Capoeira in the Diaspora

This special episode is a collaboration between Brazil Culture Connections and Break The Boxes Stories. Jamie Lee Andreson, Ph.D. cohosts with Azmera Hammouri-Davis, MTS, who interviews her original Capoeira instructor, Cleber Sousa de Santos, Mestre Peti. Mestre Peti is a father, brother and an international master of Capoeira who's taken his craft from his home city of Salvador da Bahia to various parts of the world over the last three decades. Azmera began learning from Mestre Peti when she was seven years old in Pompano Beach, Florida, and has continued to learn from him ever since. Mestre Peti founded the Bantos Cultural Capoeira School in 2020, having trained over 6,000 students respectively. He describes the cultural importance of using Capoeira as a vehicle for social change in the community of Cosme de Farias, and the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual discipline Capoeira cultivates. Azmera reflects on the historical significance of this Afro-Brazilian martial art, and how Capoeira has provided her with “fruits of the spirit” through a powerful community around the world committed to social transformation.