Protest Against the Murder of Marielle Franco. Rio de Janerio, 15 March 2018. Source: Paulo Barros, Favela em Foco. All Rights Reserved.
On March 14, 2018, Rio de Janeiro’s councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes were murdered in her car after leaving an event on black women’s empowerment. Franco’s press secretary, who was in the backseat with her, survived
Franco was the only black woman on Rio de Janeiro’s 51-member city council, and she was the fifth most voted councillor in the 2016 election. She was a rising black, LGBTQ, and feminist leader that inspired many and represented the possibility of minorities accessing power and occupying political spaces in Brazil.
