Ethnic groups in Brazil

The Confederate flag debate has arrived to Brazil, pitting black activists against the Brazilian descendants of soldiers who fled the South after the Civil War to a country that still had slavery.

Of course, Afro-Brazilians do not need to escape slavery anymore, but in a country riven by racial inequality and historic injustices, the quilombos now serve as focal points for resistance of a more contemporary kind.

Despite over half of Brazilians claiming African descent, black Brazilians face widespread racism — which often manifests itself in violence. For the women of Miss Black Power Brazil, resistance against racism comes from a natural place — their hair.

Rio de Janeiro’s Fashion Week has long been criticized for using almost exclusively white models in a country that is mostly non-white. But no more. A new agreement ensures at least 10 percent of models on Rio’s runways will be non-white.

The economic boom in Brazil has given more mobility to Brazilians looking to make it big, leading them to come to the United States. But as economic opportunities wax and wane here and there, increasingly, more Brazilians are moving back and forth, searching for their best option.