Construindo poder narrativo para justiça social: entrevista com Shanelle Matthews

Baby's first academic article interview courtesy of Renata Saavedra and Diego Cotta, leftist communications scholars from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Renata and Diego broadly study the intersections of communications, social movements, feminism, and human rights.

We learned about each other's work through the @radical_communicators_network, a network I founded six years ago when I was hungry for connection, mentorship, and to build with people who think about social change the way I do—in the narrative realm.

I never imagined that my desire for belonging would blossom into a transnational network of mutual aid with a vigorous exchange of ideas, exploding into solid relationships and new projects.

The interview is featured in the quarterly issue of Mídia e Cotidiano Magazine or The Media and Everyday Magazine, whose main objective is to disseminate empirical and/or theoretical research on themes related to the field of communication, with emphasis on the relationship between media and everyday life.

The issue is titled Comunicação, Mídia e Interseccionalidade or "Communication, Media and Intersectionality." Squeal!

What makes this relationship extra special is that Renata and Diego are contributors to the anthology I'm co-editing with @marz.zukowska, which details world-building narrative campaigns and strategies led by progressive and leftist social movement communications workers in the 21st century.

Their chapter details how effeminate, young, Black, gay men in the favelas of Brazil are disseminating Afro and LGBTQI-centered content that expands anti-racist and anti-cis-heteronormative narratives and life possibilities.

Read the interview here in English

https://periodicos.uff.br/midiaecotidiano/article/view/55518/32962

And here in Portuguese

https://periodicos.uff.br/midiaecotidiano/article/view/55518/32961