In nineteenth-century Brazil, a man named Roque José Florêncio became known for his extraordinary height and a disturbing story about how slaveholders sought to exploit him. More than a century later, his life remains a powerful reminder of what happens when human beings are reduced to their physical characteristics—and why their humanity must never be forgotten. The Man Behind the Legend In the middle of the nineteenth century, in the Brazilian province of São Paulo, a young Black man stood out in a way that made it almost impossible for others to overlook him. He was extraordinarily tall. His shoulders…
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