April, 2019
Thank you for joining me. This first stage of my writing is an introduction of a very wonderful person. Her name is Ms. Marielle Franco. Marielle’s work, hope, dreams, academic accomplishments, love, and commitment to her constituents; family, friends, humanity have prompted me to begin my work as a writer, to share her story. My desire and hope are to bring the voice and message of Marielle (and more souls) to you, to the reader, to humanity. Even more, as time slowly or quickly proceeds, my plan is to include “ways” for all of us to participate in the hopeful solutions to the many ill’s that we see in Brazil; in the America’s, and in our World. Please read more about the life and legacy of Ms. Marielle Franco. There are numerous sources out there, and you are always welcome to return to stellariobserver.org, as often as you wish.
My many thanks go to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), for their superb reporting and research work. In 2018, the reading of an on-line article by WOLA.org, spurred me to read further. WOLA had introduced me to the political power and humanistic passion of Marielle Franco but sadly as well to the hardships and tragedy that had befallen the life of Ms. Marielle Franco.
Periodically, there shall be updates and new reports on important people and issues in our world, and within our known universe. In addition, please forgive me for the grammatical and typographical errors that you may see. Necessary corrections shall be ongoing.
Sincerely,
The Stellar i Observer
The artwork, below, is a beautiful image of Ms. Marielle Franco, the Civil Rights Leader of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The superb artist, who created the magnificent image of Marielle, is Ms. Joana-Zille. Copyright infringement is not intended.
This essay or report is very important. It is the first of several writing’s on the life of Marielle Franco, which shall summarily include reports of the difficulties that are being experienced by many Brazilians; namely, the indigenous, the Brazilians of the African diaspora, and the people of the Favelas. In addition, in successive writing’s, I shall include mention of possible solutions, suggestions, and possible way’s for the reader to participate; that is, by helping to resolve several of the issues that many Brazilians have to experience day in and day out.
My hope is to see a Brazil that is “One”, where all Brazilians shall one day live in peace; with respect, dignity, equality, and love for one another. Specifically, let’s hope for a Brazil with no shootings; no killings, no internal war, no discrimination, no militarization of the police forces, no brutality, and no hate, etc. In addition, let’s hope and pray for a Brazil that’s characterized by affordable & modern housing; affordable education, good paying jobs, plentiful job training centers, plentiful health clinics with great health policies, safe neighborhoods, clean water, healthy/affordable food, and more.
Let’s ask ourselves, who was Ms. Marielle Franco? Well, Ms. Marielle Franco was born, Marielle Francisco da Silva, on July 27, 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In her early life, at the early age of eleven, Marielle was known to have begun work for the first time to earn an income. She worked to help support her family, while residing in a low income neighborhood, a neighborhood located in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro (Canonico, 2018 in Wikipedia.org, 2019). As a young adult, Marielle became a single Mother of a wonderful daughter.
When ready to attend college, Marielle entered the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, and then after college she continued further to the graduate level. At the graduate level, Marielle earned her Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Fluminense Federal University of Brazil (in wikipedia.org, 2019).
After graduation, Ms. Franco became a City Councilor in Rio De Janeiro, beginning in January of 2017. She was the first Afro-Brazilian Woman to hold that position, and perhaps the first Afro-Brazilian regardless of gender to hold that position. Moreover, according to Amnesty International, Wikipedia.org, WOLA.org, and the majority of the Brazilian people,
Marielle spoke out:
- Marielle spoke out against police violence in Rio de Janeiro
- Marielle spoke out against the militarization of the police, and stated that the police were targeting citizens who are poor and Black
- Marielle spoke out against police brutality and extrajudicial killings
- Marielle spoke out against the February 2018 federal intervention by Brazilian president Michel Temer in the state of Rio de Janeiro which resulted in the deployment of the army in police operations (The Washington Post, LA Times, BBC News in wikipedia.org, 2019)
Marielle was a representative and defender of poor Black Women and people from the favelas (in wikipedia.org, 2019). Tragically, She was assassinated in her car, after delivering a public speech in Rio de Janeiro on March 14, 2018. Her personal driver, Mr. Anderson Pedro Gomez, was also shot and killed.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Amnesty International, in January and March of this year, 2019, several suspects were brought into custody for questioning, in the murder of Marielle. It is believed that both suspects in the murder of Ms. Marielle Franco are members of the Brazilian police force. Even more, as written in the online publication, ‘TheConversation.com’, the Attorney and Doctoral student, Ms. Ana Maria Dos Santos Carvalho Carinhanha, had stated that “Marielle talked openly about race, violence, and gender. It may have been what got her killed”. Nevertheless, Marielle believed that all of us must not wait any longer for a stop to the senseless violence and loss of lives. The numbers of victims have been increasing decade after decade. We must care, and we must become involved in order to resolve these important issues, now.
— The Stellar i Observer
Human Rights--World Affairs 