(upbeat jazzy music) Oh, acai (chuckles). - Acai. -
Guest
Look at that beauty. -
Marcus
Beautiful. (speaks in foreign language) That's pastel. -
Marcus
Pastel. What's inside? Cheese. -
Marcus
Cheese (speaks in foreign language) And there's different kinds. You find meat, you find bananas. Oh it's delicious. This is like a perfect snack. Exactly. -
Marcus
Where did you grow up? I grew up in the streets of Brazil. I was born in Cabana do Pai Tomas. It's a favela in Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais. Is favela the good word, or bad word? Can we... Well, to me, it depends how you see it, how you look at it. We're live in this neighborhood where poverty was present. A lot of happens good stuff, some not so good stuff in Brazil, you know? I've been to the favelas, and also seen a lot of beauties in the favelas. Tell me some of the beautiful things that we don't know? Sense of community is unbelievable. You're never alone. You're never alone. Sense of community's strong. Tell me about capoeira. It's your passion. It's also do your job, but it's also something that been passed down to you through generation. Explain a little bit to me about this. I'm the third generation in my family. Capoeira was created by African slaves in Brazilian territory. -
Marcus
It was a way to communicate, not to tell the master, or... -
Guest
Exactly. I mean, you can't think about Brazil in any facets of its culture without linking it to slave culture. Slavery came to Brazil through the Portuguese. Brazil was actually the biggest port in terms of the slave trade. Over 70% of the slaves came to Brazil, and it was also the last country to oppose slavery. It's a very complex, dark part of Brazilian history, something that has had huge imprint, whether it's through music, food, capoeira, culture in general. Think this thing that was created by slaves that was passed over in generation, it has now become a major sort of ambassador for the country in a way. It's amazing. And, as a young boy coming up, it must've been good for you to have capoeira through your father, through your neighborhood, on your side. Capoeira was always a channel for me to focus in my life. It was literally a channel. If you go to different parts of Brazil, you gonna see capoeiristas, active trying to help communities, trying to help families to raise their kids using capoeira as a tool. - Beautiful. And I did think that the combination between spirituality, martial arts, and music, and community, brings people together. Absolutely. What motivates me the most is, I'm able to connect people. Families were built in my school. Mr. Capoeirista, (speaks in foreign language). (speaks in foreign language). I hope you enjoyed the food. - Of course. It's just great talking to you.
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