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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the focus of a roundtable review on John D. French's Lula and His Politics of Cunning: From Metalworker to President of Brazil. The reviewers offer a reading of Lula and his legacies from perspectives that range from LGBTQ+ studies to racial politics, including an analysis centered on the story of a humble man that rose from below, "a most exceptional common man," from his humble beginnings up to his election as president; a review that underscores how the book addresses Lula's work with regards to human rights, including race and the LGBTI+ community; a deconstruction of the use of the word "cunning" as a positive term of appreciation, comparing Brazil's journey under Lula with the promise of post-apartheid South Africa; and a reflective commentary that seeks to understand how a figure like Lula is not born but created, in this case through class struggle. Finally, John French responds to these observations and offers additional insight on his book and the living legacy of Lula's Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On September 2, 2018, a fire destroyed the 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with the vast majority of the nearly 20 million items it housed. Located in the historic São Cristóvão Palace, the museum originated as a colonial institution, and its history was intertwined with that of the Brazilian nation. Among the millions of items consumed in the flames were more than 40,000 indigenous artifacts, as well as a rich Africana collection reflecting the relationships developed between Brazil and the African continent during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. This article summarizes the history of the National Museum and its holdings, details Brazil's long-term neglect of its tangible heritage, and highlights the magnitude of the museum's loss—a loss not just for the national and international scholars who researched its collections, but also for the low-income residents in the neighboring areas for whom it was the only accessible institution of its kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a comparative analysis on the question of interracial marriage and racial mixture in Brazil and in the United States. Causes of the emergence in the United States of defining racial types in absolutist terms such as the so called one-drop rule; Impact of the institution of slavery on the U.S. definition of racial types; Enrichment of the U.S. society brought about by the massive immigration; Effect of the survival of Indian population in the U.S.; Explanation why Brazil and the United States differ in their attitude toward interracial marriage and racial admixture; Admission by the political leaders and intellectuals in Brazil that race discrimination exists in the country; Affirmative action program implemented in Brazil that is similar with that in the United States.