Ciclovida event in Framingham
We saw many Brazilian flags waving as we rode our bikes into Framingham from Boston. The Ciclovida team had a great 20 mile ride together as we headed for our event at Casa do Trabahaldor in Framingham for our screening. It was a great event with Portuguese as the primary language spoken; this time the small group of us who could not converse in Portuguese had to wait for translation, a nice switch from the usual. We met some great companheiros from Brazil, and Ivania and Inacio even discovered that one of our new companheiros, Diego, actually used to live in the same part of Brazil and had the same friends as Inacio in the 80s! What a small world! Everyone enjoyed sharing stories and connecting experiences, and Ivania even led everyone in a shared often sung by women activists in Brazil! “Pra mudar a sociedade do jeito que a gente quer, participando sem medo de ser mulher” (“To change society the way we want, we have to participate without fear of being women”)
We were invited to come to an action for Brazilian workers in Framingham who are each owed between $1000 and $6000 of stolen wages that the contracting company, Pulte Homes, has not paid for the work they have done. Casa do Trabalhador organizes to fight for worker’s right and everyone’s right to get paid for the work they do. We joined about 20 others at the action on the company’s job sight at 6:30 in the morning to stand in solidarity with workers who were striking. It was the first action taken by Casa against this company and they are hopeful that they can negotiate to get the back-wages paid for workers who are owed in total over $40,000.
Protest of Pulte Homes, demanding that workers get paid for the hours they work
We enjoyed a great time with new and old friends in Framingham and were glad to connect with so many welcoming people. It was a great town to pass through that made Ivania and Inacio feel a little bit more at home meeting so many other Brazileros who have crossed borders into the United States. We were invited to return to help start up a community garden and hope that we will be able to reconnect with the companheiros we met here and work together.
