Silvio Luiz de Almeida (born 17 August 1976) is a Brazilian lawyer, philosopher, university professor, and the former Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship. Recognized as one of greatest Brazilian specialist on racial issues, Almeida is chair of Luiz Gama Institute[1][2] and is author of book Racismo Estrutural,[3] Sartre: Direito e Política[4] and O Direito no Jovem Lukács: A Filosofia do Direito em História e Consciência.

Silvio Almeida
Almeida in 2023
Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship
In office
1 January 2023 – 6 September 2024
PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Preceded byCristiane Britto
Succeeded byEsther Dweck
Personal details
Born
Silvio Luiz de Almeida

(1976-08-17) 17 August 1976 (age 48)
São Paulo, Brazil
Alma mater
OccupationPhilosopher, lawyer, writer and professor

Biography

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Almeida was born in São Paulo and is the son of couple Verônica and Lourival.[5] His father was a football goalkeeper and was popularly known as Barbosinha in his career and as player of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.[6][7]

Almeida has a Bachelor of Laws at Mackenzie Presbyterian University (1995–1999) and of Philosophy at University of São Paulo (2004–2011). He is Master of Political and Economical Laws at Mackenzie University and Doctor of Philosophy and General Theory of Laws at University of São Paulo.[8]

Almeida is married to Edneia Carvalho and has a daughter.[9]

Career

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Silvio Almeida has been a lawyer since 2000, working with business law, economical and tax law and human rights law.

From 2005 to 2019, he was professor of Philosophy of Laws and Introduction to the Study of Law at São Judas Tadeu University.[10]

He is currently professor of the graduation course of Law and post-graduation stricto sensu in Political and Economical Law at Mackenzie Presbyterian University and professor at the Business Administration School and Law School of Getúlio Vargas Foundation.

In 2020, Almeida was a visiting professor at Duke University, in the United States.[11] At Duke, he taught courses in "Race and the Law in Latin America" and "Black Lives Matter: Brazil and United States", the last one in partnership with professor John D. French.

In 2022, he was selected as Edward Larocque Tinker visiting professor at Columbia University, in New York City, destined to prestigious intellectuals of Latin America.[12] This same seat was occupied in previous years by intellectuals such as economist Raúl Prebisch, geographer Milton Santos, journalist Elio Gaspari, jurist Roberto Gargarella [es], historian Lilia Schwarcz, among others.[13] In Columbia, he administered the class of "Race, Law and Culture in Latin America".

On 22 June 2020, Almeida was interviewed in Roda Viva, on TV Cultura. His participation inspired a "book club" on social networks.[14]

He is currently Chair of Luiz Gama Institute, a human rights organization focused in juridical defense of minorities and popular issues. Almeida actively acted in the creation of the "Pro-quotas Front" and was one the creators of affirmative action policies that were implemented in the state of São Paulo.

In 2021, he was rapporteur of the Jurists Commission of the Chamber of Deputies for the presentation of legislative proposals, specially focused on structural racism.

In 2020, he became columnist of politics on the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo,[15] acting suspended due to his nomination as one of the coordinators for the transition team of president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Work

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In his works, Almeida works with concepts of authors such as Jean-Paul Sartre and György Lukács. In his texts, he talks about issues such as law, politics, philosophy, political economy and racial affairs. He was responsible for popularizing the concept of structural racism (proposed since the first racial critical studies in the 1960s), in which racism is conceived as arising from the own society structure. In his book, which is titled after his concept, Almeida applies this issue in many subjects, such as law, ideology, the economy and politics.[16]

Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship

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On 22 December 2022, Almeida was announced as Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship of the third Lula administration,[17] assuming office on 1 January 2023.[18] On September 6, 2024, Silvio Almeida was fired from his government position following several accusations of sexual harassment against women,[19] including racial equality minister Anielle Franco.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Boehm, Camila (4 November 2015). "Após 133 anos de sua morte, Luiz Gama recebe título de advogado". Agência Brasil (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  2. ^ Gonçalves, Juliana (28 November 2017). "USP homenageia Luiz Gama 167 anos após impedi-lo de frequentar aulas de direito". Brasil de Fato (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  3. ^ Viola, Kamille (11 June 2020). "'Sem espaço do sonho, a vida vira pura miséria', diz jurista Silvio Almeida". Ecoa UOL (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  4. ^ Izaal, Renata (6 June 2020). "Silvo de Almeida: 'As pessoas descobrira que o racismo não é uma patologia. É o que organiza a vida delas'". O Globo (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  5. ^ Pereira Neves, Fernanda (24 October 2015). "Mortes: O centroavante que virou goleiro". Folha de S. Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  6. ^ "'Meu pai herdou estigma sobre goleiros negros', diz jurista Silvio Almeida". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). 23 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Que fim levou: Barbosinha, do Timão". Terceiro Tempo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Silvio Luiz de Almeida". Enciclopédia Jurídica da PUCSP (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Brazil's Lula fires minister accused of sexual harassment". AP News. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Silvio Almeida". KOPE (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Spring 2020: Dr. Silvio Luiz de Almeida". Duke University. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Silvio Almeida é contratado como professor visitante de Columbia". Brasil 247 (in Portuguese). 3 June 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Past Tinker Visiting Professors – Institute of Latin American Studies". Columbia University. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  14. ^ Carvalho, Diana (23 June 2020). "'Roda Viva' com Silvio Almeida inspira 'clube do livro' nas redes". Ecoa UOL (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Colunista: Silvio Almeida". Silvio Almeida (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  16. ^ Silvio Almeida (2019). Racismo Estrutural (in Portuguese). Pólen Livros. ISBN 9788598349916.
  17. ^ Barbiéri, Luiz Felipe; Martello, Alexandro; Castro, Ana Paula (22 December 2022). "Silvio Almeida é anunciado por Lula como ministro dos Direitos Humanos". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Ministros de Lula assumem pastas em Brasília; saiba como foi". G1 (in Portuguese). 2 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Sexual harassment accusations down Brazil's human rights minister". Reuters. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
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Political offices
Preceded byas Minister of Woman, Family and Human Rights Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship
2023–2024
Succeeded by
Rita Cristina de Oliveira (acting)