Monday is Black Consciousness Day in Brazil. It falls on day of death of Zumbi dos Palmares, the leader of Palmares Quilombo, a community of runaway slaves and their descendants, in 1695. There are still thousands of quilombos across Brazil, and many continue to fight for their land and their rights.
Earlier this year, we profiled three crazy Englishmen who set out on a trip to walk more than a thousand miles to the World Cup in Brazil. At the time, no one knew it would turn into a story about a dog.
Adam Burns, Dave Bewick and Pete Johnston are hardcore English soccer fans. How hard core? They've decided to fly to Mendoza, Argentina and then walk more than 1,000 miles to Porto Alegre, Brazil. The idea isn't just to support England's soccer team, but also to raise awareness about the deadly drought that the region of Bahia is currently experiencing.
Reporter Mary Jo McConahay felt like she'd heard the story from Life of Pi, long before she read the book. Turns out, the book was inspired by Brazilian book by a noted and respected author. McConahay traveled to the man's home town and short time after the author, Moacyr Scliar, died.