A Life Story from Brasil

• Softcover
• 160 pages
• translated by Michael Kegler

978-3-86638-438-5

20.00 €           

Following her two highly acclaimed books »Once Upon A Time in Brazil« and »Let’s Talk About Democracy«, Paula Macedo Weiß presents a collaborative work:

Together with Aurea Pereira Steberl (pictured above by Dominik Mentzos on the right), she tells her life story between poverty and lack of opportunities in Brazil and integration in Germany. This journey by Aurea Pereira Steberl and Paula Macedo Weiß was an invitation to self-reflection, an opportunity to re-define oneself and to painful learning: It was not about claiming neutrality or even truth. The book is the result of Aurea Pereira Steberl’s storytelling and Paula Macedo Weiß’ writing. Thus, based on a true story, this book is the sum of the two authors’ different perspectives and life situations—a shared fiction and a shared dream.

The young Aurea had realised that as a black woman at home in Brazil she would not be able to escape the miserable circle of poverty and lack of education, missing opportunities and systemic discrimination—she ventured to move to Germany. Given her precarious starting point, this alone is a gigantic, almost unimaginably courageous step. And what follows is a series of brave perseverance, courageous self-assertion and tirelessly repeated demands for basic human rights. 

In this constellation, Paula Macedo Weiß once again acts as an ambassador for Brazil and its people, building bridges of understanding between Europe and South America, once again pleading for dialogue and a balance between social extremes. And Aurea Pereira Steberl gives us insights into a biography full of hope and encouragement in the certainty that we can—and must—shape our lives!