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Capoeira through the ages

September 20, 2011 rescharf 0

Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art practiced all over the world, was originally a criminal activity. Even after the abolition of slavery, in 1888, the police […]

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Presidents in stamps

January 12, 2011 rescharf 2

Any philatelist can tell you that there is much more to stamps than meets the eye. This week Correios (the state-owned company responsible for the […]

Who’s black?

October 1, 2010 rescharf 6

Machado de Assis, the greatest Brazilian novelist of all times, was born black and poor, in one of the hills of Rio de Janeiro, the […]

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Saints without a halo*

March 24, 2010 rescharf 2

They were not canonized. They are controversial. There is even doubt if some of them really existed. Nevertheless, Brazilian popular saints generate deep devotion, pilgrimages […]

Racism, the Brazilian way

November 22, 2009 rescharf 9

In Brazil, unlike other countries, different ethnic groups interact a lot – sometimes peacefully, sometimes not.  This interaction leads frequently to mixed marriages and a […]