A version of this article originally appeared on VICE Brazil.Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco fought on behalf of women, Afro-Brazilians, young people, the LGBTQ community, and the inner city. On the evening of March 14, she was shot four times in the head in her car after leaving an event geared towards empowering young black women. News of her assassination rippled throughout Brazil and the international community. It sparked widespread outrage and drew attention to the danger human rights activists face in Brazil.
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VICE Brazil talked to three political activists from São Paulo who were friends with the fallen councilwoman. They shared personal stories about their time with Franco and talked about how they’re using their grief as fuel to fight for her vision of a Brazil free of systemic racism, police brutality, and gender inequality.
Simone Nascimento, 25
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I met Marielle several times. During her last campaign, I went to a rally in Jacarezinho [another favela in Rio de Janeiro]. It was so moving to see how many people loved her. My younger friends from Rio—including those who are part of the same organization as me—were always very involved in the movement and in her vision. It was our vision too, and we all felt that she really represented us. She was a force to be reckoned with and she gave us hope to continue our fight. We see her as someone who never gave up and who made it. She continues to represent us.That’s the greatest lesson to impart from Marielle. We need to keep fighting because Marielle’s ideas are ours, too. We envision a world full of possibilities, where there’s no racial discrimination, male supremacy, or homophobia. We dream of a world where we don’t have any social and racial segregation, fear and uncertainty, or even poor health systems—[a different reality than what we see in] a state like Rio de Janeiro, which is in shambles.Marielle fought to dismantle the establishment, fought for human rights, and had endless determination to confront the status quo. She received over 46 million votes [during Rio’s congressional elections], making her the fifth most-voted candidate.What resonates the most is that we mustn’t stop talking about Marielle. Instead, we need to understand what her death represents. To quote a crucial banner from a demonstration in Rio: “The legacy is: military intervention, not in our name.” Marielle was against military intervention, violence in Rio de Janeiro, the violation of human rights, and the extermination and genocide of the black population. The biggest message we sent through all the rallies held across Brazil was that not only do we demand justice to know who ordered the murders of Marielle [and Anderson Gomes, her driver], but that above all, we understand that the chief offender here is the Brazil. [The government is] the greatest advocate for the injustice and violence that’s happening in Rio de Janeiro and other parts of the country.
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