Zuenir Ventura remembered: a reporter and Rio’s divided city
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In 1993, Richard Santos met journalist Zuenir Ventura in Vigário Geral, a community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, still grieving after a massacre that killed 21 residents. They were both participating in a cultural event organized by the AfroReggae Group, aiming to create a safe space for the community despite the recent trauma.
Santos, then a young hip-hop artist known as Big Richard, was involved in youth outreach through the CEAP organization.
Ventura witnessed firsthand the contrast between the community’s efforts to build a positive environment and the distrust shown by the local Military Police, who interrupted the event and treated participants as suspects. This incident, which Santos later wrote about, became a part of Ventura’s book Cidade Partida (Split City), a work that documented the inequalities within Rio de Janeiro. Ventura’s book highlighted the experiences of Black youth and the challenges they faced.
Santos reflects that the book captured the reality of a city where cultural expression in marginalized communities is often viewed with suspicion by authorities. Following Ventura’s death in September, Santos revisited Rio de Janeiro and found the city even more fractured than before. He notes that the disparities in rights, to safety, cultural expression, and simply returning home, continue to define life for many residents.
Santos, now a professor and government official, maintains the spirit of Big Richard, advocating for the voices of marginalized youth and questioning what kind of city and country Brazil will become.
