Book traces pulse of AfroReggae in Brazilian culture

Beneath Brazil’s image of beauty, laughter, and hope, lies a constant tension of violence and corruption.

These tensions are violently exposed in “Culture is Our Weapon,” by Patrick Neate and Damian Platt. The book focuses on the work of AfroReggae, which aims to take favela (shantytown) residents out of the drug trade using music and culture. As the book weaves through both the culturally rich and violent realities of Brazil, the reader in turn oscillates between admiration and absolute horror. The book goes on sale on Feb. 28.

“Culture is Our Weapon” is not focused only on AfroReggae, however. The book offers a rich background on the corrupt, political reality in the country—it explores the way in which music in general has played a role in Brazilian’s lives and delves into the individual lives of favela residents, giving a unique perspective on the way social classes function.

Neate and Platt place favela life within a wider context. This sense for broader cultural surroundings lessens the probability of creating artificial, romantic visions of violence, as often happens with this sort of inquiry. It is relieving to have a book that shatters such fantasies and, above all, desperately desires to convey the truth. This honesty is important at a time when, according to Platt, “people have become accustomed to the violence.”

The authors use plain and frank language. This style gives rise to an informal atmosphere, as if the author were directly speaking with his reader. Platt and Neate are not dictating, but conversing and explaining—they are urging the reader to react, to be drawn into what is happening. “Culture is Our Weapon” emphasizes that there are wars going on among the favelas—wars that are too often ignored by Rio and Brazil at large. Although the favelas are interspersed throughout the city, they are ultimately shunned by the middle class and elite.

Such an attitude, Platt and Neate emphasize, gives rise to communities of voiceless peoples. What AfroReggae does, then, is to offer these people a voice. “Culture is Our Weapon” likewise emphasizes that Rio, and Brazil at large, is a wonderful and energetic place—something that is often felt and expressed through its music. Indeed, AfroReggae communicates that integral core of the Brazilian: a passion and need for music.

The circulation of this book is coming at an appropriate and important time—with the coming of the World Cup and Olympics in Rio, there are realities that need to be clarified, something which the book attempts to accomplish.

“Culture is Our Weapon” is not the average book in that it cannot offer readers a conclusion or an answer. It is feasible to walk away believing, like Platt, that AfroReggae is the “light in the tunnel.” But, as the authors assert, it is important to understand “what a serious situation” Brazil is facing.

Damian Platt will be speaking on March 11 at Bluestockings Bookstore.