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beyond marielle franco: thousands of afro-brazilians killed by police every year

March 21, 2018
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The assassination of Afro-Feminist activist and councilwoman Marielle Franco last week might come as shocking and unthinkable if you don’t know about the violence Afro-Brazilians are subjected to every day. Topping even the ultra-high rates of police murders in the United States, Brazil now has the highest rates of police violence in the nation’s history. In 2016, more than 4,224 people were killed by Brazilian police in 20016, up 26 percent from the year prior. Curious considering the fact that the homicide rate has risen just 3.8 percent at the same time. Meaning Brazilian police are killing more less violent and non-violent citizens than ever. In addition to these startling statistics, black and young Brazilians are more often the victims of violent deaths in the country (78.9 percent of the 10% of people most likely to be victims of homocides) in general in Brazil.

For every 100 Brazilians that are killed, 71 of them are black. Making black citizens 23.5 percent more likely to be murdered than Brazilians of other races, regardless of socioeconomic status. And if that’s not horrifying enough, in 2016, 4,657 women were registered as victims of femicide.

When we step back and look at this civil rights issue, the issues that intersect with it, and all the issues Marielle Franco fought for we can begin to address the systems and institutions responsible for her assassination and the countless others without platforms.

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