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Latest News
  • [ December 4, 2025 ] Portrait of a Centenary-Old Favela of Stilt Houses: Belém’s Vila da Barca Resists, Organizes and Fights for Sanitation and Adequate Housing #HousingWatch
  • [ November 30, 2025 ] The Story of Dona Pascoalina, Midwife and Healer of Morro do Borel by Community Contributors
  • [ November 15, 2025 ] ‘There’s No Such Thing as Normal After a Massacre’: One Week After Police Mega-Operation Kills 121 People, Residents From Complexos do Alemão and Penha Speak Out #UPPWatch
  • [ November 13, 2025 ] ‘Human Beings Forget That They Are Nature’: Favelas Teach the Path to the Future at the 2nd Favela Sustainability Festival Civil Society
  • [ November 12, 2025 ] Food Sovereignty and Culinary Heritage Connect with Fight for Climate Justice at the 2nd Sustainable Favela Festival Civil Society
HomeAfrican Heritage Circuit

African Heritage Circuit

*Highlight

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 […]

Mãe Ekedi Sílvia de Mendonça, a journalist and a Black Movement activist, in front of the old house of cult of João da Gomeia, one of the most famous candomblé priests of his time. Photo by Bárbara Dias
#ParticipationWatch

Sacred Afro-Brazilian Religious Site Will Be Preserved, Following Protest by Religious Movement

By Carla Souza • Translation by Carolyn Oliveira • August 18, 2020

Clique aqui para Português On July 18, a protest against religious intolerance took place in Duque de Caxias, in Greater Rio’s Baixada Fluminense region, at the former site of the terreiro (outdoor place of worship […]

#GentrificationWatch

Mayor’s Proposed ‘Slavery and Freedom Museum’ Stokes Debate and Skepticism

By Claire Jones, Lisa Hollenbach • September 13, 2017

Clique aqui para Português While Rio’s oldest favela, Providência, marks 120 years since its founding, the city has been undergoing a broader moment of historical reckoning, considering how best to utilize the past in order to […]

#GentrificationWatch

Largest Slave Cemetery Battles to Continue ‘Saying the Unspeakable’ During 2017 Museum Week

By Claire Jones • May 16, 2017

Clique aqui para Português The New Blacks Institute (Instituto Pretos Novos, or IPN), a museum in Rio’s Port Region hosting the largest slave cemetery in the Americas and one of the main sites preserving the city’s legacy as […]

IPN exhibits
#GentrificationWatch

Americas’ Largest Slave Cemetery to Close at End of Week Due to Abandonment by Rio Authorities

By Nour El-Youssef • March 28, 2017

Clique aqui para Português In 1996, Merced Guimarães and her husband Petrucio made a chilling discovery in their new home during an extensive renovation project: workers excavating in the soil beneath their house in the […]

RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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10 Years! Check Out Our Story:

Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
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    • Greater Rio
  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
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