Photo by drobotdean on Freepik.

This article, written by Kelvyn Araujo, was originally published in Portuguese on the website of the Jornalistas Pretos — Rede de Jornalistas pela Diversidade na Comunicação (Black Journalists’ Network — Journalists for Diversity in Communication) on May 13, 2025. An edited version is republished here by Global Voices under a partnership agreement. 

In Brazil, more than half of Black boys between the ages of 13 and 17 dream of becoming a digital influencer or football player. The statistic, analyzed by the report “Black boys: finance, future, and work” from the Men’s Talk Institute (PDH), indicates that, more than just for career considerations, the desire for visibility and recognition is linked to absence of representation, structural racism, and the search for symbolic and economic survival, in one of the world’s most unequal countries.

The survey, conducted in 2024, interviewed 1,435 Black teenagers from all of Brazil’s states. Asked whether they would like to be famous or become an online influencer, 51.77 percent of them answered “yes.” In response to the question about wanting to become athletes in their favorite sport, 51.6 percent answered affirmatively. Almost half of them (45.6 per cent) said that they live in poorer urban neighbourhoods.

“Sport continues to represent a hope for young Black Brazilians for gaining fame and social status,” says the text on the website of the Global Pact Network Brazil, a local network focused on raising awareness among companies about the United Nations’ (UN) 10 universal principles.

Active listening was the starting point of the survey, which aims to humanize these young people, who are often viewed with prejudice, leading to assumptions about criminality. It was conducted in partnership between the Global Pact Network Brazil and the non-governmental organization Centre for the Study of Labour Relations and Inequalities-CEERT.

The JP Network (Rede JP) spoke with Humberto Baltar, a teacher, writer, and specialist in ethnic-racial relations, and Zé Ricardo Oliveira, a communicator and activist, who were leading the survey and have been working for years with Black youth and mass education.

“When a young Black man says he wants to be an influencer, he’s saying he wants to be seen, heard, recognized. That’s where he finds potential visibility,” said Oliveira. The problem, according to him, is not in the dream itself, but in the absence of alternatives. “It is not a rejection of knowledge, but a reaction to the lack of opportunities in professions such as science, engineering, or journalism.”

He argues that this shows a worrying phenomenon: the online environment is one of the few spaces in which young Black people see themselves as having some possibility of social status. Without policies supporting access, digital literacy, and analytical training, this same space could, though, become a trap. The culture of immediate success, combined with the logic of exclusionary algorithms, reinforces inequalities and offers recognition to only a few people.

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When you look at the representation of different identity groups in Brazilian society, this disparity is even greater.

According to data from the 2022 Demographic Census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the most recent in the country, Black and mixed ethnicity (“pardo”) people make up 55.5 per cent of the Brazilian population. According to the definitions adopted by the institution, this means that over half of the population of 212 million identifies as of African descendant. The same survey pointed out that this population also has higher rates of employment in the informal economy and represents the majority in activities with a lower average income.

Lack of Black journalists, and disinformation

The information ecosystem, including employment in the communications sector, is emblematic of this inequality and exclusion. According to a 2022 survey by JP Network in partnership with GEEMA (Group for Multidisciplinary Studies on Affirmative Action), only 20 per cent of prominent journalists in the Brazilian press identify as of African descendant (Black or mixed ethnicity).

According to the experts spoken to, a direct consequence of this poor representation is the invisibilizing of Black narratives and low diversity of sources and views in newsrooms. The absence of Black journalists also reinforces stereotypes and deepens the disconnect between youth of peripheral neighbourhoods and traditional media, which then impacts the way these young people understand the world, express themselves, and construct their identities.

Without media and analytical training, Black boys may be more exposed to racist content, hate speech, and disinformation, which influences not only their career choices but also self-esteem and perceptions of belonging.

For the educators in charge of the study, there is also the challenge of a school structure still suffering from institutional racism. Oliveira commented on how the lack of antiracist policies regarding students compounds the problem:

Falta investimento em uma educação transformadora formal de qualidade e um aprofundamento nas grades curriculares para mostrar a importância do povo negro na História. Fora da sala de aula, há falta de apoio de cunho psicológico, para garantir que esses jovens atravessem as violências que se abatem sobre eles. Acredito — pensando também nos resultados da pesquisa — que o espaço escolar é essencialmente claustrofóbico. Não há a criação de um conforto e entendimento perante os alunos negros, que se vêem abandonados em demandas e sem representação nas grades curriculares, principalmente em disciplinas de estudos humanos.

There is a lack of investment in good quality formal transformative education and the proper inclusion in school curricula of the importance of Black people in history. Outside the classroom, there is a lack of psychological support to ensure that these young people overcome the challenges they face. I believe — also thinking about the research findings — that the school space is essentially claustrophobic. There is no creation of comfort and understanding around Black students, who find themselves abandoned and unrepresented in the curricula, especially in the humanities subjects.

The study will be expanded through a documentary of the same name, expected to be released in the second half of 2025. The film is an invitation to listen, according to the educators. Baltar highlighted:

É um fruto natural da pesquisa. A linguagem audiovisual permite que as experiências e dores desses meninos cheguem a quem nunca os escutou de verdade. Eu, pessoalmente, fiquei muito tocado.

It is a natural result of the research. The audiovisual medium allows the experiences and pain of these boys to be shown to those who have never really listened to them. I, personally, was very touched.

Change depends on Black presence in the information ecosystem

The authors of the study also call for a transformation in the participation of young Black people in education and society generally, which includes communications media.

To prevent the dream of being an influencer from becoming just a side effect of their social exclusion, it’s necessary to expand possible avenues and choices. Ensuring access to government programs, promoting Black presence in different media, and validating diverse viewpoints are urgent steps.

“These boys dream, feel, and think about the world. We need to stop seeing them as a threat and start seeing them as a potential,” Oliveira summarized.

Baltar recalled the West African symbol “sankofa.” With origins in Ghana, Togo, and Burkina Faso, the bird with its head turned backwards is seen as a symbol of African-American and African-Brazilian history, recalling past mistakes to avoid them in the future, according to Wikipedia. The name, in the Akan language, represents going back and fetching or bringing back.

“The bird looking back, protecting the egg it carries, represents this youth that needs to save its past to build a more just future. We need to guarantee these Black children and youth the right to dream and exist fully,” the educator said.