United Rising’s goals of upholding the well-being of the planet and its inhabitants, would not be complete without showing to the public already existing representation of individuals promoting our same principles. United Rising, stands for Union as our aim is to foster collaboration and walk together towards common targets.
This is why, UR has the honor to present a new collaboration with Badi, a 20-year-old from Belgium, the founder of a documentary project called “La Rèvele” (Next Generation). After months of hard work, he decided to go pick up his backpack and camera to explore the globe and analyze different issues related to the unsustainable dynamics of our society.
UR wants to give voice to inspiring young people such as Badi, that dare to critically assess behaviors that remain often unquestionable and part of our daily lives. With his spirit of adventure, he will share his journey with the public and show his skills of problem-solving. Together we have an upcoming project, which we are excited to share, aimed at raising awareness and fueling our sense of belonging to the planet.
Follow his journey at @larelevetheproject
What is la Relève?
La Relève aims to explore youth political involvement and activism across three different continents and countries: Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), and France. Here we dive into three distinct political challenges – specifically: secularism and Islam for France, climate change for Brazil, and war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ultimately, the rationale of his adventure was to answer the following question: are young people interested or not in these political challenges? If yes, how are they involved?
Despite the apparent difference and separation of the aforementioned three challenges, Badi realized, in the course of his research, the interconnection between these themes. He understood how much these issues are also the product of a capitalist society seeking power of resource acquisition, resulting in high consumerism. This is what he will give us the chance to understand in an upcoming documentary.
Badi is an extremely proactive young individual who dared to roll up his sleeves and contribute positively to this world. Living in Belgium, it was difficult to get close to cross-border issues that seem far from his reality. Nevertheless, this experience helped him to understand how challenges such as the deforestation of the Amazon are not mere domestic issues, but rather planetary issues that require global mobilization. Here, he also realized how much our intense consumerism patterns are one of the core causes of these paramount issues.
When observing his generation, he remained stunned by the dysfunctional consumerism behaviors driven by a high sense of unawareness. Nevertheless, the question of whether or not young are engaged in challenges emerging from such behaviors, remained unsolved.
This is what he is going to discover in this journey, with the mission of documenting it and sharing it with the entire world.
Trip to Brazil
In the beautiful country of Brazil, Badi faced the unfortunate backstage of the country: the deforestation of the Amazon forest.
The “lungs of the earth”, giving us vital oxygen, are hazardously being destroyed by human activity – hindering our survival, increasing climate change, raising biodiversity loss, etc. One of the main factors resulting in this challenge is food consumerism – most specifically meat consumption. As a matter of fact according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture, in 2021, Brazil was the largest exporter of beef, with around 20% of global exports, and the second largest exporter of chicken meat, with around 13% of global exports.
Faced with this issue, Badi had the immense honor to see how many young Brazilian, including individuals coming from very humble backgrounds, are mobilizing to stop this phenomenon. This included young Brazilian activists who fight against climate change, politically involved young people that vote for ecological deputies and propose governmental action plans, and finally, young indigenous victims of environmental racism. The latter term relates to the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on certain communities, often hindering their survival.
Trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo
During his visit to D.R.C., Badi had the mission to analyze humanitarian emergencies linked to the appropriation of natural resources of the region. Resources such as gold and diamonds, as well as coltan and cobalt, once processed, are used by my multinational companies and governments to manufacture electronic equipment, purchased in Europe among others.
Most of us are completely unaware of how our consumerism patterns on one side of the globe are fueling violence and injustice on the other side. Are we truly conscious of the dynamic behind a product of daily usage such as our phones? Here lies the story of our modern slavery where the true victims are the locals exploited and witnessing the destruction of their country. This gave birth to extreme conflicts, leading to a high rate of “child soldiers”, and widespread and systematic rape as a war crime.
Despite this context of war and conflict, Badi had the great opportunity to interview young people dedicated to bringing justice to their country which has for long been oppressed. He also had the chance to dive into a war zone and interview young militias part of the MPA (Popular Self-Defence Movement) – fighting tirelessly for peace in Congo.
Trip to France
Often the word “consumerism” is exclusively related to the consumption of goods, while it also encloses the consumption of services – including social media. The latter can often offer content that is misleading and, in some cases, used in a political context for indoctrination and propaganda. This is what Badi will analyze in his last and, near to come, destination – France – in the context of the political tensions for the practice of Islam. Indeed, this controversy gave rise to the polarisation of opinions also among young people.
More specifically, the three themes that will be documented are the following: the veil, freedom of expression, and the rise of the extreme right. These are all themes deeply affecting the present and future of young individuals, among others – ultimately hindering the creation of an inclusive and equal society.
Behind these controversies, Badi hopes to find faces of young people willing to share in this documentary their level of commitment and involvement in these themes.
Stay tuned!
Being a change maker surely requires determination – yet is not impossible. Badi is the representation of this and allows us to witness that each step and each initiative when accumulated can make a global change. Realities are completely subjective to our perception. What feels comfortable and reasonable on one since of the globe, can represent violence and devastation on the other side.
La Relève is in line with our principle of holistic sustainability as it allows us to see how each planetary issue is completely intertwined.
UR together with la Relève, we are building new projects that will soon come to bring awareness to the public and inspire people to make a change.