Building a Better Brazil
By Mary Miller Flowers
Rates of police violence in Brazil are among the highest in the world. Economically speaking, Brazil is also among the most unequal countries. Despite being the eighth-largest economy in the world, as many as half of its citizens live at or below the poverty line.
UNEafro Brazil works with university students and other youth in communities that have been hardest hit by violence and poverty. Through direct action, mobilization, and education, the organization draws attention to the rights of Black and impoverished youth and other members of the Afro Brazilian community who face multiple forms of discrimination.
In the video above, Douglas Belchior, one of UNEafro Brazil’s founders, talks about what it is like to live in Brazil’s favelas: the violence, the lack of educational and entertainment opportunities, and the near-constant police presence.
UNEafro Brazil is a grantee of the Open Society Foundations. At Open Society is a video series highlighting the people and ideas that are inspiring our work—and changing the world.
Until August 2019, Mary Miller Flowers was an associate director for justice with the Open Society Human Rights Initiative.