Carlinhos Brown’s Village
Mr. Carlinhos Brown is a Brazilian musician who also runs a small rejuvination project in the town of Candeal. NYT reports. This quote from Mr. Brown caught my eye
“Poverty is not an excuse for anything,” Mr. Brown, 46, said on a recent gray afternoon here, his eyes shielded by a pair of oversize sunglasses. “Poverty is an opportunity.”
That is a rather bold statement, and it got me thinking. Poverty is not an opportunity if you are isolated. So, perhaps we can expand on Mr. Brown’s statement by adding “poverty is an opportunity to build community”. That reminded me of Bill Strickland. Here is a link to his Ted presentation about working in neighborhoods that everyone gave up for dead.
FOLLOW - In fact, poverty may be an opportunity for business too. C. K. Prahalad wrote an interesting book about how multinational corporations should begin selling to people at the bottom of the social pyramid (the poor). Knowledge at Wharton interviewed Prahalad. Here is the link.