Brazil: Barbeque as Protest in São Paulo

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

They want the rabble to get there to work as maids and janitors, but they want them to take three hours to get there and only be able to sleep four hours a day.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/05/17/brazil-barbeque-as-protest-in-sao-paulo

A new kind of protest has become an internet “hit” in Brazil, promoted by a new social class: the “different people” who participated in a churrascão (big barbeque).

The protest was in response to the withdrawal of permission by the government of Sao Paulo to build a subway station in Higienópolis, following a petition signed by 3,500 residents from the upscale neighborhood of the capital of Sao Paulo. Note: All the links in this post lead to Portuguese language posts except when otherwise noted.

The news caused outrage among the citizens of Sao Paulo and the case was widely discussed on Twitter, becoming a trending topic with the hashtags #Higienopolis and #GenteDiferenciada (different people). The terms spread on the web after the publication of an interview suggesting that the subway would lead to the arrival of “drug addicts, beggars, a different people, promoting the degradation of its sacred streets and increasing the number of police incidents.”

A communal barbeque in protest against the neighborhood elite was promptly organized on Facebook, and in two days more than 55,000 people accepted the invitation to participate:

Barbecue of the different people
When: Saturday, May 14
Where: In front of Higienópolis Mall
Schedule: 2pm
Dress code: Different
*Bring beach chairs, cachaça, farofa, portable sound system, and anything you want. Mulata women smothered in tanning oil will be welcome.

The barbecue happened as scheduled, it was fun and peaceful. Look:

[rabs]

1. Looking at the photo first thing I noted

was that the crowd certainly did not look like "gente diferenciada." But then thought the gente were not able to participate because there is no subway station handy. ;-)

Blogger Maria:

Manifestação irreverente, criativa, com a cara de uma parcela da juventude paulistana de classe média: bem vestidos, bem-humorados e acima de tudo bem informados e conscientes de que para a cidade melhorar para todos, todos têm de se envolver e lutar por boas causas. <…>

Think it was cool that it was mostly middle-class youth who want a better city for all, not only the rich of Higienópolis.

Thanks for posting and have a caipirinha for me.

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

2. This is a remarkable form of protest. Very civilized. Where are all the cyclops with teabags

stapled to their heads, like the Teabaggers in the U.S.? Where are all the criminally insane right-wing mentally-impaired loons walking around, striking poses so you'll see their big guns and holsters, as they did during the Presidential campaign in the States?

YOUR peeps seem genuinely calm, respectful, well-intentioned, and intelligent. No racist signs, no misspelled signs! How do they expect to have a protest without making complete asses of themselves?

This is really cool. They could teach the world a lesson.

[EFerrari]

3. Love it.