From Political Prisoner to Cabinet Minister: Legendary Brazilian Musician Gilberto Gil on His Life, His Music and the Digital Di

Forty years ago the legendary Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil was a political prisoner, held by the Brazilian military dictatorship. Today he is a cabinet official in the Brazilian government.

As protests raged across the globe in 1968, Gilberto Gil was at the center of a cultural and political revolution in Brazil known as Tropicalia. The movement was seen as such a threat to Brazil military’s dictatorship that two of the movement’s brightest stars – Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso – were jailed and held in solitary confinement. They were both eventually released and forced into exile.

During his time in exile Gilberto Gil would become one of the world’s most celebrated musicians as well as a spokesperson for Brazil’s emerging black-consciousness movement.

Today Gilberto Gil remains one of Brazil’s best known artists as well as the country’s Minister of Culture. Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appointed Gilberto Gil to the cabinet position in 2003.

As Minister of Culture, Gil is spearheading a different kind of anti-establishment revolution. This time it is about democratizing the distribution of intellectual property rights. The country has battled Microsoft, Monsanto, and drug companies selling patented HIV drugs. Gil works closely with Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig and the Creative Commons project.

Gilberto Gil was in New York this week for the Personal Democracy Forum conference, a conference focused on how technology and the Internet are changing democracy. He also performed last night to a packed crowd. Yesterday I sat down with Gilberto Gil in the press room of the Personal Democracy forum.

Gilberto Gil, Brazilian musician and Brazil’s Minister of Culture.