The Landless in Brazil

This is a picture of a landless peasant just getting off work. He is part of the Landless Worker's Movement that has been going on since 1984 and claims approximately 1.5 million members. Statistic show that in Brazil, 1.6% of the landowners control roughly half (46.8%) of the land on which crops could be grown. Just 3% of the population owns two-thirds of all arable lands(Wikipedia). This creates a problem for the majority of Brazil. Their cause is even more justified in their eyes because of the 1988 constitution that says land needs to have a social function. This social function is accomplished when the land and resources is used adaquately, when labor laws are followed, and both the employer and employee benefit from the land.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 303.

 --Pamphlet. "Southern Sudan: A Population in Distress"Migrations: Humanity in Transition.   Aperture. New York, 2000. 22.

"Landless Worker Movemement." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 25 Feb 2010. Web. 07 Apr 2010.

Water

Trailer

In my English we are watching a movie about widows from India in 1938 called "Water."  According to Hindu scriptures women have three choices when there husband dies, they can remarry a younger brother if the family permits, they have to burn themselves with their husand, or go live in exile. This belief was carried into religious law for a long time.

When I think of a widow I think of an old person, but in India it was common for children, sometimes as young as 8, to be married off.  The widows were considered bad omens, forced to cut their hair, remove jewelry, refrain from make-up and only wear white clothes.  They had to beg on the streets for money, they could only eat one meal a day, and were not allowed to eat sweets.

 With help from Ghandi, many of the laws have been lifted. The dress code no longer exists, and because of new laws for the marriage of children, child-widows is less common. Widows still rarely remarry and society still considers them bad luck(Kamat).

Kamat, Jyotsna. "Plot of Widows in India." Kamats Potpourri. 28 Jan 2010. Web. 3 Mar 2010.

Photograph. "Movie Review Water: 64." Hubpages. Hubpages Inc. Web. 3 Mar 2010.

Video. "Water." IMDb Video: The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc. Web 3 Mar 2010