“ I visualize a safe press and social movement that tells the stories of their places and their people, dismantling polarization. I see new generations of communicators emerging in the countries of the Global South and being able to feed their democracies.”

Jefferson Barbosa is a journalist and community organizer who works primarily with independent media and the Black empowerment movement in Brazil. He works toward public policies that benefit peripheral populations (Black, quilombola, and Indigenous) across the country and expands opportunities for young activists and journalists from these historically underrepresented communities to participate in international and local governments. He has been involved in the founding of numerous advocacy organizations, including the Voz da Baixada collective, the PerifaConnection network, and the Black Coalition for Rights.

Jefferson’s journalism and advocacy focuses on racial injustice, polarization and reparation in education, defense of the Amazon and other natural resources, and denouncing police violence. He facilitates intergenerational dialogues and mobilizes people to dispute narratives that fuel racism and widen economic and social inequality across the Global South. His campaigns have included combating polarization in Brazil’s 2022 general elections, organizing discussions on reparations within and beyond the Black movement, and proposing new strategies for philanthropists that center the contributions of native peoples, quilombolas, and Afro-descendant populations.

Jefferson’s intersection of media and advocacy coheres to a philosophy of expanding free and diverse speech and amplifying voices that have previously been erased from decision-making, both regionally and globally. When these perspectives are heard, the media can serve society and policies reflect the needs of all people.