Now for Brazil's Barack Obamas - all six of them

[Benny B]

Now for Brazil's Barack Obamas - all six of them
    * Tom Phillips
    * The Guardian,
    * Monday September 15 2008

Henrique dos Anjos - one of Brazil's six Barack Obamas

'People thought I looked a bit like him': Brazilian politician Henrique dos Anjos has changed his name to Barack Obama

Walk into a polling station in Belford Roxo, an impoverished city on the fringes of Rio de Janiero, on October 5 and you will be faced with an historic choice. You could vote for Alcides Rolim, the Workers' Party mayoral candidate promising a "city for all" or Elizeu Pitorra, a local communist who believes it is "time for a change". Most voters, however, will probably opt for Barack Obama, a 39-year-old Brazilian who, until recently, was known as Claudio Henrique dos Anjos.

Welcome to Obama-mania, Brazil-style. Few countries have embraced the idea of the US's first black president as enthusiastically as Brazil, a country with one of the largest Afro-descendant populations on Earth yet where black faces remain a minority in politics. Obama T-shirts are everywhere while chat shows and newspaper columns are filled with talk of the 47-year-old Illinois senator.

Now even Brazil's politicians are lining up for their piece of the pie. Due to a quirk of Brazilian law, candidates are allowed to run under the name of their choice. As a result, at least six Brazilian politicians have officially renamed themselves "Barack Obama" in a bid to get an edge over their rivals in October's municipal elections.

"In truth it was an accident," says Belford Roxo's Obama, an IT consultant who is bidding to become the city's first black mayor. "I'd been on the television wearing a suit and people thought I looked a bit like him so they started calling me Barack Obama. They'd see me in the street and shout: 'Hey! Barack!" So I decided to register it."

Like his illustrious American counterpart, who has relatives in Kenya, Brazil's Obama also has one foot in Africa. His grandfather was the descendant of slaves.

He admits he has also been looking to his namesake's speeches for inspiration. "I say the same things. I talk about political renewal, change, about transforming the city."

Despite their similarities the two Obamas have yet to meet although the Brazilian Obama says that as mayor he would "extend an invitation" to the real Obama to dine in Belford Roxo. "It would be great if he could come and see our reality," he beams. "Just imagine."

[Parker]

Now for Brazil's Barack Obamas - all six of them
    * Tom Phillips
    * The Guardian,
    * Monday September 15 2008

Henrique dos Anjos - one of Brazil's six Barack Obamas

'People thought I looked a bit like him': Brazilian politician Henrique dos Anjos has changed his name to Barack Obama

Walk into a polling station in Belford Roxo, an impoverished city on the fringes of Rio de Janiero, on October 5 and you will be faced with an historic choice. You could vote for Alcides Rolim, the Workers' Party mayoral candidate promising a "city for all" or Elizeu Pitorra, a local communist who believes it is "time for a change". Most voters, however, will probably opt for Barack Obama, a 39-year-old Brazilian who, until recently, was known as Claudio Henrique dos Anjos.

Welcome to Obama-mania, Brazil-style. Few countries have embraced the idea of the US's first black president as enthusiastically as Brazil, a country with one of the largest Afro-descendant populations on Earth yet where black faces remain a minority in politics. Obama T-shirts are everywhere while chat shows and newspaper columns are filled with talk of the 47-year-old Illinois senator.

Now even Brazil's politicians are lining up for their piece of the pie. Due to a quirk of Brazilian law, candidates are allowed to run under the name of their choice. As a result, at least six Brazilian politicians have officially renamed themselves "Barack Obama" in a bid to get an edge over their rivals in October's municipal elections.

"In truth it was an accident," says Belford Roxo's Obama, an IT consultant who is bidding to become the city's first black mayor. "I'd been on the television wearing a suit and people thought I looked a bit like him so they started calling me Barack Obama. They'd see me in the street and shout: 'Hey! Barack!" So I decided to register it."

Like his illustrious American counterpart, who has relatives in Kenya, Brazil's Obama also has one foot in Africa. His grandfather was the descendant of slaves.

He admits he has also been looking to his namesake's speeches for inspiration. "I say the same things. I talk about political renewal, change, about transforming the city."

Despite their similarities the two Obamas have yet to meet although the Brazilian Obama says that as mayor he would "extend an invitation" to the real Obama to dine in Belford Roxo. "It would be great if he could come and see our reality," he beams. "Just imagine."

This article is interesting, yet i think the politicians are stretching it a bit, just so that they can get noticed...

What's is also interesting is how a lot of African-Americans (mainly females), always want to go to Jamaica or Europe, but don't realize the gem that Brazil is, due to it population. I guess it's all the beautiful women, and they are put off by that...

[Benny B]

This article is interesting, yet i think the politicians are stretching it a bit, just so that they can get noticed...

What's is also interesting is how a lot of African-Americans (mainly females), always want to go to Jamaica or Europe, but don't realize the gem that Brazil is, due to it population. I guess it's all the beautiful women, and they are put off by that...

Those politicians are doing what they feel will work for them. Hard to say they are stretching it unless you understand the dynamics of what its like there and what the local population will fall for. Pandering always works in politics. 
By the way, Brazil has the largest black population in the world outside of the continent of Africa.


Here's something I stated a year ago on getbig, and a few clowns tried to tell me I knew nothing about Brazil and that it was a "white country." 
Blacks will soon be Brazil’s majority
By Michael Astor
Associated Press
Updated May 27, 2008

Blacks will soon be Brazil’s majority for the first time since slavery era

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Blacks will outnumber Whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a recent government study.

The government’s Applied Institute of Economic Research said Brazil, which has the world’s second-largest Black population after Nigeria, is decades away from racial equality despite public policies aimed at decreasing the gap.

Blacks generally earn 50 percent to 70 percent less than Whites, and hold only 3.5 percent of management positions at Brazil’s 500 largest companies, according to the labor-union statistics institute Diesse.

A 2004 study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found the income gap between Whites and Blacks in Brazil was wider than in apartheid-era South Africa.

“Black people end up not having the access to an education that will allow them to climb to meet opportunities. And when there is an opening, they aren’t always capable of competing for it,” said Diesse director Clemente Ganz Lucio.

In recent years, Brazil has created a system of quotas at public universities that has bridged the gap somewhat. But quotas are complicated in Brazil because of the high degree of mixing between races, and some critics say light-skinned people are taking spots reserved for Blacks.

The fight against slavery “was one of Brazil’s most beautiful struggles ever, but it didn’t include measures to ensure the civil rights of the Black population,” said Edson Santos, Brazil’s minister of racial equality. “Blacks left the slave quarters to live in the slums.”

The government study was released May 13 to coincide with the 120th anniversary of abolition in Brazil. In 1888, Brazil became the last country in the Western hemisphere to end slavery.

In 1890, Blacks were estimated to make up 56 percent of Brazil’s population, but that number dropped to 36 percent in 1940, according to the study. In 1976, when the Brazilian Statistics Institute began keeping reliable data on race, 57 percent of Brazil’s 185 million people were white, and 40 percent were Black or mixed-race.

The Institute of Economic Research said the percentage of Blacks would top 50 percent again later this year.

[Parker]

Those politicians are doing what they feel will work for them. Hard to say they are stretching it unless you understand the dynamics of what its like there and what the local population will fall for. Pandering always works in politics. 
By the way, Brazil has the largest black population in the world outside of the continent of Africa.


Here's something I stated a year ago on getbig, and a few clowns tried to tell me I knew nothing about Brazil and that it was a "white country." 
Blacks will soon be Brazil’s majority
By Michael Astor
Associated Press
Updated May 27, 2008

Blacks will soon be Brazil’s majority for the first time since slavery era

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Blacks will outnumber Whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a recent government study.

The government’s Applied Institute of Economic Research said Brazil, which has the world’s second-largest Black population after Nigeria, is decades away from racial equality despite public policies aimed at decreasing the gap.

Blacks generally earn 50 percent to 70 percent less than Whites, and hold only 3.5 percent of management positions at Brazil’s 500 largest companies, according to the labor-union statistics institute Diesse.

A 2004 study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro found the income gap between Whites and Blacks in Brazil was wider than in apartheid-era South Africa.

“Black people end up not having the access to an education that will allow them to climb to meet opportunities. And when there is an opening, they aren’t always capable of competing for it,” said Diesse director Clemente Ganz Lucio.

In recent years, Brazil has created a system of quotas at public universities that has bridged the gap somewhat. But quotas are complicated in Brazil because of the high degree of mixing between races, and some critics say light-skinned people are taking spots reserved for Blacks.

The fight against slavery “was one of Brazil’s most beautiful struggles ever, but it didn’t include measures to ensure the civil rights of the Black population,” said Edson Santos, Brazil’s minister of racial equality. “Blacks left the slave quarters to live in the slums.”

The government study was released May 13 to coincide with the 120th anniversary of abolition in Brazil. In 1888, Brazil became the last country in the Western hemisphere to end slavery.

In 1890, Blacks were estimated to make up 56 percent of Brazil’s population, but that number dropped to 36 percent in 1940, according to the study. In 1976, when the Brazilian Statistics Institute began keeping reliable data on race, 57 percent of Brazil’s 185 million people were white, and 40 percent were Black or mixed-race.

The Institute of Economic Research said the percentage of Blacks would top 50 percent again later this year.

Actually a few years back, I read that people of African descent were the majority. You see that statement is tricky, you have the Latino culture, which if you are a mulata, then many don't consider themselves black. Many times it is based on skin color, so some don't consider themselves black, or are ashamed to say that they are, or are descendants.

I know that is the south of Brazil there are more German's (like supermodel Gisele) and Italians. Brazil's government in the 1920-30's encouraged German and Italian immigration because they wanted to "whiten" the population.

What is interesting is how they deal with race and the issues. Examine it, and see what can work in the US as well. I also believe that one should look at pre-1900's New Orlean's and how they delat with the same issues.  The gens de colour (free people of color) and how they played into the racial mix, and how it can be related to today.