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black lives matter protest
may of 2020
at the height of pandemic,
there was still no vaccine
and the televised murder of George Floyd sparked a series of movements about racism all over the world.
the #blacklivesmatter grew up through the internet and arrived in Brazil, with a few acts organized in some capitals. in Rio, may 31, the protesters also demanded an end to violent police operations in the favelas. in proportion, Rio has the most lethal police in Brazil - especially in those vulnerable areas. the rates are mind-blowing and they only increase. according to studies, between 2007 and 2021, there were 593 massacres (actions with more than three deaths) with a total of 2,374 murdered people - considering a margin of underreporting. of the total number of victims killed in favelas, almost 75% are either black or brown.
there are voices that need to be heard
and can no longer be ignored
photos have no sound, so it's important to remember and imagine the protests do not occur in silence.
there is noise and there are many screams.
screams that echo history and bring crying of revolting
a man wearing the brazil national team shirt, with an injured foot and holding the sign
"the justice is not blind, she is paid to not see"
arriving at the Guanabara Palace, Rio Governor’s office,
emblematic and traditional point of protests in the city
see me
on the front line
a few centimeters, few moments before the confrontation
the invisible line of tension
that separates two worlds
...and then
at that moment, chaos reigns.
bombs, gunshots and rush
even so, quietly, peace is there
and sometimes, especially these times,
everything we need is a hand,
a friend or someone we can trust
safe distance
to survive
and you can't stay in the middle of the way
even when
apparently too old
for all of this
and all the weird situations
nowadays can be recorded
but in the end, the power remains in the same hands
with the same historical victims
"the mother's pain of a murdered sons is priceless"
it's hard to even try to imagine
after all, the hangover comes strong, the body feels the physical effects and thoughts boil new perceptions. many emotions dilate through the experience. see and feel just a drop of the structural racism that haunts Brazil. it did not start from yesterday and it won't end tomorrow...
but something is changing, the world is changing a little, day by day.
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