By Grace Terlinden The biggest learning experience so far on the trip has been learning the influence that slavery had on Brazil. As Xavier Vatin mentioned in his lecture on, “The African Diaspora in Bahia: A Socio-Anthropological Perspective” there were over eight million slaves whom are thought to be brought to Brazil largely from Angola, Benin, Congo, and others (Brazil An Inconvenient Truth). All documentation of enslaved peoples were burned after abolition in 1888 which inhibits opportunities for Brazilians to connect with their African heritage, however the cultural influence from Africa cannot be dismissed or destroyed (Vatin 2022). The impact enslaved peoples had on Brazilian culture remains today through music, dance, and has implications on all aspects of Brazilian life, and still effects politics today. Music in Brazil still maintains many of it’s African characteristics and genres that were created by Africans. The lecture at the beginning of the percussion workshop with Mario Pam and Ilê Ahiê taught us that many of the musical genres that today Brazilians enjoy such as samba, jazz, and blues were all created by Africans. An outlet in which this musical influence shines through is during carnaval. Although carnaval started as a European tradition, but expanded into what it is today, because of black artists. An important aspect to carnaval is showcasing the Afro-Brazilian music styles such as Samba (Eakin 2017). The Afro-Brazilian influence of carnaval is not always appreciated, and has received backlash from the state. Marshall Eakin explained this struggle for representation and accreditation in his chapter Samba, Carnaval, and Getúlio Vargas and said, “The lower classes that created and sustained the escolas de samba began a long struggle with the representatives of the State as each attempted to control and determine the direction of carnaval with samba at its center” (2017). This quote probes that although African influence has made Brazilian music and carnaval what it is today, they are not always properly acknowledged for their success. As seen with carnaval, music is often accompanied with dance, and in the case of Brazil, dance is also heavily influenced by the enslaved people. Some of the most popular forms of dance in Brazil were either created or heavily influenced by enslaved peoples. Capoeira was created by slaves in order to defend themselves from their oppressors, but presently it is less about self-defense and more of a dance. In our workshop with Mestre Sapoti, he explained that today Capoeira is used to remember the atrocities of slavery and to keep pushing towards racial equality (2022). It is a common misconception that enslaved peoples were not pushing back against oppression, but amidst the tyranny, Capoeira is proof that all along enslaved people were constantly fighting back. Gladys Mitchell-Walthour stated in their book The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil, “Running away and revolts were forms of resistance. There were a number of revolts led by enslaved people” (2017). Afro-Brazilians created many forms of art such as dance and music as a form of resistance, and in the case of Capoeira as a revolt against slave owners. Not only did Afro-Brazilians create a lot of the music and dance enjoyed today in Brazil, but they did it in spite of the violence their oppressors held over their heads. The influence of slavery in Brazil has sparked my interest since being here, because although slavery is often thought to have happened a long long time ago and some consider it’s impacts to no longer exist. It didn’t really hit me how little time has passed since slaveries abolition until taking to our tour guide Fredi who showed me a picture of his father-in-law whose father was a slave. This interaction was important to my understanding about the individual as well as collective impacts that slavery still has on Brazil and internationally. Slavery’s influence on Brazilian culture is certainly important, but the individual impacts it still has today should be acknowledged. The “color-blind” ideology that has been popularized in Brazil as a form of complete racial equality is therefore the quite opposite of equal. Without acknowledging the cultural and social implications that the legacy of slavery has on Brazil will only exacerbate racial inequality. Raising awareness and giving credit to Afro-Brazilians who have made positive influences on music, dance, and culture is also an important step towards repairing racial inequalities. Works Cited: Brazil An Inconvenient Truth : BBC Documentary. 2020. Video. Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. «Communicating and Understanding Mestiçagem: Radio, Samba, and Carnaval». Chapter in . Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth- Century Brazil, 79–106. New Approaches to the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316800058.004. Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. «The Sounds of Cultural Citizenship». Chapter in . Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil, 200–219. New Approaches to the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316800058.008. Mitchell-Walthour, Gladys L. 2017. The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil. Cambridge Studies in Stratification Economics: Economics and Social Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316888742. Grace Terlinden is a rising senior at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University, pursing degrees in English and Political Science. She is originally from Big Lake, Minnesota. She enjoys learning about international relations through her involvement in Model United Nations. She is very excited to learn more about Brazilian politics and life in Brazil while studying abroad.
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By Kathryn McDonough In the United States, many students go to college or university once they graduate high school. When in high school, I had no doubt that I would be accepted to at least one university, if not multiple. The biggest choice my peers and I had to make about college is what one we would choose. Many of us take it for granted that college is so easily accessible to us, which is not the case in many countries. During our time here, we have learned about the education system in Brazil. Over the course of the class, we have discussed race and gender inequality in Brazil. These inequalities can be seen in the education system. In our lecture at Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, we learned about the ENEM exam, which is the college entrance exam (similar to the ACT/SAT), and the importance of the score. For Brazilians, this score is the most important thing for college acceptance. Not only is the score the most important thing, it’s the only thing that universities look at when determining whether or not to accept a student or not. Brazilian universities do not look at GPA, sports, extracurriculars, etc. when determining who gets accepted. These exams are offered once a year and if a student doesn’t do well, they must wait until the next year to take the exam, hence pushing back their college career (“Education and Affirmative Action in Brazil”). Using a score to determine college acceptance may sound fair because it is based on ability and not other factors. However, we see there are many flaws with this system. Although the exam system doesn’t seem to favor any race, we see inequalities come into play which leads to certain people having the advantage. White people have a much higher chance of passing and getting into a good university because they have more resources to help them prepare for the exam and better high schools with more funding that prepare them for this exam. We learned how hard this exam is and that the pass rate is much higher for students attending private schools. If a student wants to go to college, going to a private high school is essential. Parents will pay a lot for their children to go to the top private schools. Since Afro-Brazilian families tend to be among the lower classes due to their long run oppression, it is hard for the families to send their children to private schools. Many of these families cannot afford private education and sending their children could have long run consequences. We see that the education system has racial biases since the system favors those with more resources and money (aka white people). During our lecture in Cachoeira with Xavier Vatin at UFRB we talked again about race and education. Xavier told us that the university intentionally selects Black students. Although this is controversial in America, this seems to be a really good thing in these circumstances. Universities like this one help bridge the education gap. Xavier told us that there was a substantial amount of first generation Afro-Brazilian students at the university as well as many Afro-Brazilian professors. He said that many of their university students will get their masters degree and come back to teach at the university and help other students. Xavier also talked about the positive impact that former President Lula had on representation in higher education and Black pride. Although increasing Afro-Brazilian representation in higher education is not currently the priority, Xavier was confident in a positive future with future leaders. In our lecture with Alcides I learned that there are after school programs that help provide additional learning opportunities to educate students. These programs helped to increase the number of students passing their college entrance exams. Alcides discussed the projects that he had worked on. These programs are implemented to help increase Black pride. For example, one of the programs he mentioned was a ten day workshop dedicated to promoting black empowerment. They taught Afro-Brazilians, both male and female, how to braid and style curly hair and be proud of it instead of trying to straighten it/ style it according to European standards (Alcides). Programs like this are important and may help improve the confidence of Afro-Brazilian students. In my research on the racial and gender inequalities in politics, I found, “Sustained white men’s dominance in Brazilian political institutions and deterred white and Afro-Brazilian women’s political ambition.” (Wylie, 121). Many Afro-Brazilian women had no motivation to run for office because of the long run oppression they faced. Applying this concept to the education system may be beneficial. Many Afro-Brazilian students have no motivation to even try to pass this exam because it feels so hopeless since the system favors white people. At Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, we saw how their exam prep program was able to help teach students key concepts in the exam to help increase their scores and chances of getting into university. Not only did the students learn exam content, they also learned that they were capable and the program aimed to increase Black pride. We listened to a former student talk about the positive impact this program had on his life. He talked about how amazing college was for him and that he wanted to help other students make it to college and experience what he did. It was really amazing to see how much of an impact this program had on his life. Programs like this may help increase the ambitions of Afro-Brazilian students, which may in turn lead to increased representation in higher education. In conclusion, we see that the education system in Brazil is systemically racist and would benefit from changes or implementation of programs to help Afro-Brazilians. When looking at the Brazilian education system, it is important to recognize our privileges as Americans and understand that we are outsiders. It’s important to understand that we can’t fully understand and that, although it may be helpful to propose solutions and support programs such as the ones mentioned above, the situation is very complex and that we should not make assumptions based on our circumstances. Bibliography Alcides (Pai de Santo). “Condomble in practice” Lecture at ICR Brasil, May 16, 2022. “Education and Affirmative Action in Brazil.” Lecture at Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, May 20, 2022. Vatin, Xavier. “The African Diaspora in Bahia: A Socio-Anthropological Perspective.” Lecture at UFRB, May 19, 2022. Wylie, Kristen. 2020. “Taking Bread Off the Table: Race, Gender, Resources and Political Ambition in Brazil.” European Journal of Politics and Gender 3, no. 1: 121- 142. https://doi.org/ 10.1332/251510819X15719917787141. I am Kathryn McDonough. I was born and raised in Faribault, Minnesota. I’m a senior math major at CSBSJU. I enjoy applied mathematics and am currently planning on becoming an actuary. When studying abroad in Brazil I hope to immerse myself into the culture and gain a new perspective of the world. By Lizbet Martinez and Fabian Venegas Ramos On the day we are writing this, we have been in Bahia for 12 days. Through our educational program, we have learned about various topics related to race, gender, and inequality in Brazil including the education system, religion, and expansive history lessons. Some of our favorite lectures and experiences, however, have been centered on music and dance. These two mediums are more than just entertainment, but cultural ways of being, building community, and (re)connecting to ancestral roots. It has been an energizing and empowering experience to engage and interact with various cultural forms of dance and music unique to Brazil. On the evening of our first full day in Bahia, we had a capoeira workshop with Mestre Sapoti. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, movement, and music. Mestre Sapoti discussed the origins of capoeira and how it came from the enslaved Africans in Brazil and was used as a form of self-defense disguised as dance. We learned how to do the ginga, the basic step, as well as a few offensive and defensive moves. We also learned about the musical instruments used to play the music for capoeira and the call and response songs that people sing. It was emphasized that people do not fight capoeira, but it is something that is played. It remains a very important part of Afro-Brazilian tradition and can be seen in the streets just about anywhere in Bahia. The workshop was a great way for us to dive into Brazilian culture. We also had the incredible opportunity of learning Afro-Brazilian dance with Antonio Cozido, creator of Swing Afro Baiano. His zealous attitude, cheerful chants, and words of wisdom created an unforgettable experience for us both, one that we have been looking forward to since the start of the course on campus. To begin the dancing workshop, we did some grounding exercises to connect to our body’s five senses and to connect with our surrounding environment. He also re-introduced us to a Yoruba word used in Candomblé religion – Axé, which means “energy.” “AXÉ! AXÉ! AXÉ!” echoed throughout the room as we all chanted together several times throughout the workshop to reinvigorate each other’s energy. We learned how to dance Samba, Folha, and other dances that are popular in Brazil. The dances were all distinct from one another; some were easier to remember, some sensual and slow, and others upbeat and fast-paced. Samba, more specifically, is a Brazilian dance that is considered one of the most representative elements of Brazilian culture. Compared to other dance styles, Samba was a unique and fun dance to learn. The emergence and spread of Samba in the 1920s was a popular sensation and in the 30s fused with carnaval, becoming emblematic of Brazil’s cultural identity. Samba was distinctly used to enhance a national identity and connect the regions of Brazil, which at the time were developing their own unique and competing music sounds. The most influential radio station of Brazil in the 1940s—Rádio Nacional, for example, “promoted the song heavily, and openly declared samba and its sentiments as the core of national identity” (Eakin 2017, p. 204). Together, popular media and the state pushed Samba as a cultural piece that would build bridges between cultural groups and create the Brazilian people. Like samba, another essential aspect of Brazilian culture is the carnaval. We were able to visit the Casa do Carnaval museum in Bahia to learn about the importance of carnaval in Brazil. As Eakin explains, carnaval “emerged in the 1930s and 1940s as the principal ritual showcasing the Freyrean vision…it became the most holy ritual of mestiço nationalism and the celebration of mestiçagem” (2017, 204). It is a ritual and national festivity that comes from European roots but is grounded in various Brazilian (particularly afro-Brazilian) traditions. At the museum we got to see colorful costumes, did an interactive dance experience, and saw how carnaval brings all people together. Similarly, music had an instrumental role in creating the national identity of Brazil that is known today. The rise in popular music contributed to ethnic mixing for indigenous, African, and Portuguese people, allowing various styles to form, interact, and fuse with each other. Eakin (2017) states, “The cultural arena provided Brazilians opportunities for participation and belonging that were not open to them in the political arena, especially during the years of dictatorship” (p. 202). This highlights how popular music was fundamental for Brazilian culture and citizenship because it created space for Brazilians of different groups, particularly those existing in the margins, to engage with its production and consumption. This was demonstrated in the Percussion Workshop we had with Mario Pam. We saw and learned to play instruments with either indigenous roots, African roots, or European roots. These different instruments became used by other cultural groups to create and influence new music forms. This allowed different cultures to be represented and be part of an “imagined community.” Our unique experience has demonstrated to us that inequality and racial injustice is prevalent in every aspect of life in Brazil. We see it very clearly in the arts that are often rooted in afro-Brazilian culture and are used as a means to fight back against discrimination and injustice. From capoeira to samba to carnaval, people are taking up space and keeping traditions alive. The arts experiences that we have been fortunate enough to have gone through have not only taught us about the issues, but we were fully immersed in experiencing the response to those issues. We know we will take with us the understanding and skills we learned, and we hope to be able to spread the wisdom, strength, and passion we acquired through the workshops and lectures. Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. “The Sounds of Cultural Citizenship.” Chapter. In Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth Century Brazil. 200–219. New Approaches to the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lizbet Martinez-Port is a senior at the College of Saint Benedict studying political science and Hispanic studies. She is from Minneapolis, Minnesota and enjoys learning about topics that intersect within her majors. She is passionate about immigration reform, as well as other social justice issues. On campus, she sings, dances, and acts. She looks forward to learning about a new culture and language during her time abroad in Brazil. Fabian Venegas-Ramos is from Immokalee, Florida. They are a senior, soon to be graduate of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. They will be receiving their bachelor's degree in Sociology and Gender Studies. Fabian is passionate about social justice, and queer and trans rights and activism. They look forward to immersing themselves in the Brazilian culture through music, dance, and food! By Julia Krystofiak and Miriam Nelson Upon arriving in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, we acclimated to our initial surroundings at Wish Hotel. The streets were bustling with a mix of automobiles, motorcycles, and pedestrians—the sounds echoing off the towering white high-rise buildings. Various tropical plants (climate type Am to those who are wondering) grew between the buildings, pavement, and the square and hexagonal pavers. We ventured outside the intensely airconditioned and falsely manicured paradise of the hotel to a nearby park. People hurried around its perimeter, while others walked dogs on the inside, roller skated, stopped to look at the giant statue, or worked out at the outdoor gym. We took in the setting, enjoying this island of outdoor recreation between the network of busy streets. Standing on the central walkway looking towards a manmade pond we heard a yell, “you are beautiful!” We looked around. A group of young people shyly smiled as they approached. They repeated “you are beautiful.” This initially created a situation of intense discomfort for us—as we acknowledged that it was a group of young black women calling a group of primarily blonde, white women beautiful. This prompted our discussion of how European features are incorporated into Brazilian beauty standards as a means of oppression, which we learned about in class (Mitchell-Walthour 2017, 5; Pravaz 2019, 81-84). Mentioned by Fred on our first tour of Salvador, the “mulata” embodies the Brazilian beauty ideal—a mix of European and Afro-descendant features. The mulata is a hyper-sexualized beauty standard in Brazil rooted in both racial and gender-based discrimination (Pravaz 2009, 80). Brazilian standards on body shape fluctuate depending on the region in Brazil, as larger more voluptuous bodies are associated with health and fertility in Northern Brazil (Fred 2022) and slimmer figures are more represented by beauty standards in Southern Brazil. To demonstrate the pervasiveness of these body shape standards, a 2012 study of Brazilian schoolchildren observed high levels of meal-skipping and laxative use among adolescent girls and the use of weight loss medicines among adolescent boys (Claro, Santos, Oliviera-Campos 2012). In both cases, these extreme measures were taken by school-aged children in attempt to achieve the “ideal” body type. Telenovelas are a platform that widely and effectively convey nationally held beauty standards, including standards intrinsic in “mulata” beauty ideals (Eakin 2017). In Brazilian media, Sonia Braga starred in a range of productions (Gabriela, Dancin’ Days, Dama da lotação, Dona Flor, Eu te amo, Kiss of the Spider Woman, the Milagro Beanfield War, and Moon Over Parador) and brought to the forefront of immensely popular telenovelas the image of the “mulata,” and with it, mestiçagem, or complete racial mixing (Eakin 2017, 150). The mulata emerged as “one of the most potent and pervasive images” in twentieth century Brazil (Eakin 2017, 110). However, research on mestiçagem in terms of race and color within telenovelas has been limited, as most research has been conducted on class inequality within telenovelas. “Most of the commentary on race relations has focused on the absence of black actors in the novelas, except in menial roles such as cooks, maids, and hired help” (Eakin 2017, 153). Similar to societal standards produced in many states around the world, trans and cis women in Brazil are subjected to unrealistic beauty standards that fuel systematic oppression and racism. In a study examining beauty standards globally, it was found that: Brazilians had the highest prevalence of stating that beauty increases opportunities in life (66.0%). Additionally, more than a half of all women in Brazil have already considered having cosmetic surgery, and 7.0% reported having undergone some kind of cosmetic procedure – the highest of all countries surveyed. Brazil was also the world’s largest consumer of weight-loss medications per capita (Laus et al. 2014). In Brazil, publicly perceived racial and gender identities are predominantly determined by an individual’s appearance. Considering this, as well as binary expectations of gender expression, discrimination against bodies continues to impact many people today (Rodrigues-Shirley 2019, Brum 2017, Eakin 2017). For this reason, it is critical to understand the oppressive aspects of beauty standards rooted in both racial and gender-based discrimination. Bibliography Brum, Elaine. 2017. Laerte-Se. Netflix. 1hr 40min. https://www.netflix.com/br-en/title/80142223. Claro, Rafael Moreira, Maria Aline Siqueira Santos, and Maryane Oliveira-Campos. 2012. “Body image and extreme attitudes toward weight in Brazilian schoolchildren.” Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia 17 (11). Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia 17. https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4503201400050012. Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. “‘Globo-Lizing’ Brazil: Televising Identity,” in Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316800058. Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. "The Sounds of Cultural Citizenship," in Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316800058. Fred. 2022. Tour of Salvador. ICR Brazil. May 11, 2022. Laus, Maria Fernanda, Idalina Shiraishi Kakeshita, Telma Maria Braga Costa, Maria Elisa Caputo Ferreira, Leonardo de Sousa Fortes, and Sebastião Sousa Almeida. 2014.“Body image in Brazil: recent advances in the state of knowledge and methodological issues.” Revista de saude publica 48, no. 2 (2014): 331-46. doi:10.1590/s0034-8910.2014048004950. Mitchell-Walthour, Gladys. 2017. The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behavior in Contemporary Brazil. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316888742. Pravaz, Natasha. 2009. “The Tan from Ipanema: Freyre, Morenidade, and the Cult of the Body in Rio de Janeiro.” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Latino-Américaines et Caraïbes 34, no. 67 (2009): 79–104. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41800448. Rodrigues-Shirley, Marcela. “Activism is Survival for Brazilian Trans Women.” Ms. August 1, 2019. https://msmagazine.com/2019/08/01/activism-is-survival-for-brazilian-trans-women/. Julia Krystofiak is going into her senior year at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. She is pursuing a degree in political science and data analytics and hopes to attend graduate school following her undergraduate studies. She is originally from Mounds View, MN. Julia enjoys learning about gendered power structures, international relations, and civil conflict. She has been involved in multiple research projects focusing on gendered and populist rhetoric, which is extremely relevant to Brazil under Bolsonaro. She looks forward to better understanding human impact on the climate and natural world in the context of Brazil! Miriam Nelson is a rising senior at the College of Saint Benedict, majoring in environmental studies and political science. She is from Blue Hill, Maine. Miriam is interested in a wide range of topics including international environmental policy, water conflicts, and land trusts. She highly enjoys spending time outside performing backcountry trail work, backpacking, paddleboarding, and birding. By Ellie Nielsen and Morgan Ebel Our time in Brazil has only just begun, but already we see the influence schools have on this society. We had a lecture with Cloves Oliveria, a professor from the Federal University of Bahia, who laid out a broad description of Brazil’s education system – primary, secondary, and higher education. We also visited Instituto Cultural Steve Biko and learned the differences of what public versus private schools mean in this country, how their entrance exam works, and how it is structurally racist. In this short recap and reflection, we will cover the history of Brazil’s education system, the current state of their education system and finally what the relationship between race and the education system looks like. History of the Education System Brazil has a complicated history when it comes to their education system being that they were colonized by the Portuguese, a western European nation. During the colonial era, which was between the years 1500 and 1822, Portuguese and western culture hosted great power over education in Brazil. Especially in the sense of the Catholic church (McNally 2019). The Jesuit missionaries played an important role in shaping Brazilian society and their schools. They aimed to increase the Portuguese language literacy among Indigenous populations in addition to converting the native population to Catholicism. Enslaved Black people were discriminated against to a greater extent as they were completely excluded from obtaining any form of education (McNally 2019). This power and influence Catholicism has had throughout Brazilian History further connects to the fact that the nation currently has the largest population of Catholic Christians in the world with 61 percent of the total population believing in the faith (McNally 2019). After the Colonial period and when Brazil became an independent nation in 1822, only 10 percent of the school-aged children were enrolled in elementary school (McNally 2019). It was at this time that the nation began initiating an increased control over their primary education system. By 1934, Brazil’s government advanced their constitution and made education a basic right for all Brazilian citizens. Then in 1961, they adopted the first official national education law stating that elementary education would be compulsory until grade eight (McNally 2019). Although this had a significant impact on Brazilian society, the military dictatorship was still in power and proved the continuation of their elitist society by expanding higher education and not putting any focus into developing primary education (Kang 2018, 769). Both Brazil’s government and society has slowly placed more importance and focus on their education throughout their history – despite the governmental situation Brazil has been in the last four years. Current State of the Education System Currently, the nation of Brazil is considered a federation made up of 26 states with the self-governing federal district and capital of Brasilia. While the military controlled the government, from the years 1964 to 1985, Brazil experienced an extreme centralized government. But since then, Brazil has continuously worked to decentralize their political system and now possesses a formal decentralized country with strong state governments (McNally 2019). The national government decides education policies for the nation and is responsible for higher education. However, primary, or basic education is administered by state and municipal government entities and proves to have much autonomy within the federal guidelines (McNally 2019). This allows for schools and teachers to adapt their coursework to specific student needs. Furthermore, the main federal authority for Brazil’s education system is called the National Education Council, an agency of the Ministry of Education. The basic education is comprised of three stages – early childhood education (ages 4-5), elementary education (grades 1-9), and secondary education (grades 10-12). Basic education in Brazil is free at public schools and compulsory which has recently been extended to both early childhood and secondary schooling (McNally 2019). Another added legality is that Brazilian children must now attend two years of early childhood education as well as attend school until the age of 17 – the previous age was 14 (McNally 2019). Additionally, the national curriculum requirement contains mandated courses, but the state and local levels can implement content relevant to society and cultures. The required curriculum includes Portuguese, mathematics, history, geography, arts, natural sciences, physical education and since 2016, English beginning in grade six (McNally 2019). Once students' complete grade nine, they are given a certificate of completion and officially graduate elementary school. School enrollment and dropout rates have been an ongoing challenge for Brazilian educations and officials. In 2018, 99 percent of eligible first year students across the nation entered first grade. Although dropout rates remained at zero for developed and wealthy states like Santa Catarina, Mato Grosso, and Pernambuco, they increased in states that are considered developing and poorer. Developing states in the north and northeastern parts of the country in particular struggled with high rates of dropout. In the states of Sergipe and Bahia the dropout rates hovered around 76 percent in 2014 and 2015 (McNally 2019). Putting this issue into perspective further, the average years of schooling in Brazilian adults is approximately 7.8 years (Barro 2018, 769). Even though advancements have been made to expand the access of primary education and the youth literacy rate has continued to increase, dropout rates remain high in numerous parts of the nation. Race Relations in the Education System Brazil's high school education system is split in to three categories: private school, military school, and public school. Private high schools can be very expensive which is why most students come from wealthier, white families. Private high schools hold better education and have access to many more resources compared to public schools. Public schools, on the other hand, are free for students. Military schools fall somewhat in between the two. However, when it comes to university, these roles are switched, and public schools are much more prestigious than private schools. It is very difficult for students to be accepted to public university, and it is especially difficult for students coming from public high schools. The main priority in all high schools is to focus on studying for the university entrance exams. This exam is similar to the ACT or SAT that we use in the United States, but the stakes are much higher as this is the only thing students can do to be accepted to any university. Because of this, private high schools focus almost all of their three years on studying for this exam. They are taught how to take an exam, as long as any information may be presented. Public high schools however, do not have the resources to prepare their students at the same level. This creates a large divide between exam scores of private and public high school students (Instituto Cultural 2022). The problem with this system is that many of the students who attend public high schools and struggle more on the university exam are black and brown people. Public universities are largely made up of white students as they also make up most of private high schools. For this reason, schools created a quota system through Affirmative Action. This is a system in which a certain amount of seats are reserved for incoming students which are based on race, income, and whether they went to private or public high school. Each state has a 50% quota that is adjusted on each states census, 50% will go to public school students, and 50% are open. This is a federal law, but not all schools have to follow. For example, Bahia has the largest number of black people in the country and leaves 40% out of the 50% quota for black and brown students (Instituto Cultural 2022). In order to be eligible for the quota, the student must take the entrance exam. Conclusion We can see that Brazil as a whole has had many issues with race in the past, and many of them still continue. We look specifically at Brazils education system as we uncover both historic and present facts that prove the system to be racist. Even after the abolishment of slavery, racism and discrimination still heavily continued. Racism has left a lasting imprint on Brazils education systems and students of color are still patronized. School dropout rates are extremely high today in low income areas and students of color are at a very large disadvantage compared to those that are white and/or wealthy. In closing, we have found that the relationship between race and Brazil’s education system is a challenging concept to completely understand as it is evolving, but we are eager to continue learning. Bibliography Barro, Robert J. and Jong-Wha Lee “ A New Data Set of Educational Attainment in the World” Journal of Development Economics 104 (2013): 184-198. “Instituto Cultural Steve Biko.” Instituto Cultural Steve Biko. Class lecture at Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, Salvador, Brazil, May 20, 2022. Kang, Thomas H. “Education and Development Projects in Brazil, 1932-2004: A Critique.” Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 38, no. 4 (October 2018): 766-80. McNally, Ryan, Carlos Monroy, and Stefan Trines. “Education in Brazil.” World Education News and Reviews published November 14, 2019 https://wenr.wes.org/2019/11/education-in-brazil. Morgan Ebel is a sophomore at the College of St. Benedict and the University of St. John’s University. She is originally from Farmington, Minnesota (no, she does not live on a farm). Morgan enjoys reading, working out (yoga, lifting, basketball, etc.) and spending time with her puppy named Teddy. Morgan is pursuing a degree in political science and a minor in sociology. Hopefully attaining a law degree in the near future. Ellie Nielsen is a rising junior at CSBSJU. She is a psychology major with a focus in criminal psychology, as well as a political science minor. She and her family are from Farmington, Minnesota. She likes to read, spend time outside, and be surrounded by friends and family. By Ellie Schmaltz and Clair Moonen Two blondes, often mistaken for either sisters or the French, have been experiencing Brazil for a little over a week now. While our stay has been short, the lessons and experiences will last a lifetime. We are beginning to understand the importance of global intersectionality and will continue our studies for another two weeks. The topics we’ve faced have almost been as heavy as the plates our mom makes us for dinner. In Clair’s subtopic gender and elections, we researched the impact of quotas, campaign funding, etc. On the first day in Brazil, we drove past a man on a bus shouting in a megaphone to a crowd. He was running for governor, and I observed only men officials helping with his campaign event. The only women were in the crowd and even then, men outnumbered women. Billboards adorned only male political campaigns, and I only saw one female campaign poster- next to a favela. Pictured is the political campaign illustrating 2021 findings that, party elites provide female candidates less advantageous candidate identification numbers, less financial support, and less media coverage than male candidates disadvantaging women in politics. Campaign support is power (Jasusz et al. 2021). This is something that I, Ellie, read about in my subtopic. I read, “Violence against women denies women’s condition as equal subjects and contributes to keeping them subaltern in public life; political violence against women denies women’s condition as equal political actors and contributes to keeping them subaltern in politics, weakening and limiting democracy” (Biroli 2016, 2). In regards to gender, we have seen the implementation of strong gender roles within our household. Our mom is a retired public servant that now hosts American students for Clara Hamos as well as a medical student from rural Brazil. On her “get to know me” form, she listed housework as her hobby. Cooking is especially her favorite. We’ve noticed a trend of mostly women working in the restaurants we’ve been to. There are typically male bartenders, and the people cutting the meat at the tables of the steakhouse were males, as well. Other than that, we typically saw women doing the cooking in the restaurants. We rarely see women walking alone. Even the women that work at the fruit and magazine stands on our walk to ICR are never by themselves. Our mom also briefly explained her divorce with her husband. The reasoning she provided behind the split was the word “controlling''. This can be used in many different contexts, but it reminded me of an article we read in class. In reference to violence against women, it said “The study also reveals the dominance of men over their partner, who must be controlled and monitored daily, considered as natural behavior violating the right to come and go, freedom to express themselves and relate to others, especially with their friends. The female behavior considered inappropriate by the spouses also incites conjugal violence” (Silva 2020, 5). While I am not trying to imply our mom faced any sort of violence from him, the language usage prompted me to reflect on Silva’s article. Domestic violence is typically hidden well, so you can never be sure who we’ve all met or walked past that has faced the issues Silva speaks of. Brazil seems to have the same high domestic violence rates that our Central Minnesota community has as well. After hearing the word ‘negro’ thrown around so casually a few days in, the racial culture differences started to become more prominent. Our tour guide had mentioned on day two that us Americans have an idea about race as something you try not to speak about, but in Brazil they are trying to teach people that ‘Black is beautiful’. The example he gave was embracing natural hair and features. We see this paralleled in America with social media campaigns especially in the makeup and beauty world embracing African American hair and brands having inclusive color shades. Reflecting the concept that silence is violence and only oppresses people of color further. What Fred said made us think of why this has only recently been a movement. Pre-departure analysis of Becoming Brazilians touched on the erasure of race in Brazil. “When the Brazilian military removed the ‘color question’ from the 1970 census and then attempted to keep it out of the 1980 census, social scientists protested loudly” (Eakin 2017, p 240). In the same book, Brazilian historian and sociologist Gilberto Freyre argued that in a census the color question wasn’t necessary because Brazillians are beyond racial origins and a singular meta-race. This is interesting because in the United States the government and people made segregation the national identity and culture, not neglection of race.“Black activists argue that the decades of efforts to forge a single, national ‘ethnicity’ a la Freyre has suppressed alternative identities and ethnicities in a form of cultural erasure” (Eakin 2017, p 240). Something as passive as filling in a bubble has the power to diminish people’s identities. The same negligence of cultural presence in data and recognition we’ve noticed lacks in religion as well. Professor Willys Santos said that religious statistics were inaccurate because in 2020 the current office didn’t conduct a census. Whatever the political motivation, ethically this limits and harms scientists and research without a correct disclosure of data. This absence of precise information has been a common theme in our lectures and workshops, highlighting the need of accurate data and transparency of a government. Biroli, Flávia. “Political Violence against Women in Brazil: Expressions and Definitions / Violência Política Contra as Mulheres No Brasil: Manifestações E Definições.” Revista Direito e Práxis 7, no. 15 (2016). Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. “The Sounds of Cultural Citizenship.” Chapter. In Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil, 200–219. New Approaches to the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316800058.008. Janusz, Andrew, Sofi-Nicole Barreiro, and Erika Cintron. “Political Parties and Campaign Resource Allocation: Gender Gaps in Brazilian Elections.” Political Party, April 18, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688211018424. Silva, Andrey Ferreira da, Nadirline Pereira Gomes, Júlia Renata Fernandes de Magalhães, Fernanda Matheus Estrela, Anderson Reis de Sousa, Jordana Brock Carneiro. 2020. “Social Attributes of the Male That Suscept the Violence by Intimate Partner.” Rev Bras Enferm 73, no. 6 (Summer): 1-7. Eliana (Ellie) Schmaltz is a rising junior at the College of Saint Benedict. She is pursuing a degree in political science and sociology in the hopes to attend law school after graduation. After law school, she would like to be a family lawyer and give back to the community that raised her. Ellie is originally from a small town called Eden Valley located in Central Minnesota. She looks forward to learning more about Brazilian culture and experiencing everything the scenic country has to offer while studying abroad in Salvador. Clair Moonen is a rising Junior at the College of Saint Benedict Saint Johns University. Majoring in Political Science on the Pre-Law track with a minor in communications. She is from Delano, Minnesota. Clair is women’s empowerment chair of the service sorority, Academic Affairs Representative on the student Senate and enjoys being involved on campus regarding student relations. When not studying in Alcuin Library, she is the goalie on the lacrosse team. She looks forward to experiencing another culture and political system while abroad in Brazil. By Kate McGlinch Though I have learned so much in exploring Salvador, Brazil and attending the lectures, I found my experience in the Emergency Room here especially intriguing. On May 18th, I had developed some concerning symptoms and was taken to Hospital Português by my professor. This is a private hospital though it seems to operate more largely as a Catholic nonprofit organization. Brazil’s healthcare is a combination of public and private healthcare systems. While I went to a private hospital where I paid a bill at the end of my time there, I also had the option (even as a foreigner) to be seen by doctors for free. I was broadly aware of this situation as our class was visited by Professor Clarice Mota who had explained how healthcare in Brazil works prior to our trip. According to her presentation, public healthcare has been provided to all Brazilian citizens as well as foreigners since the implementation of Sistema Único da Saúde (SUS) in the late 1980s. Though access to efficient and effective healthcare is not necessarily equitable, every citizen is entitled to the same right to healthcare today (Mota, 2022). My experience of Hospital Português was good; It took no more than 30 minutes between my arrival to the emergency room and my blood being drawn. The waiting rooms were quiet and calm, the nurses did not seem incredibly stressed or overworked, and I was treated with professionalism. Having gone to the emergency room in the United States earlier this year, I was surprised by the contrast in experiences. In February, I was in a car crash that left me with a lot of head and neck pain. I had considered taking an ambulance to the ER as I found driving to be difficult, but the cost for a 20 minute ambulance ride would have been more than the amount I paid for the entirety of my time and service at Hospital Português (even relative to Brazilian reals). I went to the ER at St. Cloud Hospital, also a Catholic-affiliated nonprofit institution. Though my vitals were taken after about 30 minutes, I was sent back out to the waiting room until I could be seen by a physician. 5 hours later, there was still no movement, people in similar positions to myself were anxiously checking their watches. I went home and took as much Ibuprofen as possible. Though Brazil’s investment in public access to healthcare is impressive compared to the United States’ marginal attempts at something similar through Medicare or Medicaid, there have been some noteworthy issues. As mentioned before, though everyone has a right to healthcare in Brazil, the amount of ease with which different individuals can access it varies quite a bit. Since Brazil is a very large country, one of the factors contributing to inequality in access and efficacy of healthcare is geography. An article by KPMG points out that “there are huge challenges in providing quality healthcare to all Brazil's 209 million citizens. The south-east around Rio de Janeiro is relatively prosperous while much of the north of the country is far poorer in terms of education, economic output and access to care. Maternal mortality rates are significantly higher in the north-east” (Greca and Fitzgerald, 2022). Though my experience of a hospital in Salvador was positive, I feel the fact that I was being cared for in a private hospital that doesn’t rely as heavily on government funding and maintenance may have contributed quite a bit to my perspective. Furthermore, these private hospitals seem to be receiving more funding from the government than needed, essentially depriving the public sector of needed financial resources. The Journal of Global Health has noted that the financial base of Brazil’s healthcare system “has resulted in a situation where less than 30% of Brazilians who continue to use private health insurance and facilities constitute more than 50% of the total health care expenditure in Brazil …the legacies of the previous discriminatory health care system are still in operation and the constitutional principle of universality is yet to be realized in practice” (Muzaka, 2017). These inequalities in funding manifest especially in the quality of care for black Brazilians as structural racism assures that the majority of these people are in the lower class and have no other options than SUS and public hospitals for healthcare (Constante, Marino and Bastos, 2021). My experience as a white foreigner in a private hospital, especially in the northeast region of Brazil, was likely not common to the usual experience here. Nevertheless, I found it interesting to observe the private healthcare system here in Brazil and compare my experience with those that I have had in the U.S.. Mota, Clarice. “Social Inequities in Brazil: Effects and Outcomes in Life and Health Conditions.” Lecture, College of St. Benedict and Saint John’s University, St. Joseph, MN, April 12, 2022. Greca, Daniel and Edward Fitzgerald. 2022. “Healthcare in Brazil: Meeting Future Challenges.” KPMG. Retrieved from https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2019/04/meeting-healthcare-challenges-in-brazil.html. Muzaka, Valbona. 2017. “Lessons From Brazil: On the Difficulties of Building a Universal Healthcare System.” Journal of Global Health 7, no. 1 (June). 10.7189/jogh.07.010303. Constante, Helena Mendes, Gerson Luiz Marinho, and João Luiz Bastos. 2021. “The Door is Open, But Not Everyone May Enter: Racial Inequities in Healthcare Access Across Three Brazilian Surveys.” Ciência Saúde Coletiva 26, no. 9 (September). https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232021269.47412020. Kate McGlinch is a sophomore at CSB/SJU with a major in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy. She is from St. Paul, Minnesota. Her academic interests include justice and reformation in politics as well as policy for social issues. She looks forward to understanding Brazilian politics and culture in a more holistic way while studying abroad. By Brianna Kreft On our first weekend in Brazil, we made a trip to Lençóis, a small town in central Bahia. We did everything from hiking, to dancing, to swimming, to watching capoeira. We even managed to fit some political science in there too. The weekend’s activities highlighted the racial differences between rural and urban areas in Bahia, Brazil. We also learned a bit about the geography and history of the area. After about a six-and-a-half-hour ride on our Mariah Carey bus (a coach bus with a rainbow plastered on the side), we hit the ground running in Lençóis with a hike through a section of the Chapada Diamantina National Park. Here, we took in our first views of the city and learned about the history of Lençóis. The city of 12,000 people was originally founded as a diamond mining town. On our hike, we learned that after years of diamond extraction, the mining industry halted. Now, the area is protected as a national park. Yet, an important “political science” thing to point out is that this does not mean the same protection we would expect of national parks in the United States. Brazil’s national park system is not as comprehensive or popular as America’s. It offers limited environmental protection, and the private sector still has major influence over protected areas. Chapada Diamantina National Park now serves as an attraction for Lençóis, which is important as Lençóis’s only industry is tourism. This points out an inequality between rural and urban areas in Brazil. Salvador, the city we are living in during our trip, is a city of almost 4 million people and very urban, while Lençóis’s population is only 12,000 and quite rural. Like rural areas in the United States, Lençóis is less connected and has fewer resources than Salvador. Yet, Aécio, our guide, said that rural areas in Brazil are much less connected to other cities than rural areas in the United States. He said that some rural areas only received internet access within the last two years and that broadband can be difficult to come by in smaller towns. Overall, resources are harder to come by in rural areas like Lençóis than in urban areas like Salvador. With this comes inequality. Another aspect of this inequality is the variety of industries between the two cities. Salvador boasts many kinds of industries including food and tobacco processing, textiles, ceramics, automobile manufacturing, chemical production, woodworking, leatherworking, and shipbuilding. On the other hand, Lençóis’s only industry is tourism. This limits opportunities for people living in rural areas compared to those living in urban areas in Brazil. “Hiking” was the key word to describe our second day in Lençóis. We hiked up Pai Inacio Mountain in the morning for some breathtaking views of the Chapada. Our amazing guide, Aécio, told us the story of how the mountain got its name, which depicts some interesting historic racial dynamics. The story goes that a colonel married a French woman, but the colonel had sex with one of the female slaves (probably not consensual—yikes!), and she birthed a son named Inacio. The colonel was the only person who knew that Inacio was his son, and he grew up as an enslaved person. When he was older, Inacio fell in love with the colonel’s wife, and soon the wife fell for him as well. The two snuck around as best they could, but the colonel discovered them. He went into a fit of rage, and Inacio fled to the top of the mountain. The colonel’s men began to surround him, and seeing that he would be captured, Inacio leapt from the top of the mountain, with the French woman’s umbrella. When the men reached the top, all they saw was the abandoned umbrella, and assumed Inacio died. Yet, Inacio landed in a hidden cave in the mountain, and survived. He later found the French woman and they ran into the sunset together and lived happily ever after (Cue cheesy montage music). I share this story not only for fun, but also because it represents how history has been passed on orally in Brazil, and how the enslaved people in Brazil were able to carve out their own path despite having been ripped from their homes and people. This same day, we also hiked into Lapa Doce Cave and to a waterfall, where we were able to take a refreshing dip. Later that night, after a delicious dinner, we hit the town! Lençóis was having a town celebration, so we danced with locals and were able to observe firsthand a major racial difference between Lençóis and Salvador—Lençóis had a less racially diverse population than Salvador. At the town party, I saw that the majority of people in Lençóis were what Americans would consider Black, whereas in Salvador, I have seen what we would consider Black, mixed, and white people. I remember Pedro saying that rural areas tend to have higher Black populations. I definitely saw this on our trip to Lençóis, where we saw relatively few Moreno or white people. This is an interesting dynamic, because it is the opposite of the United States, where rural areas tend to be predominantly white. The next day, we packed into our Mariah Carey bus to make the trip back to Salvador. Lençóis offered us the opportunity to not only try cachaça, go hiking, and explore a beautiful city, but it also taught us another layer of racial dynamics here in Brazil. Brianna Kreft is a senior at CSB/SJU, majoring in Political Science, and minoring in Environmental Studies and Psychology. She is originally from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Brianna enjoys learning about gender issues and women’s empowerment. She has participated in multiple research opportunities focused on gender-related social justice issue. Brianna looks forward to being able to learn more about the country that she has been researching for the past two years. By Lily Frederiks The most profound thing that I have learned through my experience in Brazil so far is that it is crucial to open oneself to new experiences, even when these are way out of one’s comfort zone. In the last week and a half, I have done things I never thought I would do, such as living alone with a host family that does not speak my language, practicing capoeira, dancing to Afro-Brazilian choreography, playing unknown Brazilian instruments, and more. Sometimes, some of my peers appear more closed off to these things because they are very out of their element, as am I. However, by pushing myself to speak Portuguese to my host family even when I mis-pronounce words, and by making a fool of myself while dancing in ways I have never danced before, I feel so connected to Brazilian culture and identity and I understand much more what it means to be Brazilian. As an article we read mentions, it is often in the most unexpected of settings that we learn the most about a culture (Baiocchi and Connor, 2008). For example, I have learned so much about Brazilian culture, race, gender, and wealth dynamics from talking to my host family without even asking them questions about these topics. The most interesting interaction I have had was with Pedro, my host mom’s 19-year old grandson who lives with us. We were walking home one night and talking about cultural differences between the U.S. and Brazil. When we got closer to the apartment, he said, “You know you are living with the poor people, right?” I did not expect this. I truly did not know how to respond. I had noticed that he and his family were lower middle-class, but I never associated their neighborhood with the word “poor.” Upon talking to Prof. Dos Santos, he said that Pedro may have said this out of immaturity and if his mom knew he had said this, she would have been upset. I reflected on how his mom works long hours at the hospital as a nutritionist, most likely working hard for money to support Pedro, and Pedro may not see this clearly. He told me that he dropped out of the University, and my host mom described him as “always doing nothing,” which I found amusing, as he seems to be the definition of an angsty teenager. If I had not probed Pedro on this walk with questions about culture, we might have never developed a rapport with one another and he would not have made this comment. This reminded me of articles we read relating to racial categories in Brazil. It made me think of how Brazilians often identify as something different racially than what others see them as, which may relate to how Pedro sees his family as poor when others may not (Bueno and Dunning 2017). I have yet to ask my host family what ethnicity they identify as, but I am hoping to when the right time comes. It can be an awkward question to ask, but I believe that I will not learn if I do not have these interactions. Another thing that Pedro said that took me aback was when we were talking about sports, I said that I played tennis, and he said, “you must have a lot of money, that’s the rich people’s sport.” This comment I was not as surprised by because I have heard this sentiment before, but not this blatantly. I have never thought of myself as having a lot of money – I would consider my family middle-class. But Pedro said that in order to play tennis in Brazil, you must belong to a club which is very expensive to join. I told him that in the U.S., this used to be the case, but that now you can play for your school and joining leagues is much cheaper and accessible for people of all incomes. This reminded me of Chapter 5 from Becoming Brazilians, in which the author describes how Brazilians were able to rally around a sport like soccer because it was for “the common man,” was relatively cheap to play, and was a way for working-class Brazilians to rally around their Brazilian identity. Therefore, this was not the case for sports like tennis where you had to pay money to join. When I first arrived in Salvador, it was not what I was expecting. It was denser, more crowded, and more dangerous than I thought it would be and the language barrier made me anxious. To be frank, I felt as if I did not belong here – I was experiencing a culture shock. However, the minute I met my host mom, I felt comfortable. It was amazing to finally meet a real Brazilian in person that I formed such a genuine connection with. I was extremely nervous to meet my host family at first because I was going to be living with them alone and would not have any of my peers to fall back on, but I pushed myself to have conversations with them despite the language barrier, and I feel like I have learned so much Portuguese just by listening to them. Additionally, with being able to understand more of their language, I have been able to have more meaningful conversations which has been one of my favorite parts of this experience. In fact, I truly believe that although I was desperate to live with a classmate at first, God put me on a path to live alone so that I could get more out of this last college experience. So, my word of advice for anyone going abroad would be to try everything and anything because you will learn to appreciate a different culture and will learn so much about yourself in the process. As I learned at the Steve Biko Institute, most people in this world and in Brazil do not have the privilege of studying abroad (Rivera, Lecture, 5/20/22), so it is crucial to recognize the opportunity you have been given. Baiocchi, Gianpaolo, and Brian T. Connor. “The Ethnos in the Polis: Political Ethnography as a Mode of Inquiry.” Sociology Compass 2, no. 1 (2008): 139–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00053.x. Bueno, Natália S., and Thad Dunning. 2017. “Race, Resources, and Representation: Evidence from Brazilian Politicians.” World Politics 69 (2). Cambridge University Press: 327–65. doi:10.1017/S0043887116000290. Eakin, Marshall C. 2017. “The Beautiful Game: Performing the Freyrean Vision.” Chapter. In Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil, 165–99. New Approaches to the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316800058.007. Rivera, Jorge. May 20, 2022. Lecture/Personal Communication. Steve Biko Cultural Institute. Lily Fredericks recently graduated from CSB majoring in political science and minoring in environmental studies and psychology. She is originally from Eden Prairie, Minnesota and is interested in law, public policy, and different ways to protect the environment. She likes to play tennis and be outdoors. At the start of the pandemic, I’d taken a keen interest in studying the historical development of Brazil’s political climate. Having been unable to visit Brazil in 2020, my goal was to focus on digesting as much of Brazil’s contemporary history (late 18th century to 2020) and synthesizing a common theme in terms of its political evolution. Now that I’m in Brazil, I’ve had many opportunities to do “on the ground” research, with my only limitations being time and the language barrier. At the moment, I’ve taken an interest in gathering what people thought about the military dictatorship from 1964-1985. Some of the reactions I’ve managed to elicit from people were relatively surprising, given we’re in Salvador, Bahia. Since landing on the ground in Brazil, my senses have been overwhelmed and saturated with all sorts of new things. New smells, new sights, new architecture, language, people, and so on. Everything here has potential for information and there’s so much going on it’s hard to keep track of time. I was assigned a host family based on the information provided, and with it, plenty of time to get to know them. Located just a hop-skip away from the Instituto Cervantes, the apartment resides in a middle class neighborhood/apartment complex. The area is a majority working class, although they live well. However, Bahia has a reputation for being intensely against Jair Bolsonaro, who himself used his time as a captain during the military dictatorship for his presidential platform. I was curious to find out (for those who lived through those times) what their thoughts were about the junta and whether or not they were adversely affected. Something interesting about talking to people in Bahia was their cognizance of the unique past history. Many people of color could say their ancestors were enslaved at so-and-so, although few could gander where their ancestors in Africa resided prior to being enslaved and taken to Portuguese America. Ethnic identity is a significant part of a Brazilian’s story, and it shapes how they view the world and how they define themselves as Brazilian. Dance and song were of utmost importance in the expression of Afro-Brazilians, where Brancos often reflected on what brought their ancestors over and what they did, some at the expense of other human beings. The period from 1964-1985 was another incredible chapter in Brazil’s history, with far reaching ramifications for the country and the rest of South America. I wanted to find out what people’s ethno-lingustic backgrounds were related to their experiences with the military dictatorship. The first people I asked were my host parents, who we’ll call John and Jane. John was more outspoken about his own perception of the military dictatorship, saying they were “good days.” My host mom didn’t add much on, although she did mention at one point she didn’t like candomblé. I should also note they’re both of European descent, with John being predominately Portuguese and Jane being of Spanish descent. I was keen to continue asking questions, but it seemed pacing was going to be necessary since they’d get worked up over political topics. I talked to another set of host parents, of whom were similar enough in terms of descent (host dad was European, host mother was indigenous and Afro-Brazilian), who both shared their dislike for Bolsonaro and emphasized the repressive history of the military dictatorship. Something I want to continue to study moving forward would be gender as an evolving subject in Brazil. For instance, how younger Brazilians treat women is sometimes very different than how their older counterparts expect women to be homemakers. Nevin Vincent is a senior at CSB/SJU, where he pursues political science and history as his majors. He is originally from Palmer, Alaska. He's hoping to pursue graduate school in the future, and hopes to someday teach the history of the Turkic world. He enjoys learning about topography, linguistics, history, and sailing. He's a woodland firefighter, which gives him a unique perspective on camping. He looks forward to visiting Brazil after a two-year delay in his itinerary to Salvador due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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