Culture Is Our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio de Janeiro

//Culture Is Our Weapon// collects interviews and stories from citizens of Rio de Janeiro who inhabit the urban slums called favelas. The book documents people who have left (or tried to leave) the drug trade, and the NGO called AfroReggae which has helped them. AfroReggae enables the people of the favelas to resist the many temptations of "o traffico": women, money, power, respect. On a basic level it operates by building up the self-esteem of the community. It helps develop skill-sets, like music and recycling, that the community can continue to employ socially and economically. The book's simple, journalistic approach describes individuals and stories of racism, impoverishment, and how social systems from top to bottom in Brazil reinforce social inequality. While we get a great understanding of the individuals attached to AfroReggae and how they work through music and events to aid the favela residents, we get little description of what AfroReggae as an entity actually does, on a day to day basis; more information about how AfroReggae creates workshops, classes, and concerts would help other cities and nations as they battle similar issues, and greatly enhance the significance of this book. Reviewed by Joe Atkins

The importance of the arts could not be better advocated than this compelling story woven with the bitter reality that exists in the poor neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro. The reader is given a clear background of the conditions, both current and the necessary historical context, to explain how the gripping sounds of AfroReggae is succeeding in reaching across ethnic, racial, and class barriers in Brazil. This promising success story is an interesting book for music enthusiasts, visitors of this area of Brazil, non-profit organizations, and those believing in the power of the arts, particularly music, to enable positive change in communities whether affluent or poor. One improvement to suggest is a glossary of terms be added to the back of the book to help those that take a more leisurely time in their reading. All terms needing explanation are given clearly at the bottom of each page, but this can be cumbersome to look for if coming back to the book after several days.