black in barra

it is 1:30 pm here in Salvador. This is the hottest time of the day – a time to be in the shade of a café or the shade of an umbrella on the beach or of course cooling in the ocean. This city is a funny mixture of a beach town and bustling city. Today I found myself back at the mall searching for a map and with my extremely basic vocabulary I was able to find one and also find myself a supermarket that was not wal-mart. Yes- the most ubiquitous market here is BonPreto, aka – Wal-Mart Brasil (you wonder why it is the most profitable business ever – exceeding or right after Exxon! for more on evil wal-mart see Democracy Now headlines from 4/05 http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/05/141245).
I shopped there yesterday because of course it is the one closest to me. But today I found the other one, the brazilian one which im happy to say I like better –more organized, the prices seem better (of course everything’s in kilos so im still making non-educated guesses as to how much groceries cost) and they were playing good music to boot. I’ve also seen at least two subway shops , blockbuster, mcdonalds, HSBC and Citibank. And ive barely left my neighborhood. Aaah, globalization.- and even in my three days here I see how globalization is taking brazil by storm. The beautiful bodies, the beautiful food, the beautiful surroundings barely mask an inequality that is one of the most stark in the world. It is also extremely racialized – with blacks being at the bottom. The gap between the rich and the poor here is more than 6 times the difference in countries like India and Pakistan and more than three times the difference than in the U.S. If you compare wealth inequalities in the countries of the world – brazil comes in 3rd to last. All you have to do here is look up and you can see it – tall gated apartment buildings constructed in a jazzy, late 60’s futuristic style and tucked in between them the infamous favellas built on top of one another fighting for their part of the city. It hit home for me last night – so obvious and clear.,] I met up with my friend nilson who is a student here at the university and from the town where the Sisterhood is from– Cahoeira. Nilson speaks English and as he was walking me back to my place someone said something in English to me again. I started laughing and I asked nilson – how do they know I am American? im even trying to sway my hips like a brazilian. And he said immediately – because you are black living in barra. Riiiight, I said, of course. Barra is upscale, with gates and 24 hour security men. And the right on the beach. And though there are plenty of black people on the street enjoying the chill vibe, at the beach and cafes, the ones you see consistently throughout the days are the ones selling something, working in the stores or sleeping on the streets – not living here.