O caráter decolonial da comunicação popular: Midiativismo de favela contra o Covid-19

This article is a contribution to the debates that reinforce the sociopolitical character and relevance of “decolonization” as a term that refers to anti-hegemonic and transformative actions. My goal is to demonstrate the decolonial character of practices of comunicação popular. In short, comunicação popular involves the construction of communities and processes of communication developed by marginalized and structurally oppressed social groups. First, I position myself socio-politically as a Black man in academia to reflect on the meaning of “decolonization” in relation to the Latin American debates around the notion of “coloniality”. Then, I argue that comunicação popular represents a set of decolonial actions for social change. Finally, I illustrate my arguments with examples of media activist actions to prevent the dissemination of Covid-19 in
favelas of Rio de Janeiro.