Swimming against the Tide: Milton Gonçalves' Struggle for Racial Inclusion in Brazil

Milton Gonçalves (75) is one of the best known actors in Brazil, having received many awards and prizes for his works on TV, cinema and theater. Apart from his work as an actor, Milton has been a life-long militant against racism in Brazil. His trajectory goes beyond the anti-racism struggle in Brazil, as it reflects the great challenges faced by a black man in Brazilian society. Gonçalves is the son of a single mother that emigrated from a small village in Minas Gerais to work as a maid for a rich family city of Sao Paulo, in the beginning of the 1930s, during the Vargas government. As a child and young man, Milton witnessed the main events of the Vargas dictatorship. During the early 1960s he engaged in the "Teatro Arena" in Sao Paulo, known for its commitment to social causes and after the 1964 coup d'etat, with denouncing the military dictatorship in Brazil. Striving for a better life within the profession he had chosen, Milton moved from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro in 1967. At that time, black actors in Brazilian TV received minor characters to play, mostly related to slavery or servant's roles. Despite this limitation, Milton managed to progress professionally to become in 1976 the first black director for soap operas. Along with his professional challenges, the actor embraced the political life and joined one of the major political parties in Brazil. He also married and raised three children. During the 1980s and mostly during the 1990s, he became a prominent voice for policies of quotas and affirmative action in Brazil. The trajectory of Milton Gonçalves reflects the struggle of a black man, and a black actor, during two dictatorships and is central to the discussion of Brazilian racial identity at the national and international levels. His biography offers a unique opportunity to understand the everyday life of an Afro-Brazilian during the difficult years of censorship and political unrest. His life, at the same time, reflects the challenges faced by some one that did not conform with the roles the society had prescribed for him, based on his class and race.