The favela enters politics: Brazil’s first “Black political party”

Celso Athayde doesn’t expect many people will show up, on a Tuesday evening in Madureira, a suburb in Rio’s North Zone. Maybe 200 people will come, he estimates – they haven’t advertised this, anyone who’s here was personally invited by someone who knew what was happening, and believed in the idea’s potential.

Athayde is an entrepreneur and favela activist, who has quietly been creating social change for two decades with Central Única das Favelas (CUFA), a network of NGOs working in urban areas across Brazil to engage youth in music, sports, and the arts. But for the last three years, Athayde’s mission has been trying to grow Frente Favela Brasil, a political party which he and its creators hope will make the face of Brazilian politics more representative of the country’s population.

By 8 pm, there are twice as many people sat in the audience as Athayde expected. Anderson Quack and Nega Gizza, two of Frente Favela Brasil’s 72 pre-candidates running for offices all across Brazil, are speaking on stage. “I don’t want one vote,” says Gizza, looking out across the crowd. “I want that voter with me throughout those four years.”

Despite their efforts, there wasn’t enough time for Frente Favela Brasil to officially register as a party for the 2018 elections. The process is exceedingly difficult: after defining their party’s positioning, leaders must be selected and the party’s creation published in the daily national bulletin from...