Carnival in Rio, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

When the Church fails its people, let Rio’s Carnival fight for the rights of women, blacks, gays, and indigenous minorities. As outlandish as this (my) statement may seem, in my brief time in Rio I have come to believe that it may be time for the biggest and most extravagant Carnival in the world to be a platform and sounding board for the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. For me, Rio was just another stop on my way to the Amazon, my next highlight on this trip. I had no idea how much the mood, atmosphere, and energy of this city would engulf me and transport me into another world.

After one year under the political leadership of the ultra-conservative President Jair Bolsonaro, who uses divisive racial rhetoric and came to power with the help of Christian institutions and an effective mis-information campaign on WhatsApp, a deeply divided Brazil has heard disturbing messages from the most prominent Samba Schools in Rio this weekend. (Samba is a Brazilian music and dance genre that has its roots in the West African slave trade and African religious traditions.) The schools’ messages came through loud and clear: stop the hate speech, racism, inequalities, and the persecution of minority religions. This evil is in the process of consuming Brazil at the hands of the “prophets of intolerance”.

Risen out of Rio’s favela communities (favelas are unregulated slum neighbourhoods in Brazil), Samba Schools have always found ways to address social inequalities in the realities of their lives through music, dancing, and parades. This year, however, they have stepped up their game. The right-wing political climate in Brazil and its devastating consequences for the country’s poor and racial minorities is under severe scrutiny. Criticism of Bolsonaro appears to be wide-spread, so much so that political activism is taking center-stage in many of the Schools’ Carnival presentations. Last year’s champion of this annual competition, the Mangueira Samba School for example, was depicting the second coming of Christ in its parade this past weekend. Mangueira, which is known to be outspoken in its messaging, tells the story of Jesus born in the favela who stands up to intolerance and injustice. The presentation envisions Jesus with a black face, indigenous blood, and the body of a woman. “This is the Christ of Mangueira,” says Manuela Oiticica who wrote the headline song for the Mangueira'sparade. “He died for those values…and these are the values we need to recover today.”

“The eyes that see everything, the vision of truth and justice.”

Mangueira’s message this year is that of fraternity, tolerance and love. Provocative in its presentation for sure, but also necessary for as long as Christian institutions can’t remember the true message of Jesus and find themselves caught up in the winds of ultra-right populism. Their moral outrage is more focussed on scantily clad women parading in the Carnival and public urination in the streets than the things that really matter.

Not everybody is enthralled by the Samba Schools’ peagants.

At the end of my conversation with Marcia, a 50-year old Brazilian woman who lives in Rio, she points out to me the cultural and racial diversity of Brazil. “Counterfeit Brazilian passports are very much sought-after,” she said, “no matter what your background or the colour of our skin, here, you blend in and nobody will notice.” Still a cause for national shame after more than a century, Marcia points out that Brazil was the last country in the world to abolish the slave trade in 1888. Over 4.9 million slaves were brought here from West Africa to build churches, work in the sugar plantations and mining. The sins of the past still seem very recent and the humiliation and painful memories of those inhumane times have been passed on from generation to generation.

A slave master leading newly captured slaves to the ship.

Watching Rio’s Carnival Parade in the Sambadrome with 70,000 other people, I notice how the racial divide is still visible even here at this mega party: the majority of people in the viewing stands are white while the majority of people parading and dancing on the pavement below are black and clearly of African descent. Luiz Carlos Maximo of the Mangueira Samba School summarises the parade’s purpose beautifully: “Carnival is about joy…but the Samba Schools are reflecting what society is experiencing. They are talking about what the Brazilian people are living and suffering. And that’s the thing about samba – it sings about the saddest things, but with joy.” 

Carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

During this visit, I was only able to get a small taste of the Carnival experience in Rio and sadly, I did not get to watch and photograph the more provocative and meaningful parades. There is so much more to know and learn because the working class’ expressions of struggle and resistance are not limited to the parades at the Sambadrome: during much of the Carnival weekend, at night, there are approximately 300 blocos (neighbourhood street parties and performances) happening throughout Rio. As it seems, the entire city throbs and sways to the rhythm of drums and baile funk (a music genre derived from Samba). 

A samba school community is waiting to cheer for their parade team.

For somebody like me, who likes to be asleep by 9:30 pm, during my next visit I will definitely have to shift my priorities. As a local told me, you are always welcome to attend blocos in the various neighbourhoods – but remember, nothing happens before 11:30 at night and don’t expect to get home before 9 in the morning.

I think I am too old for that.

More pictures can be seen on this website on the page “Gallery Archive - Central & South America II”.

~ RT