Márcia Tiburi

Brazilian philosopher and social activist who reshaped Latin America's discourse on race, gender, and class through radical pedagogy

Márcia Tiburi is a transformative Brazilian philosopher and social theorist whose work has redefined conversations about race, gender, and social inequality in Latin America. As a professor at the University of São Paulo since 2008, she pioneered public philosophy initiatives that brought academic discourse to favelas and prisons, reaching over 50,000 marginalized citizens through her Street Philosophy workshops.

Her 2015 book Decolonizing the Mind became a regional bestseller, selling 200,000 copies across Portuguese-speaking countries. The book's framework for understanding systemic oppression has been adopted in 120 universities' curricula. In 2018, her Instituto de Filosofia e Cidadania launched the Thinking While Black project, training 3,000+ Afro-Brazilian youth in critical thinking skills.

Tiburi's 2020 BBC documentary series examining racial inequality in Brazil's universities sparked national debates leading to 15 new affirmative action policies. Her viral YouTube channel Diálogos Críticos has 1.2 million subscribers and features dialogues with activists like Angela Davis and Slavoj Žižek.