John Jay College
Room 1.108 524 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019
May 15, 2018
10:00 AM - 11:50 AM (GMT-5)
Host:
LeftForum 2018
The left in Brazil faces an unparalleled challenge to rethink its strategies after having the elected president, Dilma Rousseff, ousted in 2016 in a coup d’etat. After been able of build a socialist democratic party and win many elections from local and regional to the presidency of the country for 4 consecutive elections, the PT, born of the struggles of union’s movement in the end of 80’s saw its power destroyed, its leaders prosecuted and imprisoned leaving its activists in a daily challenge to resist and build solidarity. The Brazilian society is on a crossroad as there is little hope for free elections in 2018 after the imprisonment of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In spite of increasing repression, Brazilian social movements continue to organize and resist. Huge street mobilizations, the creation of international support groups, land and urban occupations count among the many ways Brazilian activists are now organizing to face the rise of the right veering toward fascism. The independent media and social media play a key role in bringing visibility to the resistance.
As part of LeftForum 2018, the Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee — a collective of Brazilian immigrants and supporters created in February 2016 to denounce the coup détat, organize international resistance and support human rights and social justice in Brazil — shared its experience in organizing grassroots mobilizations in New York.
Speakers included:
Maria Luisa Mendonça, The Center for Place, Culture and Politics, CUNY Graduate Center
Alexander Main, Senior Associate, International Policy, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Alessandra Pio, New York University
Aline Piva, Council of Hemispheric Affairs
Myriam Marques, Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee - DDB NY
For more information, visit the conference site.
