Conectados al Sur - Breakfast of Ideas
Hate speech, Race and Inequality in Colombia and Brazil
Friday, April 15, 2016, 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
at Harvard University
23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Conference Room
Although Brazil and Colombia hold the largest population of African descent in Latin America, racist speech continues to portray young Afro-descendants as the greatest perpetrators of the growing violence in the region. They are represented as a sector of the population at risk, and not as autonomous social and political actors. The created image by discriminatory discourse limits young people’s capabilities and freedoms, inhibiting them from pursuing opportunities which can improve their lives, contribute to their communities, and build social trust. And yet, in these environments of state neglect and armed violence, Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Colombian youth develop their own initiatives to shape their communities and affect public policy through civic engagement and leadership in their communities using the Internet.
Extending the success of great talks and networking in our first and second Breakfast of Ideas, we want our participants to discover how Niousha Roshani analyzes the impact of Race and Inequality in Colombia and Brazil within the Harmful Speech Online initiative launched by the Berkman Center which aims to explore racist speech patterns and how they are being replaced by the positive approach of initiatives of dedicated Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Colombian youth civic engagement and leadership forging in the process new and meaningful political identities.
The Breakfast of Ideas seeks to gather both people from Latin American and individuals who have a sincere interest in Latin American affairs revolving around issues of children and youth, technology, Internet and social media, education technology, and new applications for social changes.
About Digitally Connected and Conectados al Sur
Digitally Connected and the sub-initiative Conectados al Sur for the Latin American and Caribbean regions is a collaborative initiative between UNICEF and the Berkman Center building upon a multi-year partnership for analyzing digital and social media growth and trends among children and youth globally. Our team has at its core a network consisting of academics, practitioners, young people, activists, philanthropists, government officials, and representatives of technology companies from around the world who, together, are addressing the challenges and opportunities children and youth encounter in the digital environment.
About Niousha Roshani
Niousha Roshani is a fellow at the Berkman Center, anthropologist and human rights consultant specializing in childhood and youth in conflict-affected regions and the discourse of media and young people of African descent in Colombia and Brazil from a political, social, and economic perspective. She is also the Executive Director of the Nukanti Foundation for Children, a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering youth to address the social impacts of long-standing conflict, poverty, and human rights violations. Niousha is completing her PhD in Anthropology at the University College London (UCL) and holds a Master’s degree in International Development from Cornell University.