelerated development of the riverside and dispersal of its Afro-Indigenous community to make way for a luxurious international resort – financed and powered by Vale do Rio Doce, would he have made other choices? What was he singing to his son as they played at midnight? Will he grow up gasping for refuge from putrid river highways in evergreen shopping-centres, consuming his own ancestral memory as 'Amazon cool'?
Alexandre's rusty wheelchair offers insight into all that we face in the Amazonian State of Pará today. Dan Baron
25 June 2012
Transformance Institute
Tocantins and Itacaiunas Rivers

See also:
- Kite festival 2014
Jovens do 'Rios de Encontro' celebram o Rio Tocantins, escrevendo com pipas no céu de sua comunidade Afro-Indígena, Cabelo Seco, Pará, seu compromisso para proteger a Amazônia,
Youth from 'Rivers of Meeting' celebrate the River Tocantins, writing with kites on the sky of their Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco, Pará, their commitment to protect the Amazon.

- Performance: Let Our River Pass, 2015
Performance by the young Amazonian artists of Rivers of Meeting project in defence of their Cabelo Seco community and the River Tocantins, threatened by the planned construction of a hydroelectric dam in 2016.
Performance pelos jovens artistas amazônicos do projeto Rios de Encontro em defesa de sua comunidade Cabelo Seco e do Rio Tocantins, ameaços pela construção agendada de uma hidrelétrica em 2016.

- Dance piece: Lágrimas Secas/Dry Tears, 2015
Cia AfroMundi partilha sua nova dança amazônico-contemporânea 'Lágrimas Secas'. A hidreléctrica de Marabá vai matar o Rio Tocantins. A comunidade Cabelo Seco prefere energia solar. Vamos proteger nossa Amazônia!
AfroMundi shares its new Amazonian-Contemporary dance piece 'Dry Tears'. The Marabá hydro-electric dam will kill the River Tocantins. The Cabelo Seco community prefers solar energy. Let's protect our Amazon!

- Rios de Encontro: Dry Tears (Lágrimas Secas), 2015
Rios de Encontro Rios de Encontro, published on 12 September 2015
AfroMundi Dance Company from Cabelo Seco community in Marabá presents its poetic alert about the threatened murder of the River Tocantins' spring during the present industrialization of the Amazon. Cia AfroMundi da comunidade Cabelo Seco em Marabá apresenta na pracinha sua alerta poética sobre o assassinato ameaçado do nascente do Rio Tocantins, na atual industrialização da Amazônia.

• 01 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 1: Educação e Sustentabilidade - Ari Martins e Seus Colegas Trocam Saberes na Escola Jonathas Pontes Athias / Education and Sustainability - Ari Martins and her Colleagues Exchange Knowledges in the Jonathas Pontes Athias School (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado em Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 20 de Junho de 2012. Dan Baron facilita e traduz uma conversa entre professores e pedagogos sobre os desafios que enfrentam no fomento de co-responsabilidade e pedagogias de transformação com professores, alunos e famílias. Ari, Cris, Hosana, Lucélia Cristina dos Santos
English: This video is bilingual (Portuguese/English). It was created in Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 20th June 2012. Dan Baron facilitates and translates a conversation between head-teachers and pedagogues about the challenges they face in nurturing co-responsibility and pedagogies of transformation with teachers, pupils and families.

• 02 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 2: Cantando para uma Amazônia Sustentável: Zequinha de Cabelo Seco Canta na Orla do Rio Tocantins / Singing for a Sustainable Amazon - Zequinha of Cabelo Seco Sings on the Edge of the River Tocantins (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 21 de Junho de 2012 na orla do Rio Tocantins. Em 26 de Junho na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro. Em 21 de junho, Dan Baron organizou uma viagem de barco até o local onde o Rio Itacaiúnas se encontra com o Rio Tocantins. Dan também traduz.
English: This video is bilingual (Portuguese/English). It was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 21st June on the bank of the River Tocantins. On 26th June 2012 in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project. On 21st June, Dan Baron organized a boat trip to the place where the Rio Itacaiúnas meets the Rio Tocantins. Dan also translates.

• 02.1 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 2.1: RBA Entrevista: O Rio Tocantins Fala atraves do Musico Zequinha e da Jovem Lideranca Carolayne de Cabelo Seco / The River Tocantins Speaks through the Musician Zequinha and the Young Leader Carolayne of Cabelo Seco (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Em 21 de junho 2012, Dan Baron organizou uma viagem de barco até o local onde o Rio Itacaiúnas se encontra com o Rio Tocantins na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará, Brasil, com o líder comunitário José Carlos (Zequinha), o jovem líder Carolayne Valente, e do pesquisador e autor Lindner Evelin. Dan também traduz. Jornalista Victor Haôr Correêa Dias (Chefe de reportagem na Sistema Costa Norte de Comunicação) veio junto com a câmera homem Jânio Andrade, da TV RBA, também conhecida como RBA (Rede Brasil Amazônia de Televisão), uma emissora de televisão brasileira afiliada à Rede Bandeirantes em Belém, no Estado do Pará.
English: On 21st June 2012, Dan Baron organized a boat trip to the place where the Rio Itacaiúnas meets the Rio Tocantins in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, with the community leader José Carlos (Zequinha), the youth leader Carolayne Valente, and the researcher and author Evelin Lindner. Dan also translates. Journalist Victor Haôr Correêa Dias (Chief reporter in the North Coast System of Communication) came together with camera man Janio Andrade, from the RBA TV, also known as RBA (Brazil Amazon Network Television), a Brazilian television station affiliated with the Bandeirantes Network in Belém, Pará, Brazil.

• 02.2 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 2.1: RBA Barra Pesada
Português: Esta entrevista com Dan Baron, Manoela Souza, Zequinha, Elizangela Neves, e Evelin foi conduzido na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará, Brasil, na 19 de junho de 2012. Esta entrevista foi conduzida por jornalista Victor Haôr Correêa Dias (Chefe de reportagem na Sistema Costa Norte de Comunicação) com o câmera Jânio Andrade, da TV RBA, também conhecida como RBA (Rede Brasil Amazônia de Televisão), uma emissora de televisão brasileira afiliada à Rede Bandeirantes em Belém, no Estado do Pará.
English: This interview with Dan Baron, Manoela Souza, Zequinha, Elizangela Neves, and Evelin was conducted in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 19th June 2012. The interview was conducted by journalist Victor Haôr Correêa Dias (Chief reporter in the North Coast System of Communication) and cameraman Janio Andrade, from the RBA TV, also known as RBA (Brazil Amazon Network Television), a Brazilian television station affiliated with the Bandeirantes Network in Belém, Pará, Brazil.

See more background information:
Dan Baron wrote on Monday, 22nd August 2011 about "Music for a Sustainable and Vital Amazon":
Good morning from the Amazon! On this world day of action against the building of the hydro-electric plant, Belo Monte, on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon (to be the third largest plant in the world), with unpredictable, irreversible sociocultural and environmental damage in the region which will impact on all of our lives, we present two songs...
- Alerta Amazonia (Zequinha de Cabelo Seco)
- Clamor popular (Zequinha de Cabelo Seco)
- See the booklet of songs from the Brazilian Amazon which includes the translation of Alerta Amazonia (from the Transformance Archive)
Both songs have emerged in Cabelo Seco, an afro-indigenous community, the founding community of Marabá, Pará, where we live and work. The riverside community is already suffering serious consequences of the large dams completed in the past two years. The songs have been developed by our friend, project collaborator and art-educator Zequinha de Cabelo Seco, inside our project Backyards of Cultural Solidarity. We hope they contribute to the broadening of the international quest for a living, sustainable Pan-Amazônia.
Even if you don't understand the poetic lyrics, we believe you'll understand their emotions. Please write to us if you would like a translation, and feel free to use the songs in your own projects and community. Here are some links if you'd like more information:
- www.avaaz.org/en/amazon_under_threat/
- www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_amazon_a/?fp
Please see here some still photos.

• 03 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 3: Em Busca de uma Estética Amazônica de Transformação com Artista Plástico Antonio (Botelinho) Botelho de Marabá / In Search of an Amazonian Aesthetics of Transformation with Sculptor Antonio (Botelinho) Botelho of Marabá (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco em Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 21 de Junho de 2012, na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro, e oferece reflexões poéticas sobre o papel do artista, memória e intervenção cuidadosa. Dan Baron traduz.
English: This video is bilingual (Portuguese/English). It was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair") in Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 21st June 2012, in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project, and offers poetic reflections about the role of the artist, memory and careful intervention. Dan Baron translates.
Please see here some still photos.

• 04 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 4: Democratização da Amazônia com o MST / Democratization of the Amazon with the MST (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado na entrada da sede da Fazenda Cedro, próxima à Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 21 de Junho de 2012. Voltamos no dia 24 de Junho e viu a bandeira "Contra a intolerância dos ricos e a intransigência dos pobres." Dan Baron explica e traduz.
English: This video is bilingual (Portuguese/English). It was created at the entrance to the vast Cedro Farm, near to Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 21st June 2012. We returned on the 24th June and saw the banner "Contra a intolerância dos ricos e a intransigência dos pobres." Dan Baron explains and translates. MST stands for the Landless Workers' Movement (Portuguese: Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra), the largest rural social movement in Brazil.
Please see here some still photos.

See also the video of made on 22nd June 2012 by the MST movement:
Global Action: MST Occupation of the Area of ​​ALPA / VALE in Marabá - Pará / Ação Global: MST em Ocupação da Área da ALPA / VALE em Marabá - Pará
English: More than 400 workers and students from different social organizations, occupied this morning (22nd June 2012) the area Aços Laminados do Pará (Alpa / Vale), a protest of a peaceful character, with marches and the composition of human monuments [chestnut tree, symbol of money and mandala people] as part of the "Global Action," which is being held in various parts of the country, an action critical of the capitalist system and the policy of the green economy discussed at Rio +20 event.
Português:Mais de 400 trabalhadores e estudantes, de diferentes organizações sociais, ocuparam hoje (22 Junho 2012) pela manhã a área da Aços Laminados do Pará (Alpa / Vale), o protesto de caráter pacífico, com marchas e composição de monumentos humanos [castanheira, simbolo do dinheiro e a mandala dos povos] faz parte da chamada "Ação Global", que está sendo realizada em várias partes do País, numa ação de crítica ao sistema capitalista e a política da economia verde debatida no evento Rio+20.

• 05 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 5: Cultura, Saúde e Sustentabilidade, com Ana Louiza Silva e Razia Friedler / Health, Culture and Sustainability with Ana Louiza Silva and Razia Friedler (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco em Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 21 de Junho de 2012, na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro. Razia Friedler participa via Skype de Uruguai. Dan Baron facilita e traduz.
English: This video is bilingual (Portuguese/English). It was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 21st June 2012 in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project. Razia Friedler participates via Skype from Uruguay. Dan Baron facilitates and translates.
Please see here some still photos.

• 06 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 6: O Monumento "As Castanheiras of Eldorado dos Carajás" e Sua Relevância Global / The Monument "As Castanheiras of Eldorado dos Carajás" and its Global Relevance
This video was created in the "Curve of the S" on the PA105 motorway between Marabá and Eldorado in Pará, Brazil, on 24th June 2012. Dan Baron, artistic coordinator of the global community monument "The Castanheiras of Eldorado dos Carajás" which marks the site of the massacre of landless rural workers on April 17, 1996, explains its symbolism.
Português: Este vídeo foi criado na "Curva do S" na rodovia PA105 entre Marabá e Eldorado, Pará, Brasil, em 24 de Junho de 2012. Dan Baron, coordenador artístico do monumento comunitário e mundial "Castanheiras of Eldorado dos Carajás" que marca o local do massacre de trabalhadores e trabalhadoras sem terra no dia 17 de Abril, 1996, o explica sua simbologia.

• 07 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 7: Hélio Hamarana Dias on the Past and the Future of the Amazon in its Global Context (English)
This video was created in Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on 29th June 2012, and in the settlement "17 do Abril" in Pará, Brazil, on 24th June 2012, when Dan Baron, Manoela de Souza, Hélio Hamarana Dias, and Evelin Lindner visited this settlement. Hélio Hamarana Dias reflects on the past and the future of the Amazon in its global context.
Português: Este vídeo foi criado em Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 29 de junho de 2012, e no assentamento "17 do Abril" no Pará, Brasil, em 24 de junho de 2012, quando Dan Baron, Manoela de Souza, Hélio Dias, e Evelin Lindner visitados este acordo. Hélio Dias Hamarana reflete sobre o passado eo futuro da Amazônia no seu contexto global.
See A Plot Of Their Own, written on January 20, 2002:
"...Trees are not the only casualties of Brazil's failed reform. Just ask the people of 17 de Abril, a settlement named for a day of infamy. On April 17, 1996, 3,000 squatters marched for land rights in Para in eastern Amazonia. They ran into a police barricade. When the shooting was over, 19 peasants were dead, many shot at point-blank range, one in the back. The police involved are still awaiting trial. The bloody incident, and Brazil's failure to bring the culprits to justice, unleashed a fury of international protest. Brasília accelerated land reform, settling 74,600 homesteader families a year, five times the rate of previous governments. By rights, 17 de Abril ought to be the centerpiece of Cardoso's new rural democracy. Nothing could be further from the truth..."

07.1 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 7.1: Eric Vieira Carvalho Speaks with Hélio Dias about the Amazon (English)
This video was created in Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 29th June 2012. Hélio Hamarana Dias asks Eric Vieira Carvalho about his views on life as young man of twenty-two in Marabá.
Português: Este vídeo foi criado na Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 29 de Junho de 2012. Hélio Hamarana Dias pede Eric Vieira Carvalho sobre suas visões sobre a vida como jovem de 22 em Marabá.

07.2 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 7.1: Eric Vieira Carvalho Sings
This video was created in Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 29th June 2012.
Português: Este vídeo foi criado na Marabá, Pará, Brasil, em 29 de Junho de 2012.

08 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 8: Justiça Social e Sustentabilidade - Irmãs do Ativista Ambiental Assassinado José Claudio Ribeiro Explica a Campanhã pela Justiça e Sua Relação com o Futuro das Florestas Amazônicas e nosso Planeta / Social Justice and Sustainability - Sisters of Assassinated Environmental Activist José Claudio Ribeiro Explain their Campaign for Justice and its Link to the Future of the Amazonian Forests and our Planet (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará, B rasil, em 21 de Junho de 2012, na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro. Inclua Claudenir e Claudelice Ribeiro, irmas do ambientalista assassinado, José Claudio Ribeiro e conhadas de sua companheira assassinada, Maria do Espirito Santo da Silva, eco-pedagoga, educadora do campo e co-autora com Claudenir do livro Harvest in Times of Drought - Colheita em Tempo de Seca. Também, inclua Claramilta Sousa dos Santos, sobrinha do Jose Claudio. Dan Baron, co-autor e coordinador do projeto Harvest in Times of Drought, traduz.
English: This video is bilingual. It was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 21st June 2012 in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project. It includes Claudenir and Claudelice Ribeiro, sisters of the assassinated environmentalist José Ribeiro and sisters-in-law of his assassinated partner, Maria do Espirito Santo da Silva, eco-pedagogue, rural educator and co-author with Claudenir of the book Harvest in Times of Drought - Colheita em Tempo de Seca. It also features Claramilta Sousa dos Santos, niece of José Claudio. Dan Baron, co-autor and coordinator of the project Harvest in Times of Drought, translates.
Read more in The Guardian:
"Amazon Rainforest Activist Shot Dead," by Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro, 24 May 2011. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva fought against illegal loggers and had received death threats but was refused police protection...
"Brazilian Police Arrest Suspects in Amazon Murders of Environmentalists," by Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro, Monday 19 September 2011. Two held over killings of José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espírito Santo, who were dedicated to saving the rainforests...
"Environmental Activists 'Being Killed at Rate of One a Week'," by Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro, 19 June 2012. Death toll of campaigners involved in protection of forests, rivers and land has almost doubled in three years...
See also:
"Over 700 People Killed Defending Forest and Land Rights in Past Ten Years," June 19, 2012.
Please see here some still photos.

09 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 9: Dan Baron on Identity, Diversity and Collective Action (Rio+20, Maraba, Amazon)
This video was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 27th June 2012 in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project. Dan Baron shares the presentation he gave to open the Course on Trade Union Action and Solidarity-Based Sustainable Development for the National School of Family Agriculture on June 23 2012 as part of the Rio+20 week of action in Maraba. See here the Powerpoint presentation. This video was edited by Luária Augusto S.A..

Dan Baron Cohen
Dan Baron, please click on the picture to see it larger.
Monument
The Castanheiras of Eldorado dos Carajas 1999 (10m x 15m x 25m), please click on the picture to see it larger.

Military police is moved to sing in the school of the assassinated art educator Maria Silva, 24th August 2011, Nova Ipixuna, Para, Amazonia. Please click on the picture to see it larger. See also Colheita em Tempos de Seca or Harvest In Times of Draught, a CD that provides a celebration of the Amazon as a source of human values and rich popular culture, by those who live both everyday. But it also reminds of its vulnerability. It is an inspiring resource for all educators and communities who seek a sustainable future.

Dan Baron is a community-based arts-educator and cultural activist who lives and works in the Amazonian northern state of Pará, Brazil.

Dan wrote from Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), in Marabá, southeast of Pará, in the Amazonian north of Brazil on 22nd August 2011:
Good morning from the Amazon! On this world day of action against the building of the hydro-electric plant, Belo Monte, on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon (to be the third largest plant in the world), with unpredictable, irreversible sociocultural and environmental damage in the region which will impact on all of our lives, we present two songs...
- Alerta Amazonia (Zequinha de Cabelo Seco)
- Clamor popular (Zequinha de Cabelo Seco)
- See the booklet of songs from the Brazilian Amazon which includes the translation of Alerta Amazonia (from the Transformance Archive)
Both songs have emerged in Cabelo Seco, an afro-indigenous community on the periphery of Marabá, Pará, where we live and work. The riverside community is already suffering serious consequences of the large dams completed in the past two years. The songs have been developed by our friend, project collaborator and art-educator Zequinha de Cabelo Seco, inside our project Backyards of Cultural Solidarity. We hope they contribute to the broadening of the international quest for a living, sustainable Pan-Amazônia.
Even if you don't understand the poetic lyrics, we believe you'll understand their emotions. Please write to us if you would like a translation, and feel free to use the songs in your own projects and community. Here are some links if you'd like more information:
www.avaaz.org/en/amazon_under_threat/
www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_amazon_a/?fp

Many thanks. An amazonian hug!
Dan Baron e Mano Souza
Cabelo Seco, Marabá
Institute Transformance/ABRA

Dan wrote on 23rd August 2011:
"The conference takes place during my final 5-day period of intensive writing (and type-setting of our new book 'Harvest in Times of Drought: a pedagogy of life for sustainable community', written with 50 rural, riverside and forest arts-educators), but I would like to make myself available for 90 minutes, if that works for you. Is there a definite open or closed space where I could share reflections on what we have learned from arts-based pedagogical work in response to the destruction of the Amazonian forests? I could speak very concretely on how a group of 50 teachers transformed a culture of collusion into an community-based ethics of co-responsibility, based on reflexive solidarity and cooperation. This could also connect to our response to the assassination of our student/grandmother/eco-pedagogue Maria Silva (on May 24). Alternatively, or within the same contribution, I could speak about our work with young people as cultural organizers and artists, transforming themselves, to transform their own afro-indigenous community, one of the poorest and allegedly most violent in Maraba, cradle of the 'industrialization of the Amazon'."

10 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 10: Mano Souza in Conversation about Community Transformation and the Sustainability of the Amazon
This video was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 28th June 2012 in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project. Manoela Souza, together with her partner Dan Baron, are artistic-pedagogic coordinators of the project. Dan is the cameraman of this video tape. This video was edited by Luário Augusto S.A.
Português: Este vídeo foi criado na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará, B rasil, em 28 de Junho de 2012, na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro. Manoela Souza, com seu companheiro Dan Baron, são os coordinaadores-artisticos do projeto. Dan está filmando. Esta video foi editado por Luária Augusto S.A.

11 Rios + 20 Amazon Dialogue 11: Jovem Comunitária Leader Camylla Alvis sobre o Futuro da Amazônia / Young Community Leader Camylla Alvis on the Future of the Amazon (Português/Inglês, Portuguese/English)
Português: Este vídeo é bilíngüe (Português/Inglês). Foi criado na comunidade afro-índigena de Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará, B rasil, em 27 de Junho de 2012, na casa de cultura do projeto Rios de Encontro.
English: This video is bilingual. It was created in the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ("dry hair"), Marabá, Pará, Brazil, on the 27th June 2012 in the cultural home of the Rivers of Meeting project.