As unbelievable as it seems, once again we’ve come to the close of yet another year! This is the fifth time this blog has seen the end of the year and again we would like to take this time to thank all of you who made this another incredible year here at Black Women of Brazil! According to the numbers, this year was even better than last year as an incredible December allowed us to sail past last year’s total views with 17 days to spare! It just goes to show that there is a lot of interest in what is going on in Brazil from the perspective of race.

To finish out a banner year, we will once again present the Top 10 most viewed posts of the year. As only four of this year’s Top 10 were actually posted in 2015, we will also include another six that debuted in 2015 so we can also see the highest ranking material only released in the current year. So with no further delay, let’s get to it!

Coming in at Number 10 is a post that originally debuted in 2013. Obviously many people are were searching for Brazilian models and interested in the career of rising star Laís Ribeiro, which is perhaps the reason a story about her from two years was able to make it into the 2015 countdown. The story was called: “Model Laís Ribeiro says companies outside of Brazil ‘are afraid to put a black woman on the cover’ but says nothing about exclusion of black models in Brazil”

At Number 9 is another holdover from 2013, this one tackling a question that has been increasingly discussed and debated in Brazilian social networks: interracial relationships. Now whether you’re one who sees no problem with unions across racial borders, absolutely reject them or are simply interested in what seems to be driving these unions, the material is definitely worth a read. The article was entitled “White women for marrying and the Brazilian solution to race: the elimination of the black race”

Entering the list at Number 8, we have an article from this year that spoke of another area of Brazilian society in which some people don’t see appropriate for black women: Classical dance/ballet. This story features dance Ingrid Silva revealing how she had to go to New York to achieve her dream in an article entitled: “In Brazil, I don’t know any black dancer in classical ballet”: A native of Rio, ballerina Ingrid Silva finds success in New York 

At Number 7, we have another new post from 2015 with a psychologist saying something that many will clearly find controversial when we consider Brazil’s long history of denying the existence of a racial problem. The title of the article, which says it all, is: “Psychologist’s thesis declares: ‘Almost every white person is racist, even not wanting to be'”

Number 6 in our countdown is a holdover from 2014 and one can understand why. People will never tire of searching for beautiful women on the internet and Brazil has a reputation for having some of the world’s most stunning women. Check out ten of them who are beautiful beyond the context of the European standard in the piece “The Top 10 Most Beautiful Black Women of Brazilian television” 

Journalist Maria Júlia Coutinho, known as Maju

At Number 5, we have a piece that initially wasn’t a big hit when it was first posted back in May of this year. But at the end of November several top internet sites featured a story about a campaign created by a black women’s group in Brazil that sought to shame those who post racist comments on social networks. In the post, the article mentioned an example of these racist attacks that victimized the journalist known as Maju, linked to our article and suddenly everyone wanted to know who this Globo TV rising star was. The post was entitled “Globo TV’s first black weather girl, journalist Maria Júlia Coutinho’s star continues to rise!”

Coming in Number 4, we have another piece originally posted in 2013 that continues to resonate with many readers. The piece was a collaboration between a black Brazilian and a black American and surely added to a conversation that’s being happening for several years now: African-Americans ‘discovering’ Brazil. The controversial piece is entitled: “A message to the African-American community on stereotypes about Brazilian women”

At Number 3, we have yet another holdover from 2013 and it’s not surprising why. International futebol star Neymar continues to reach new heights in his career, having won titles in important in European and Latin American championships, and also being considered a top contender for best international player ever since he joined the Barcelona team in Spain. With a career that is still in its early years, we expect that Neymar’s name will continue to be one of the most searched in the sports world, which will lead many people to seek information about the ‘boy wonder’ beyond the soccer stadiums. Check out our top article about the Neymar phenomenon in the post: “Neymar’s blond ambition and the question of racism, identity and marketability of black public figures”

At Number 2 comes another piece from 2013, this one posted on December 29, 2013, almost exactly two years ago. The intrigue about this article will likely continue for years to come as Africans and descendants of Africans seek more information about how the brutal institution of slavery played out in the largest, most populous country in Latin America as well as the country that received the most African slaves and was the last country in the Americas to abolish this horrific practice. That article was entitled “25 curious facts about slavery in Brazil”

And finally we’ve come to the top post of 2015, an original from this year. This piece reveals a lot about how the idea of “good hair”/”bad hair”, and what type of  hair is seen as professional and what is not. It is yet another example of the lie that says that if black people get an education, status and a good salary, they will not experience racism. As cabelo crespo (kinky/curly hair) is one of our top subjects on this blog, it should come as no surprise that thousands of people identified with the article “Doctor suffers racism because she wears dreadlocks” 

Now, as was promised in the introduction, we will now present another six pieces to round out a Top 10 list of the most popular posts that debuted in 2015. Six of the Top 10 featured above were posted in previous years, so here we present numbers 5 through 10 that were posted between January 1st and December 31st of 2015.

Considering the topic of the Number 5 most popular post released in 2015, we anticipate that this article will continue to attract thousands of readers. In fact, had it been released only a week or so earlier, this material would have no doubt entered the Top 10 overall most viewed of the year! Anyway, the material contributed to the ongoing debate about the origins of the figure known as Jesus Christ in the article “December 25th! If you believe in Jesus, you must accept a few facts: He was born in Africa and was a black man”

Number 6 of our most popular articles released in 2015 was about the rise of internet racism and its attack on prominent black women in the media. Like journalist Maju, actress Sheron Menezes was also a victim of such cowardly attacks and it caught the eye of thousands of readers. The article was entitled “Actress Sheron Menezes the latest prominent black woman to be attacked with racist insults in social networks”

Number 7 most popular debuting in 2015 was another example of famous and/or prominent African-Americans “discovering” Brazil either as a great vacation destiny or for learning about the severity of the country’s racial issues. For one scientist the racial disparities in the city known as Brazil’s African center were striking. Check out his opinion in the piece “In 80% black Salvador, Bahia, African-American neuroscientist Carl Hart says ‘blacks seem to be in the hands of white people'”

Number 8 on our list of top 2015 releases touched on the issue of colorism as we saw a dark-skinned woman be replaced in her role as the highly publicized Globeleza girl with a much lighter-skinned woman. Both women are beautiful but the treatment of the darker woman by the media and in social networks was simply uncalled for. For more, see the story “After criticism that previous girl was ‘too black’, new, lighter-skinned Carnaval advertisement girl chosen”

Our Number 9 most popular post debuting in 2015 was a piece about the ongoing battle of black women for identity and resistance against the domination of Eurocentric standards of beauty. This struggle can noted in numerous posts on this blog that deal with racial identity and the acceptance of natural hair texture. The article “Identity and Resistance: black women in the battle against standards of beauty” touches on many of these issues and how Afro-Brazilian women are organizing for self-esteem and self-acceptance.

Number 10 of our posts first appearing in 2015 is a story that was hot on social networks for several weeks and had repercussions for months to come in later posts and debates. It was about the verbal attacks on journalist Maria Júlia Coutinho that would be later followed by racist attacks on three more famous black women, all actresses. This open display of racist sentiments once again blew away any idea that Brazilians see each other as all being equal. For more, see the story “More from the land of ‘No, we aren’t racists’ – Top news program’s first black weather girl targeted with numerous racist offenses on program’s social network”

So there you have it! The Top 10 overall posts of the year as well as the Top 10 released only in 2015. We hope you enjoyed the year and the information we brought you and hope to see you continue to follow us in the coming 2016! If you like the views and information on this blog, be sure to share with a friend as we can only succeed with your support. Thanks again and when we post again it will be a whole new year! Look forward to seeing you then!