Marielle Franco: From Rio official to global symbol

"But if the point was to silence a fast-rising black politician who had taken on corrupt police officers, Franco's apparent assassination has done the opposite. In the days since, Latin America's largest nation has watched in awe as a figure once little known outside Rio has been transformed into a global symbol of racial oppression.

Franco has been honored on the floor of the European Parliament. Crowds have protested her killing and celebrated her life on the streets of New York, London, Paris, Munich, Stockholm and Lisbon. A vigil will be held for her in Madrid on Tuesday.

"Marielle Presente" (Marielle Is Here) has garnered millions of mentions on Twitter and Facebook. From Berlin to Miami to Montreal, mourners who never heard of Franco before last week are borrowing a line from the Black Lives Matter movement: #SayHerName.

"COME ON BRAZIL STAND UP," tweeted the British model Naomi Campbell.

But at home, her death is being viewed in divergent ways, underscoring the racial divisions that many Brazilians contend do not exist here. "

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[Marxism] Marielle Franco: From Rio official to global symbol