Paulo Freire’s Revolutionary Approach to Literacy Still Threatens Those in Power

by Jesse Hagopian | Nov 11, 2026 | Book Bans, brazil, Coup, critical thinking, Critical thinking skills, Democracy, Dictatorship, documentary, education, illiteracy, Inequality, Interview, João Goulart, Land Rights, literacy, Organizing, Paulo Freire, pedagogy of the oppressed, reconstruction, Slavery, Voting Rights

In 1963, Brazilian educator Paulo Freire helped launch a revolutionary literacy campaign in the impoverished northeastern Brazilian town of Angicos, where hundreds of rural workers learned to read and write in just 40 hours of instruction. Freire’s approach was about much more than literacy. Rather than emphasizing memorization and repetition, he developed “Culture Circles” where participants…
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