Make no mistake, technology is for those who are black, Indigenous and also slum-dwellers

"Technology only makes sense when it starts from our understanding of our bodies."

TECHNOLOGY

WORLD

12 MINS READ

DATE

JULY 24, 2023

AUTHOR

Obirin Odara

Obirin Odara, has experience as a project coordinator in the third sector and in public administration, and as a researcher. She is the creator of the course “Coloniality and Whiteness”, as well as the autonomous project "ORÍentação Afetiva" and the study group "Djeuti - a critical decolonial discussion about technologies, blockchain and metaverse for black and indigenous people".

IMAGE

João Araió is a journalist, poet, photographer and filmmaker from Piauí, living in Rio de Janeiro. Graduated in Social Communication at PUC-Rio, he was part of collectives active in community communication, cultural production, right to the city, human rights, theatre and popular education. Currently, he acts as pedagogical coordinator of GatoMídia, an agency, network and learning methodology in media and technology focused on black and indigenous youth. In photography and audiovisual, he researches the everyday space, narratives and memory preservation devices of traditional, peripheral and diasporic communities.

João Araió speaks to Obirin Odara for WoU.info. João is the coordinator of GatoMídia's pedagogical initiative which searches for recognition and expansion of the reach of initiatives that are led by people who are subordinated by economic, political aesthetic and social structures.

In this interview, we are two black people communicating using different strategies produced from our identities. These are created not only for survival, but also for reworking the future along with the present from an ancestral perspective.

Obirin: To begin with, tell us a little about your trajectory, João?

João: My name is João Araió and I’m talking to you now from the territory of Baixada Fluminense, in Rio de Janeiro. I was born in Piauí and came here when I was 10 years old. I’m a journalist by trade, and when I found myself in the job market I suffered some professional disappointment, especially while working as a press secretary. So, I decided to look for another way. I joined a collective called ‘Ocupa Alemão’, from which the idea of GatoMídia was created.

The ‘Ocupa Alemão’ collective emerged in the context of violence against the youth of that territory, at the turn of 2012 to 2013. We were at the height of the advance of the Public Security policy in Rio de Janeiro with the implementation of the UPPs (Police Pacification Units). We emerged at a time of increasing police violence, which brought about a lot of violation of the rights of the black population, along with criminalisation of daily life in the favela, and of culture and knowledge. It brought about a kind of mechanisation of life within the communities. They begun implementing curfews from 10 o'clock at night in the Complexo do Alemão and Borel. The collective carried out action to confront this curfew which also included a cultural activity in order to raise awareness of the residents. This desire of ours to create a space that was also for exchange and sharing of knowledge and experiences is how the idea of GatoMídia was born. At first, it was a set of workshops where we brought some content to the young people of Complexo do Alemão and, little by little, we created and built ...