Brazilian social movements are among the strongest and most organized in Latin America, challenging the social, racial, and economic injustices of the neoliberal system. Since the arrival of the Worker's Party to power in 2002, the second largest economy in the Western Hemisphere has been seen as a center of hope and potential for participatory democracy and regional integration. While the government's aversion to privatization has slowly been chipped away by international finance institutions, an important WTO victory has set a precedent for hemispheric trade, and the Landless Workers' Movement has reclaimed the struggle for land reform.

Nevertheless, in Bahía do Salvador, politics takes on an altogether different form: dance, music, spirituality, race, culture. Afro-brazilian communities in the North, historically segregated from the wealthy, white South, are among the poorest of the nation- and often find their only political voice through culture. When not commodified by the elite, afro-brazilian cultural expressions are victim to racism, adding to an isolation of communities that have traditionally been ignored by subsequent governments.

How are afro-brazilian communities in Salvador participating in political space on their own terms? How are Bahiana communities fighting against poverty, violence, and racism through cultural education and art? Participate in afro-brazilian dance classes, meetings with afro-brazilian political organizations, visits with Brasil's Landless Workers Movement (MST), women's organizations, street children's organizations, and human rights groups, and explore the political space of afro-brazilian traditions in the cultural center of Brazil.

Program Highlights:

• * Celebrate, learn, and practice capoeira, samba-reggae, forró, and other styles of Brazilian dance, and attend concerts and other cultural events at
• the heart of afro-brazilian culture
• * Learn about the history of the diaspora in Brasil- the largest population of African-descendent communities outside of Africa. Explore the current links between race and class in the country, and meet with organizations battling for political participation
• * Meet with favela youth organizations providing creative exits to violence and crime
• * Converse with women's and human rights organizations, and representatives of local government
• * Visit with members of the MST (Landless Workers Movement), the largest social movement in Latin America, which has succeeded hundreds of times in
• recovering land throughout Brazil, pressuring for profound land reform and providing land titles to more than 250,000 families.

Cost: $1350 (from Recife)

Price Includes:

• Double-room hotel accommodations; two meals per day; transportation to and from all programmed activities including possible domestic flight; guides and translators; a qualified trip leader; all program activities; and reading materials.
• Not included: International airfare, lunches, airport departure taxes, tips, and personal expenses are not included.

How to Register:

This trip will be as diverse as possible in terms of race, age and life experiences. We strongly urge people of color to apply. In some cases, a limited number of partial scholarships are available for low-income applicants.

Make your reservation online now!

Contact Zach with any questions about this trip, or call toll-free 1-800-497-1994 .