RIO DE JANEIRO - Racial pride and the fight against racism in Brazil were the themes of samba group presentations and street parties on Monday as Rio de Janeiro's flashy parades entered their second night of over-the-top festivities.
Some samba groups put together dance numbers to honor Afro-Brazilian heritage, and one built a giant Nelson Mandela float. The float was meant to remind people of his fight for equality, while calling for more racial integration in this South American country, which has more blacks than any nation aside from Nigeria.
On the second day of the Carnival shows, thousands of performers carpeted the entire half-mile (800-meter) street with fluorescent orange-and-yellow costumes and Halloween-like floats featuring anything from tarantulas and Jack the Ripper to Michelangelo's David and the Maracana Stadium.
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Performer from the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school parades on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb17, 2015. (AP Photo / Silvia Izquierdo) |
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Performers from the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb17, 2015. (AP Photo / Leo Correa) |
Tens of thousands of people gathered on both sides of the imposing sambadrome to watch and sing along to the blasting music.
Top-tier samba group Imperatriz Leopoldinense said it was inspired by an incident of racism in soccer, when a banana was thrown at Barcelona star Dani Alves during a match last year against Villarreal. The Brazilian Alves ignited a movement against racism in soccer after he was seen cooly picking up the banana and eating it before taking a corner kick.
