Black Brazilians demonstrate against racism and police violence

Thousands of black Brazilians protested against racism and police violence on the occasion of the overthrow of slavery in the country. Demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro held lights and pulled signs reading "Don't kill me, kill racism", a week after a police attack in a slum killed dozens.

In São Paulo, the message is: "Black people want to live."

According to experts, black people are three times more likely to be killed by police in Brazil.

The protesters accused Judge President Jair Bolsonaro of genocide by police. He supports tough policies to combat crime, including raids in areas where most residents are black and poor.

The protesters also demand that the vaccination campaign for Covid-19 be accelerated as the disease was more dangerous for black people in the Brazil, one of the world's worse hit by the pandemic.

In Rio, demonstrators denounced last week's 28 deaths in the Jacarezinho favela during an action that police say targeted drug dealers targeted and demanded justice. It was the deadliest police attack in the city's history.

Residents accused police of abuse, while human rights activists said there was strong evidence of executions being carried out, with officers killing people who wanted to surrender or pose no threat. According to them, some of the victims were not even investigated.

Protesters marched through the city centre holding messages saying, "Who is protecting the police?" and "No bullet, no hunger, no Covid". On one banner were photos of men who died during police operations.

Brazil was the last nation in the Americas to end slavery in 1888, when Isabel, Princess Emperor of Brazil, approved the law to free slaves. Black Brazilians mark the end of slavery on November 20, the anniversary of the murder of Zumbi dos Palmares, which led to a community of runaway slaves.

"The black population still has no rights," Josiane Peçanha, of the Afrodivas collective, told Globo TV while an assembly in the city of Niterói, in the urban area of ​​Rio. "This is a good day to show on the scars of slavery in Brazilian culture."

About 57% of the Brazilian population is black or mixed, but they represent two-thirds of the victims of deadly violence, according to the Brazilian Forum for Public Safety, a non-governmental organization.

A report by the state agency IBGE in 2019 states that they hold only a third of the management roles in companies, only a quarter of the federal delegates are in the lower chamber of Congress and make up three-quarters of the unemployment rate.

In São Paulo, a demonstration was held on Avenida Paulista, one of the city's highways, with organizers saying 7,000 people attended. Protesters painted their hands in red and hoisted a Brazilian flag as a symbol of violence.

"We are considering the date of the false overthrow of slavery and the tragedy in Jacarezinho," a protester João de Oliveira stated.

"President Bolsonaro and his vice president even praised the massacre. He perpetrated genocide. We are here to oppose."

Demonstrations were also conducted in other primary cities, including the capital, Brasília, where a protest took place outside the official palace.

The president, a former army chief who holds the changes in law that would protect officers from state if they kill people on duty, praised Rio's police in a tweet on the operation.