Political party born from favela wants to elect black representatives in parliam

Pursuing a vision of electing black, slum community members to parliament office, a new party called Frente Favela Brasil (which translates as Brazil's Favela Front) has officially registered and now wants to put up candidates for the next election.

“We want to speak for ourselves,” says Celso Athayde, founder of the Central Única das Favelas (CUFA) and creator of the Favela Holding business initiative, and one of the project's supporters.

Athayde explains the new party is not meant to replace or diminish existing party initiatives for black Brazilians or those living in poor, remote urban areas, but to offer something new.

“What we're going for now is not rights—other, existing movements are already doing that—but power.”

“Members of an established bureaucratic elite are now in power speaking on behalf of the black, slum dwellers,” says 28-years-old Wanderson Maia, one of the leaders of the new party. He now wants these people to have an opportunity to rise to these positions directly and speak for themselves.

While the issues affecting blacks are preponderant in the slums, Maia says the party welcomes people from different races and political views. “Left- or right-wing, black or white, we are all from the favelas.”

Translated by Mayra Borges