Celebrating Brazilian Hip Hop: Rational and Rooted

Brazil has charted an original path towards liberation over the last quarter century and Hip Hop, as a movement and as a commercial art forum, has played a vital role in advancing popular and Black struggles. Organized by a Bass Connections team of graduate and undergraduate students, this panel will introduce you to Racionais MCs, from São Paulo, who placed Hip Hop on the map in Brazil (subject of a recent Netflix documentary), and the Rooted Institute, a community organization on the urban periphery of Rio de Janeiro. Through regular slam poetry events, a reading library, media production facilities and a college preparatory exam course, the Rooted Institute promotes racial, social, and political awareness in a region of four million residents, two thirds of whom are African-descended and poor or working class. It is a beacon of hope and awareness for young people who face not only poverty but racism, classism and stigmatization. Sponsored by "Hip Hop Pedagogies: Education for Citizenship in Brazil and the United States." a Bass Connections Project co-sponsored by Duke and North Carolina Central University.