A line in the sands of Rio

May 8, 2013

Brazil line in sand photo

Participants in Brazil’s Five Years Too Many campaign line up behind a mural on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on 5 May 2013.

On 5 May, Baha’is in Brazil laid out on the sands of the famous Copacabana beach a striking mural created by artist Siron Franco as part of the Five Years Too Many campaign.

The mural, depicting the theme “Human beings should be free as birds,” drew the attention of news photographers and reporters.

A television team from Reuters produced an English-language video about the event, which can be seen on YouTube here. A print version of the Reuters story was also sent out and it can be read here.

Major media outlets in Brazil also gave significant Portuguese-language coverage to the event. This coverage included Jornal Do Brasil, O Globe Mundo, Correio Braziliense, and EBC.

In addition to members of the Brazilian Baha’i community, supporters from various human rights organizations attended. Among them were: Afro-Brazilian religious leader Ivanir dos Santos, one of the founders of Rio de Janeiro`s Committee to Combat Religious Intolerance (CCIR), which is responsible for the famous annual march in Copacabana; Claudio Miranda, a member of CCIR from Santo Daime; Farhad Shayani of the Brazilian Society of Physicians for Peace; and Dr. Mauricio Santoro on behalf of Amnesty International.

Mr. Ramin Shams, an Iranian Baha’i who came to Brazil with his family in the 1980s as refugee, spoke about the terrible persecutions Baha’is in Iran are forced to endure.

Previous post:

Next post: