Racial pride and the fight against racism in Brazil were the themes of the second night of Rio de Janeiro's samba school parades. Huge dance numbers celebrated Brazil's African heritage, and tribal art and African wildlife were recurring props.
Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school built a giant Nelson Mandela float. The float was meant to remind people of his fight for equality, while calling for more racial integration in this South American country, which has more blacks than any nation after Nigeria.
Imperatriz Leopoldinense said it was inspired by an incident of racism in football, when a banana was thrown at Barcelona star Dani Alves during a match against Villarreal. The Brazilian player ignited a movement against racism by calmly picking up the banana and eating it before taking a corner kick. Imperatriz alluded to that incident with dozens of performers playing black-and-white harlequins inside peeled bananas.