feature: chicos project takes queer empowerment to brazil’s national congress building in nude series

Check out new editorial series ‘Chicos’ by Brazilian photographers Fabio Lamounier and Rodrigo Ladeira. The (potentially) controversial series is part of an on-going project to make bold, representative statements about marginalized minorities in Brazil and their turbulent relationships with governmental powers. It was shot outside of the National Congress building in Brasília and features model David, who is completely nude. David’s nudity is less gimmick and more of a symbol of empowerment, pride, and taking control of the entities and ideas that oppress them—including and especially the Brazilian government. “Being a black queer means resistance. It means not taking any jokes and not being anyone’s mockery. The black queer stands up to racism, to a government that belittles him and derides his body,” writes model David. “And here we are, day after day, showing society, government and whoever that being a afro queer is beyond fighting, it is power,” David writes.

By Erin White*, AFROPUNK contributor

http://www.chicos.cc/los-chicos/david/

*Erin White is an Atlanta-based writer and AFROPUNK’s editorial and social media assistant. You can follow her on Tumblr or friend her on Facebook. Have a pitch or an inquiry? Shoot her an email at erin@afropunk.com.