Marielle Franco was a rising political star in Brazil: she was an activist, the only black
woman to serve on Rio de Janeiro’s current City Council, and a fierce critic of government
corruption.
She was known for her infectious smile, colorful headwraps, and strong advocacy for poor black
people.
She was a symbol of hope to many marginalized communities in Brazil who have felt left out
of politics for decades.
And on March 14, the 38-year-old Franco was tragically assassinated.
Hey guys, I’m Versha, and today we’re taking a closer look at the life, career,
and early death of Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco.
Franco, born Marielle Francisco da Silva, was from humble beginnings.
She was born in 1979 in Maré, a favela in northern Rio, surrounded by two very powerful
gangs and a paramilitary group.
Maré ranks as one of the worst slums in Rio, in terms of life expectancy, education, and
per capita income, so Franco would have to defy the odds in order to make it out.
She started working at age 11 in order to help her parents pay for her school.
Franco’s sister, Anielle Silva, recalled that they grew up constantly witnessing violence.
They sometimes missed school due to shootouts and at other times had to walk past “bodies
laying in the street,” she said in an interview.
It was these types of experiences that shaped Franco’s ambitions to make it out of the
favela and her passions for human rights.
At 19 years old Franco became a single mother, giving birth to her only daughter.
But she also continued working towards her goals.
She enrolled in a free college prep course at the Maré Centre for Studies and Solidarity
Action, which aimed to teach young people from the favelas how they could improve their
neighborhoods.
This led her to one of Brazil’s elite universities, the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro,
which she attended on a scholarship.
Even though 54.9% of Brazil’s population consider themselves Black or mixed race, Franco
was one of the two Black students at the university during this period.
While there Franco balanced being a mother and working as a preschool teacher making
minimum wage.
It was around this time that one of her best friends was killed by a stray bullet during
a shootout between a local gang and police forces.
That’s when her focus shifted and she was inspired to become a human rights activist.
Franco went on to earn her degree in social sciences but now she had a new directive.
Now driven to effect change, Franco started working for more human rights and civil society
organizations in Brazil.
She became one of the most notable members of Brazil’s new left-wing party, the Party
of Socialism and Liberty.
During this time Franco earned her master’s degree while also taking up a leadership role
in the Human Rights Commission of Rio’s Legislative Assembly.
Here she worked alongside Marcelo Freixo, who was someone who also spoke out against
the involvement of police in militias and paramilitary groups in Rio.
Franco’s rise in politics coincided with Rio’s rise in violence.
A big part of her popularity was due to her approach to this issue, publicly speaking
out against what she saw as the corrupt factors and inequality that contributed to this violence.
In 2016, after 10 years working in the human rights commission, Franco felt that she could
have a greater impact in public office.
So she ran for a seat on the Rio de Janeiro city council.
That in and of itself was a radical act because even though more than 50% of Brazilians identify
as black or mixed-race, most politicians, including the current President of Brazil,
Michel Temer and the majority of his cabinet, are white men.
Franco, on the other hand, was a Black, queer, feminist woman from a favela.
And she used this to her advantage.
She ran a campaign where she championed causes that reflected her life experiences:
She defended human rights.
She was a fearless advocate for the rights of all Afro-Brazilians, LGBTQ+ people, women,
single mothers, and poor communities.
She also rallied against police violence in the favelas.
Not only did she win, but her issues proved to be very popular: Franco actually received
the fifth highest vote total of more than 1,500 candidates running for city council.
She was the only black woman to serve on that council, which was made up of 51 seats.
As soon as she took office, and with her goals firmly in sight, Franco started working on
women’s rights and issues affecting favelas.
While she was chair of the Women’s Defense Commission, she also fought for LGBTQ+ rights
and continued to be fearlessly vocal about police brutality.
Rio has one of the deadliest police forces in the world, and the victims of that violence
are often young black men and women.
According to a Brazilian think tank, in 2016, 925 people were killed during police operations
— and human rights groups think that number climbed to over 1,000 deaths in 2017.
This violence is what led President Temer to declare in February 2018 that he was handing
over control of Rio’s public security to the military, giving them “vast powers to
secure order.”
That decision marked the first time there’s been a federal intervention in a state since
the 1980s when Brazil became a democracy again after 21 years of a military regime.
Temer’s decision was an extremely controversial one, and Franco strongly disagreed with it.
She said a move like this failed to address the root causes of violence in Rio and had
the potential to make the situation even worse—empowering military forces to crack down on what they
considered disorderly neighborhoods.
Franco was then appointed to a commission that would monitor how the federal intervention
was going -- which was a position she wouldn’t hold for too long.
While serving on the commission she continued to bring public attention to police brutality.
In a tweet from her account on March 13, 2018 she said: “Another homicide of a young man
that could be credited to the police.
Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed.
How many others will have to die for this war to end?”
The next day, March 14, 2018, Franco attended an event called, “Young Black Women Moving
Power Structures.”
Before leaving the event she told them, "We have to occupy every place with our bodies,"
urging them to continue getting involved, seeking justice, and getting involved.
In a cruel twist of fate, it was after leaving this event about empowering black women and
raising the voices of the marginalized that Franco was gunned down in her car, along with
her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes.
Her press officer, who was in the backseat, suffered injuries but survived.
The timing and execution of this attack have raised suspicions about who could be behind
it, as it came only one day after Franco sent that tweet blaming police for the death of
that young black man.
The nature of the assassination also appears to be targeted: the killers were able to pull
up next to her car, which had tinted windows, and fire 4 shots directly at Franco.
They fired 9 shots total.
Local news reports say Franco was killed by people who were tracking her movements, but
no one has yet been taken into custody.
The police chief has said no motive has been established.
Bullets from the crime scene were reportedly traced back to being purchased by the federal
police in 2006, though federal authorities are apparently working with local police on
the investigation.
President Temer said the killing was “an affront to the rule of law and an affront
to democracy.”
The president has since used her death as a way of defending his decision to militarize
Rio.
Amnesty International has called for a full investigation into Franco’s death.
But it’s important to note that Franco’s death can’t just simply be attributed to
violence in Rio.
Many believe Marielle Franco was targeted because she was political.
They say she died because she was an outspoken Black, feminist,who used her voice to fight
for the rights of women, LGBTQ+ people, and the favela residents who have to endure constant
violence inflicted by Rio’s police force on the community.
Now that Franco’s voice has been silenced prematurely and tragically, many thousands
of people around the world are make sure she is not forgotten.