Six decades after fleeing her home in Brazil’s northeastern state of Paraiba, a move that led her into sex work and a lifetime of activism, Lourdes Barreto never imagined a Rio de Janeiro samba school would pay tribute to her journey.
This weekend, Porto da Pedra will do just that at Rio’s famed Sambodrome, as annual Carnival celebrations commence, honoring Barreto and sex workers of all genders in an effort to dismantle the profession’s pervasive stigma.
