Rock star prods Rio's residents to stand up to the violence
Lead singer Tico Santa Cruz is rousing Brazilians from their apathy with highly visible, creative forms of protest.
from the May 15, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
A reluctant leader
"I am not sure he wants this role, but he is intelligent and articulate and he has taken on a very important task," says Lenin Novaes, a journalist whose son was killed by a stray bullet in April and who has worked with Santa Cruz to organize protests and debates. "He is one of those leaders who doesn't compromise but rather looks to mobilize people. At protests and marches against violence people listen to him and not because he is a musician but because he has something to say."
The problem for Santa Cruz is that Novaes, and most of the other active members of Rio United Against Violence, are people whose lives have already been marked by tragedy. As usual, Brazil's masses have shied away from outright confrontation, preferring to live with the despair rather than confront it.
Santa Cruz has worked hard to take his message to new audiences – to the housewives watching on daytime TV, for example, or to teenage music fans. And he has gained valuable media attention for his campaign.
But it has so far had no noticeable effect. If the people at home are watching or listening they have so far shown little desire to act.
"I don't think it's worth protesting," says Leda Bunde, a perplexed retired teacher's assistant who watched the ghosts protests in front of Rio's state assembly. "You have to wait for the government to wake up one day and see what's going on."
Santa Cruz is conscious of such apathy and knows this is one crowd he needs to win over. And with a steely resolution, he vows to continue objecting, demanding, instigating. There is, he says, no other option. For him or for Rio.
"I don't think that everyone needs to lose someone to violence to realize what is going on, but it's getting that way," he says. "When I started I felt really frustrated that no one paid any attention. But I don't think that I am going to change things overnight. I think I am planting a seed. Do your bit today because you don't know what will happen tomorrow. It's up to you."
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