Vai-Vai was my first. In January of 2006, during my first trip to São Paulo, I became washed in the downpour of sound and energy that is the open-air rehearsal of the Vai-Vai Samba School. I fell in love with Brazil that night. With the cadences that were only two or three beats away from […]
Feliz Na Vida: Sou Vai-Vai Read More
8:00am Wake up after having gone to bed at, oh, 3:30am. 8:15am Run out the door of your friend’s apartment, down five flights of stairs with two large carry-ons and a briefcase, and down three blocks to the U-Bahn station. 8:24am Board the subway at Hermannplatz, pushing your way through the morning commuters to grab a
Berlin to Brazil: A Suggested Itinerary Read More
In São Paulo’s boho-chic neighborhood of Vila Madalena, graffiti artists have claimed a couple of streets as an impactful open-air gallery of revolving exhibitions. Depicting city life, Brazilian slang, “Blackee Power” (the Brazilian term for a stay-sof-Fro!), and national pride, these murals stand testament to the city’s resurgence, unlike their unfortunate counterparts in New York.
Photo Essay: Madalena Murals Read More
Today, I return to São Paulo, my favorite megacity, for a weekend of sophistication and debauchery. Brazil’s largest city presents me with ample opportunities to sate every aspect of my being. I love her for that. The four videos below juxtapose images of the world’s largest underrated city from its adolescent growth spurt to its
From the AV Room: Portraits of a Megacity, Then and Now Read More
The last post of a 4-part series on my year-end jaunt through the Promised Land, aka Brazil. After an early-morning flight back from Rio to São Paulo, then traipsing from one end of town to the other by bus and subway and car, with two suitcases, I finally said goodbye to my best buddy, Roberto,
This is for all my HBCUans in the house, and all lovers of Southern black college and high school marching bands: tell me, tell me this does not channel halftime at the Florida Classic, Bayou Classic, Atlanta Classic, Circle City Classic (lots of classics), Raines v. Ribault, Norland v. Carol City, Southwest DeKalb or Washington
From the AV Room: Drumline, Brazilian-Style Read More
Part 1 of a 4-part series on my year-end jaunt through the Promised Land, aka Brazil. It all started with a 6 AM (Colombian time) flight out of Bogotá, two days before Christmas. Armed with distastefully warm chicken sandwiches and virtually no sleep, Roberto and I coasted down the spine of the Andes to Lima,
There Are 20 Million Stories in the Naked City…Here’s One Read More
Yesterday was the end of my three-week long Christmas vacation in Brazil. There was sun, sweat, sand, sex, song, and samba in varied combinations on various days. My buddy, Roberto, and I conquered the mean streets of that tropical urban behemoth, São Paulo, before jetting over to raucous Rio to ring in the New Year
