The Truth About Brazil’s Favelas
I hung out in the largest favela in Brazil and left with great memories and a caipirinha. Not emotional trauma and battle scars.
I usually take accusations of crime and danger in areas with a grain of salt, because I know as soon as a place has too many Black/Afro descended people, folks start acting like it's a war zone and leave out all important context and nuance. So I had to learn about favelas for myself.
Favelas like Rocinha are real neighborhoods where families live and people own businesses. Like anywhere else, context matters. Safety is nuanced. And fear without understanding is just a loud assumption. Also, there are rules to every “hood” and you just have to know where to go and move with locals. For instance, I was told in favelas you usually don’t wear helmets on motorcycles so your identity can't be hidden. And you have to know which areas are cool to take out your cell phones or wear sunglasses without raising suspicion.
But at the same time, you're often safer in a favela like Rocinha than in the streets of Brazil because the people in charge maintain strict law and order so things like phone theft and assault are unlikely.
Even the reggaeton artist Rosalía was hanging out in Rocinha recently, which should tell you how off the usual narrative really is.
#brazil #braziltourism #favela
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