Midria

Growing up in the eastern outskirts of the city of São Paulo, Midria noticed social challenges facing those in her community. Distance from the city centre meant barriers to education, less social and political participation, and less cultural interaction than those living in urban areas. Midria felt her peripheral community was devoid of cultural activities, which she claims are essential to personal development and her own identity as a young black woman.

  
Attending the University of São Paulo, or USP, Midria and three friends co-founded USPerifa Collective to promote a culture of marginal-peripheral literature through the slams, a complication of spoken poetry. USPerifa Collective is a cultural event that brings together marginalized people and the university to be a part of critical conversations and develop a slam culture at USP. Ultimately, the goal of the organization is to promote the resignification of the university to challenge its legacy of exclusion.