Editor’s note: Last night, on the eve of the Black Consciousness Day in Brazil, a Black man, João Alberto Silveira Freitas, died after being beaten at a supermarket in Porto Alegre, in the south of the country. We would like to express our sentiments to the Black community in Brazil.
In Brazil, November 20 is Black Consciousness Day, or Dia da Consciência Negra in Portuguese, a public holiday celebrated in more than 830 cities around the country. It’s a tribute to Zumbi dos Palmares, the most prominent resistance leader against slavery and a symbol of the fight for freedom and recognition.
In a country where more than half the population of 212 million people identify as Black, Brazilians celebrate this day to raise awareness about the history and the achievements of the Black community. It’s also a moment to further debate the struggles Black Brazilians face: structural racism, inequality, displacement, exploitation, poverty and more.
Following Google’s commitments to racial equity, we created a series of initiatives to celebrate Black Consciousness Day: a wealth of new material on Google Arts & Culture; a Google Play Store collection and a film showcasing local Black founders and developers of apps, games and websites; a new group of Black-led startups will be funded by Google for Startups; and Google.org grants to advance racial justice.
Honoring Black art
In partnership with 15 cultural institutions, Google Arts & Culture created “Celebrating Black Brazil,” a hub dedicated to Afro-Brazilian art and culture that features more than 30 exhibitions about the history behind this celebration. Thanks to the Geledés Black Women Institute, you can learn more about the artistic representation of the Black community, or explore African culture in over 600 artworks from the Museo de Arte de Bahia digitized in super high-resolution. You can also examine the artistic and cultural expressions at the Port of Rio, one of the main harbors for slave trade in the Americas.
Restoring history
Four young Brazilian artists worked with the Museu Afro Brasil and a team of historians and curators to uncover unknown stories of Black Brazil.
The stories range from an empowering tale of sisterhood and entrepreneurship in Salvador, to an exploration of how African design and technology have influenced Brazil’s development. The artworks represent Black communities beyond stereotypes, integrating elements from African legacy.
To explore these remarkable stories in more detail, and to discover collections from more than 2,000 cultural institutions around the world, visit
