Levantamos: The Center for Afro-Brazilian--American Cooperation

Levantamos: The Center for Afro-Brazilian--American Cooperation is a non-profit corporation founded in November 2003, with the mission of building sustainable relationships between Brazilians of African descent and African Americans in an effort to jointly affect profound educational, social, and economic change in the lives of Afro-descendant populations. At the same time, through exchanges with Afro-Brazilians, African Americans will have the opportunity to learn lessons that will have an equally important impact on African American communities in the United States. Levantamos intends to do this by

(1) Generating financial resources for grass roots community organizations based in Brazil focused on Afro-Brazilians;

(2) Developing, in partnership with Brazilians, community based programs in Brazil focused on citizenship, education, health, and economic development;

(3) Developing programs in the United States to engage and educate African Americans in particular, and North Americans in general, about the history, culture, and conditions of Afro-Brazilians in Brazil; and,

(4) Facilitating opportunities for educational, social, cultural, and economic exchanges between Afro-Brazilians and African Americans.