Keith’s impromptu lyrics were his way of honoring everyone with whom he had shared the Boot Camp. He starts singing to individuals towards the end of this first video. (Oh, and those are bottles of sparkling cider on the tables, as this is an alcohol-free event!) We seem to have some incredible, visionary musicians at every Boot Camp. Of course, artists are, after all, visionaries.

Keith, we’ll cherish this memory forever, and we hope to have you on our Training Assistant team for November… bring the guitar!

FAVELA RISING documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.
At the dawn of liberation, just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson’s grassroots Afro Reggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever.

After the inspiring film, Anderson Sá answered questions about his life through a translator. Young Austin social revolutionaries listened to this man, and some asked how they might effect change the way Sá has. One was a local, conscious hip hop artist, named Gator, who I’d seen last summer performing at the National Hip Hop Political Convention. I spoke briefly with both Sá and Gator, and left inspired to find more such social revolutionaries. These are people who are working in the trenches to bring about positive change through non-violent, inspiring means. These are the kind of people we’re welcoming to attend our upcoming boot camp, which for the first time ever is a gift to such agents of change.

You take a stand, you make waves
that can’t be ignored.
Some fear they’ll be crushed
and swim for shore.
But some say “surfs up!”
and grab their boards.
Take a stand or not
the choice is yours.
But if you don’t stand
the world will be bored.
And, if you ask me
Life is too short
So, to stand or not?
To stand, of course!

-King Matu