The emaciated bodies sway to the rhythm of the samba, in a neighborhood strewn with trash where dozens of homeless people addicted to crack live, in the heart of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
With a whistle in his mouth, Claudio Rogério, known as “Claudinho”, directs a group of percussionists who have a blast, hitting drums, snare drums and tambourines, for a carnival parade like no other.
Black cap backwards, rosary around his neck, this 39-year-old man who is missing two front teeth is very proud to take part in the procession of “Blocolandia”, the group which organizes the parade.
This brass band has paraded at every carnival since 2015 in Cracolandia (“Crackland”), as the area where the greatest concentration of drug addicts is found in the Brazilian megalopolis is nicknamed.
“The guys had already created Blocolandia, but they didn’t have any percussionists, so I had the idea of creating a percussion group for drug addicts,” he told AFP, before specifying: “We We’re not just drug addicts, we’re smart people who love music.”
Revelers take part in a street carnival in Sao Paulo (Brazil), February 3, 2024, in a neighborhood nicknamed Cracolandia because of the large number of crack addicts who live there / NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP
Claudinho is still a crack user, but he no longer lives on the streets. He is now in housing paid for by a social program, after having slept outside for a long time, among the waste.
With Blocolandia, he feels like he’s going back to his childhood, growing up in Vila Formosa, a neighborhood in eastern Sao Paulo known for its samba schools, like the one he attended with his family.
A few meters from him, in the procession, the singer MC Docinho gives voice, smile on his lips. This 33-year-old former crack user managed to drop out, but she did not want to completely sever ties with Cracolandia.
“Society judges that people here are dirty, that they are worthless, but I, who am clean today, know their value, their stories, and I absolutely want to be present to keep this connection,” confides this mother of five children.
Revelers take part in a street carnival in Sao Paulo (Brazil), February 3, 2024, in a neighborhood nicknamed Cracolandia because of the large number of crack addicts who live there / NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP
But the neighborhood, where heavy-handed police operations often take place, remains under close surveillance. Agents holding arm-length rifles observe the procession, motionless in the middle of the twirling dancers.
“Carnival is a good opportunity to break stigmas and show society that there are people who dance samba, who sing, who are good at inventing lyrics and who have other stories” to tell, explains Laura Shdior, psychologist who came to take part in the festivities.
“These are not the zombies that society imagines,” she concludes.
