Brazil occupies nearly half of the South American continent and is home to approximately 214 million people, over half of whom are African.

With 83,000 deaths from COVID-19, Brazil is rapidly catching up with the U.S. where 145,000 have died. Africans in Brazil face extreme poverty, lack of health care and rampant violence and murder at the hands of police and the Brazilian military.

We talk with:

Thalma de Freitas, Grammy-nominated musician, songwriter and actress, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thalma performs a wide variety of African music such as hip hop, samba, jazz, and traditional African music in Brazil, representing African independence in culture and politics.

Abner Sotenos. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Abner is currently a doctoral student in history at the University of California San Diego. His recent public talk delivered at the University of California Los Angeles chronicled the history of colonial violence against African women in Brazil, including the recent assassination of Marielle Franco.