Under mother's eyes: Black gaze, state violence, and resilience in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

In 2009, French street artist JR appeared in the oldest favela in Rio de Janeiro and started taking photographs of women who were collectively mourning the recent slaughter of three teenagers. In a communal effort, these black-and-white portraits were reproduced at an enormous scale and pasted onto the favela's facade. Up close, the images were so big that they seemed to have no particular form. But from a distance, the faces assembled, revealing women's eyes gazing steadily at the city beneath the favela. In this article, I explore how the installation can be understood as a commentary on gendered and racial state violence against Black motherhood. I turn to the images as ethnographic subjects to theorize ways Black femininity is constructed, experienced and understood in Rio. The central question I pose in this article is about the power and potential of the motherly gaze to replace the violent male stare—the one that misrepresents and disempowers those most vulnerable to distortion's ill effects. I make the case that the (bri)collage is a call to further examine the relationship of poor Black mothers with the state, how they combat negative public representation ascribed to Black youth, and how they negotiate the safety of their families.