Afro-Paradise Brazil Summary

Professor Henry Louis Gates’ “Brazil: A Racial Paradise”, a documentary that focuses on the Afro-Brazilian population of Brazil, explored and exposed the concept of Racial Democracy; touted by the Brazilian government, it’s influence is largely overrated. (“Brazil: A Racial Paradise”, Black In Latin America, 2011, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Public Broadcasting Service, Web) While the institution of Racial Democracy has brought upon a certain amount of integration between Brazil and its 75 million Afro-Brazilians, the not so distant past-coupled with the realities of modern day racism-has left Afro-Brazilians alienated and discriminated against by mainstream society. However, since the abolition of slavery in 1888, coupled with the declaration of a Racial Democracy in the 1930’s and the leadership of influential Afro-Brazilians, Brazil has been quietly successful, albeit

The modernize approach of religion and traditions of the old African culture now converted into an Afro-Brazilian culture that still has an impact and exists today which is also still celebrated in Brazil. I believe that without slavery, many of the importance of both sides of society selling slaves and buying slaves would not have shaped humanity in the modern world. “Two centuries had seen African and European cultural religious and linguistic habits merging into unique Afro-Brazilian social and religious customs, music, and storytelling (Nellis 62).” The cultural influence of Afro-Brazilians has persistently grew from celebrations like carnaval into a mainstream popular culture. Brazil holds a variety of different ideas, culture and people. These ideas and traditions include musical interests, dancing, different food dishes, literature and art, festivities, and religious practices.

By “matrix of domination” Patricia Hill Collins means that there is a conceptual lens on three systems of oppression, which are race, class and gender. She describes how these three oppressions intertwine with each other affecting not just African American women but also affecting other groups as well. She describes how “interlocking race, class and gender oppression expands the focus of analysis from merely describing the similarities and differences distinguishing these systems of oppression”, but rather “focuses greater attention on how they interconnect” (Collins). The notion of “both/and” indicates that every group varies in the amount of penalty and privileges, all depending on the context. She uses the example of white women, which she describes that they are “penalized by their gender, but privileged by their race” (Collins).Growing up in a Hispanic house hold and being middle class, I usually get surprised looks from aunts and uncles (who I don’t see often) when they ask whether I’m going to school or working, and I respond with doing both. I feel that they don’t expect all those things from me, and I often feel that I need to prove to them that just because I’m young, a female, and from middle class I’m able to do many successful

Afro Brazilians have had to deal with centuries of oppression. During these times, Afro-Brazilians have had to deal with various methods, and strategies designed to keep entire communities oppressed. Many of these methods have had effects so profound, they are still affecting many Brazilians till this day. Political oppression is one of the oldest methods known to man, along with unleashing a forceful police force mimicking military forces. Authoritarian rule also played a major role in the shaping of the country. Furthermore, an inept biased justice system will fail those who need protections, and justice the most. These four key modes will be objectively examined, as well as the efficacy of each of these repressive strategies, and the impact that they have had or still have in the Afro-Brazilian communities.

This theme plays a role in the operationalization of the theorectical framework of black feminism, asking, how does this shared expereience of marginilzation when it comes to race and gender affect your self;perception varying amoung socio-economic status? The emerging data from my interviews suggest that their common experience of marginalization whether aware or not has affect in some form how they view their position in society. The societal norms of misogny and sexism that are often time structural. The obligation to family and community gave women in higher socio-ecomomic status a feeling of purpose and self-determination. As she was able to have more economic freedom and higher educational attainment, a sense of self-confidence and self-worth was displayed. In contrast the particpant who who experienced very minimal class fludity and continues to live within the lower SES, portrayed a lack of self-esteem and self-determination.

My understanding of the Matrix of Domination is that it’s the intersectionality of social factors such as gender, class, and race, and their cumulative impact on a person's life. This relates to C Wright Mills’ “Sociological Imagination”, the relationship between personal troubles and societal issues,

The origin of Afro Brazilian religions is traced back to the Atlantic slave trade that took place in the 16th century . Portuguese people captured individuals from Bantu tribes and the other West African communities. The slave trade involved the transfer of these people to Brazil, where they were sold as slaves. The interaction of slaves from different cultural and religious backgrounds led to the development of the Afro Brazilian religions that consequently spread all over Brazil. The religions did not; however, develop at once since they faced opposition from the then government that recognized the Roman Catholic as the only religion in Brazil. Attempts by Africans to worship in their own culture were counteracted until in 1824 when the

Over the past several decades there has been an increase, in Brazil, of people whom self-identify as being black or Afro-Brazilian. What sparked the rise in these identities in Brazil? Was it possible material and intellectual gains or, sparked from activism, or from other possible factors. The black movement and affirmation of “black” identity came about much later in Brazil than in other countries such as the United States. In my opinion the most important factors for the rise in these identities are the material gains from the Quilombo Clause, the effects of affirmative action and quotas, as well as social activism.

With these mediums of oppression, her first theory, referred to as the Matrix of Domination is brought up. Previous models of oppression were considered additive, or hierarchal, meaning that they must be ranked. Collins uses the experiences of black women to explain that all these modes of oppression, gender, race and class are interlocking and equally important when viewing domination. This bleeds mores into Part II, but the essentials are discussed in this section.

Patriarchy’s Scapegoat: Black womanhood and femininity – A critique of racism, gender inequality, anti-blackness, and historical exploitation of black women.

Brazil was the last country within the Western world to get rid of slavery. By the time it had been abolished, in 1888, AN calculable four million slaves had been foreign from continent to Brazil, four-hundredth of the entire variety of slaves delivered to terra firma. Throughout this era of amendment, however, the distinctness of ethno-racial identities and social relations in Brazil has been advantageous. because of its explicit characteristics, Brazilian society has the opportunity and apparently the will—to contest race-related difference while not recourse to the discordant and exclusionary techniques of anti-racism grounded during a slender and subtractive quality. In fact, i'm a lot of skeptical than ever concerning any intrinsic emancipatory

The article In Denial Over Racism in Brazil the author writes about racial inequality which is currently present and has obvious historical roots in Brazil; Slavery in Brazil lasted for approximately three centuries, from the start of the 16th century to the mid-19th, a period during which five million slaves were shipped Africa to Brazil which is about eleven times more compared to North America. In this article, three Afro-Brazilian children who were joking and playing in the streets of Palmeirinha during an electrical shortage and innocently shot and assaulted by police, then falsely accused of being a threat. Although Afro-Brazilians currently make up about 53% of the population in Brazil, children ages 12 to 18 are three times more likely

Matrix of Domination Patricia Hill Collins’ piece “Black Feminist Thought” coined the term ‘matrix of domination’ that defines a central component of her feminist theory. The phrase is defined as “the overall organization of hierarchical power relations for any society” (Collins 2000). Of any matrix, there are two key elements: “ a particular arrangement of intersecting systems of oppression,” these could be, for example, social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, and citizenship status; and “a particular organization of its domain of power,” like structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal (Collins 2000). The agents of knowledge are the individuals who make the knowledge about themselves while the objects of knowledge

According to Heise, the film uses the conventional narrative of a thriller to represent Brazil as a fractured society where social groups are so much in conflict that no sense of solidarity is possible between them (2012, p.109). This statement is made clear through the strong contrast there is between the elite neighbourhoods and the favelas. The fast pace of filming, the use of “energetic rap music” (Heise, 2012, p.67), and the prominence of dark colours and outbursts of violence are almost exclusively confined to the

The purpose of this paper is to recognize, study and analyze the race relations in Brazil. Race relations are relations between two groups of different races; it is how these two different races connect to each other in their environment. Since Brazil is racially diverse, this study is focused on how Brazilians relate to each other. Throughout the essay, it will become clear that there exists a conflict between two race groups. Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians are not connected and though these two groups converse with each other, discrimination still lies within the society. This discrimination has created inequality within the society for Afro-Brazilians. Thus, this paper will not only focus on racism and discrimination that