Another Take: Can Portugal confront its racist history?

Every Saturday, we revisit a story that’s in the news again. Portugal is holding its general election on Sunday.

This originally aired on October 7, 2020. None of the dates, titles, or other references from that time have been changed. 

Portugal’s antiracist movement had its largest protest in recent memory after George Floyd was killed by US police. The protest wasn’t only about an injustice an ocean away, but part of an ongoing struggle in a country that looks back fondly on its colonial past. What’s behind Portugal’s rosy view of history, and how does that affect Black activists fighting for their rights today?

In this episode: 

• Cristina Roldão, Sociologist and Activist 
• Helena Vicente (@helenavicente__), Researcher and Activist with Grupo EduCAR (@grp.educar)

Episode credits:

This episode was updated by Sarí el-Khalili. The original production team was Negin Owliaei, Ney Alvarez, Dina Kesbeh, Alexandra Locke, Priyanka Tilve, Amy Walters, Stacey Samuel, Natalia Aldana, and our host Malika Bilal.. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.