Virtual Seminar: Do Black Lives Matter in Brazil?

About five million African slaves were brought to Brazil, approximately nine to ten times as many as were trafficked to North America. As a result, Brazil has one of the largest Black populations in the world. Ever since abolition in 1888, Afro-Brazilians have endured poverty, social injustice, systemic racism and violence. Paradoxically, Brazil has projected the notion that its high miscegenation produced a “racial democracy,” in contrast with countries like the United States. Is there any truth to that? In the 21st century, do Black Lives Matter in Brazil? What has civil society done to fight social inequality and systemic violence against the Afro-Brazilian population? Is police brutality as big of a problem as in the United States? How can society combat racism under a far-right presidential administration? How is Brazil positioned in the transnational Black Lives Matter movement? These are some of the questions that will be addressed by a group of prominent panelists dedicated to becoming actors of social change in Brazil. More finformation about the panel and presenters can be found here.

Panelists:
Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Political Economy, Department of African & African Diaspora Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Juliana Farias, Postdoctoral Researcher, Gender Studies Center, University of Campinas
Vítor Del Rey, President, GUETTO: Urban Management of Entrepreneurship, Work and Organized Technology
Moderator: Marcio Bahia, Associate Teaching Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies

This event is presented by Notre Dame International, with cosponsorship by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Department of Africana Studies.