Examining Police Brutality towards Black Lives and Social Justice Reform in the U.S and Brazil

This project seeks to examine the root causes behind the excessive use of violence by police towards black lives, while, at the same time, understanding the proposed solutions from community leaders in the effort to bridge the long outstanding gap between police and the black community. The project will include perspectives from both the United States and Brazil--two countries that have consistently struggled with race relations among blacks and whites and racial equality from the post-colonization era to the Civil Rights Movements to the present day. Today, modern day grassroots movements and organizations such as Black Lives Matter (U.S), Million Hoodies Movement, Reaja ou Será Morto (Brazil) and others have been dedicated in defending black lives and promoting policy changes to repair police protocol and improve relations between community members and the police. The issue of police brutality and excessive force has led the activists of each movement (in both Brazil and the U.S) to acknowledge the efforts made thus far and to share a sense of solidarity with the movement. The purpose of these groups are to defend black lives while working diligently to propose new policies that would place police officers more accountable for their actions.