RioOnWatch – reporting by and from Rio favelas

The Story Behind Brazil’s First Favela Museum—The Maré Museum—Started With a Community Network and Oral Histories in the 1990s

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of RioOnWatch‘s series on Memories of Favela Power, which documents and celebrates the history of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas through narratives and reports from residents’ collective memory, […]

From Local Conferences to COPs, Decision-Making on Climate Excludes Those Who Hold Critical Knowledge and Are Most Impacted: Indigenous Peoples and Informal Settlements [OPINION]

By Kaolin Maxakali • Translation by Yasmin Quaife • May 22, 2025

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of a series created in partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the Digital Brazil Project on environmental justice in the favelas […]

Rio’s New ‘Extreme Rainfall Vulnerability Index’, Rio 60ºC, Shows 600,000 Homes at High Risk of Landslides or Flooding

By Felipe Lucena • Translation by A.M. Oliver • May 16, 2025

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Felipe Lucena published in Diário do Rio, click here. Morro dos Prazeres and Rocinha are among the areas identified in a study developed by Ambiental Media […]

‘Trash? Not to Us!’ Environmental Action in Rio Public Housing Complex Denounces Municipal Neglect and Proposes Waste Collection as a Source of Income

By Amanda Baroni Lopes • Translation by Ujwala Murthy • May 9, 2025

Sustainable Favela Network Launches Groundbreaking ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition on May 3, Kicking Off Museums Month [RELEASE]

By Sustainable Favela Network • Translation by Staff • April 30, 2025

Clique aqui para Português The Relationship Between Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas, Climate and Nature is the Theme of the Complete ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition, Bringing an Extensive Timeline, Unprecedented Data and Unique Testimonials From 10 […]

‘No One Wants to Hear How Much We Miss Them’: 20 Years After the Baixada Massacre, Families of Victims Report Poor Mental Health and Demand Psychosocial Support from the State

By Fabio Leon • Translation by Ujwala Murthy • April 20, 2025

Clique aqui para Português On the night of March 31, 2005, five Military Police officers—some of whom had previously been accused of police violence—met at a bar in downtown Nova Iguaçu and then drove along […]

Brazilian Government Formally Recognizes ‘Favelas and Urban Communities’ As the Official Term for Informal Settlements Nationwide

By Carmen Nery, IBGE press release, Vinícius Britto, IBGE press release • Translation by Hannah McKenzie • January 31, 2024

Clique aqui para Português For the original press release in Portuguese, published by Brazil’s census bureau, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), click here. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is […]

RIP ‘Subnormal Agglomerations,’ Part 3: Peripheral Epistemology in the Design of the Census and Presentation of a New Nomenclature

By Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Nathan Bergrin • November 10, 2023

Clique aqui para Português This is the final article in a series of three about how Brazil’s census bureau, IBGE, held an unprecedented week-long workshop to debate how to change the term “subnormal agglomeration” used […]

RIP ‘Subnormal Agglomerations,’ Part 2: Housing Rights and Favela Stigma in the Official Nomenclature

By Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Nathan Bergrin • November 9, 2023

Clique aqui para Português This is the second article in a series of three about how Brazil’s census bureau, IBGE, held an unprecedented week-long workshop to debate how to change the term “subnormal agglomeration” used […]

‘Temporary’ Housing in Santa Cruz Turns 60: Reflecting on Cesarão, the First Housing Complex, and Favela do Aço

By Moanan Costa do Couto • Translation by Kay Alvito • April 7, 2025

Clique aqui para Português The history of the city of Rio de Janeiro is marked by experiments in segregationist housing policies, which intensified during the Military Dictatorship (1964–1985). Over the course of those decades, the […]

Without Dialogue or Compensation, Rio de Janeiro City Hall Gives 10 Days Notice to Forcibly Evict the Santa Luzia Community, Which Over Decades Has Fought—And Won—Housing Rights Battles

By Fernanda Delatorre • Translation by Staff • January 15, 2025

Clique aqui para Português On January 8, 2025, residents of the Santa Luzia favela, located between the neighborhoods of Vargem Pequena and Vargem Grande in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone, were blindsided by a ten-day […]

Get to Know Candidates from Favelas for Rio de Janeiro’s City Council

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Kincaid Cummings • October 3, 2024

Clique aqui para Português The city of Rio de Janeiro has 5,009,373 registered voters, according to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), out of an estimated 6,211,223 people, based on the 2022 national census. […]

Samba Abstrato Exposes the Whitening of Samba Schools [OPINION]

By Paulo Mileno • Translation by Staff • March 10, 2025

Clique aqui para Português Launched in 2016, the Samba Abstrato (Abstract Samba) Facebook page was created to document the appropriation and whitening of Brazilian carnival samba schools, as well as to confront the invasion of […]

Queen Diambi Kabatusuila of Congo Visits Rio de Janeiro’s Camorim Quilombo Offering Reconnection Across the Diaspora

By Rhuan Gonçalves • Translation by Kay Alvito • November 30, 2024

Clique aqui para Português During Brazilian Black Awareness Month in 2024, some of Rio de Janeiro’s most important spaces for Black culture were graced with a visit from Her Royal Majesty Queen Diambi Kabatusuila, known […]

Powerful Afro-Brazilian Cultural Event ‘Pedreira de Xangô in Serrinha’ Celebrates 80 Years [IMAGES]

By Rhuan Gonçalves • Translation by Staff • September 30, 2024

2024 Retrospective of Top International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas

By Kincaid Cummings • December 26, 2024

Clique aqui para Português From 2013 to 2023, RioOnWatch ran the Best and Worst International Reporting on Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas series. It began, quite symptomatically, with the Worst International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas: 2013, […]

Violence Is Literally Sickening: A Mother’s Testimony Corroborates Research Showing That Police Violence and the Denial of the Right to Grieve Cause Physical and Mental Illness in Brazil

By Ramon Vellasco • Translation by Fred Hanson • October 15, 2024

Clique aqui para Português “There are days when we just want to cry, to stay in bed, and not speak to anyone because we don’t have our children to hug anymore.” — Gilsara Mendes, mother […]

Get to Know Candidates from Favelas for Rio de Janeiro’s City Council

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Kincaid Cummings • October 3, 2024

Understanding Energy Justice and Efficiency in Rio’s Favelas [VIDEO]

By Jaqueline Suarez • Translation by Pilar Boyero • December 13, 2021

Watch the video that summarizes the Energy Justice and Efficiency Series with English subtitles here: Clique aqui para Português This article and the video above offer a summary and conclusion to the series ‘Energy […]

Pedra Branca and the Energy Dilemmas of Rio’s Urbanization: From Charcoal to Electricity

By Antonio Alonso, Iamni Torres Jager • Translation by Trisha Ponti • November 1, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of a series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio’s favelas. It is also the latest contribution to our year-long reporting project, “Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas: Deconstructing […]

Energy That Comes From Waste: Biodigester Turns Sewage into Biogas in Vale Encantado Favela [VIDEO]

By Jaqueline Suarez • Translation by Saskia Wright • August 1, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This English subtitled documentary is the latest contribution to our series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio’s favelas. It is also part of a series created in partnership with […]

From Local Conferences to COPs, Decision-Making on Climate Excludes Those Who Hold Critical Knowledge and Are Most Impacted: Indigenous Peoples and Informal Settlements [OPINION]

By Kaolin Maxakali • Translation by Yasmin Quaife • May 22, 2025

Rio’s New ‘Extreme Rainfall Vulnerability Index’, Rio 60ºC, Shows 600,000 Homes at High Risk of Landslides or Flooding

By Felipe Lucena • Translation by A.M. Oliver • May 16, 2025

‘I Was Up All Night, Like Every Summer’: Storm Deepens Climate Anxiety and Sparks Outrage Among Favela Residents Across Greater Rio de Janeiro, Say #VoicesFromSocialMedia

By Beatriz Miranda • Translation by Staff • April 14, 2025

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of RioOnWatch’s ongoing #VoicesFromSocialMedia series, which compiles perspectives posted on social media by favela residents and activists about events and societal themes that arise. Year after year, the problem persists: […]

Between the Political Right and Left, I Choose the Quilombo! [OPINION]

By Jeferson Rodrigues • Translation by Sharonya Vadakattu • March 3, 2022

Clique aqui para Português This article is the latest contribution to our award-winning reporting project, Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas: Deconstructing Social Narratives About Racism in Rio de Janeiro. We hear about “right” and “left” all the time. […]

A Deeply Personal In-Depth Account of the Typical Racism of Domestic Work in Brazil

By Neuza Nascimento • Translation by Fred Hanson • February 28, 2022

Clique aqui para Português This article is the latest contribution to our award-winning reporting project, Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas: Deconstructing Social Narratives About Racism in Rio de Janeiro. This story, told by writer and former domestic worker […]

I Want To Read Black Authors: When Will We See Proper Representation in Brazilian Schools and Universities? [OPINION]

By Cynthia Rachel Pereira Lima • Translation by Carolyn Oliveira • February 25, 2022

Clique aqui para Português This is our latest article in a series created in partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the Digital Brazil Project on climate impacts and affirmative action in […]