Our meeting with the student senate on the IFG campus (think community college with an emphasis on engineering programs and teacher training) was electrically charged. Students are led by Gabriel, the son of an activist of the dictatorship period in Brazil (1964 to 1985). He spoke passionately about social injustice, racial prejudice, gender discrimination and his willingness to take to the streets to effect change.Gabriel led the students in a protest against a city-wide increase in bus fares and said the fares had been lowered last week. He said he'd "taken it in the head" by the club of military police who fought back the protestors. A group of about twenty students nodded in agreement as he spoke about unequal distribution of wealth, harsh penalties for drug use in the absence of rehabilitation, and gender discrimination. Some of his fellows reminded him of improved opportunities and the possibilities for change.
I was struck by his belief in his voice as a vehicle for improvement.
If this is the world's future, our children are in good hands.
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