History

Our name is a tribute to Maria and João Aleixo, two sensitive people who migrated from Cariri, Paraíba, to Rio de Janeiro in search of a better life. In the Nova Holanda favela, in Maré, they settled and opened a small shop called "armarinho".

With the support of other migrant families, they provided education for their children. Later, they built a shelter for people with disabilities and the elderly in their hometown.

The Maria and João Aleixo Institute was founded to recognize and honor these families, celebrating popular and peripheral wisdom capable of dreaming of better living conditions. The Institute values ​​the vitality of peripheral subjects, popular wisdom, the production of knowledge and education as pillars to promote a more just and egalitarian future.

Action axes

IMJA is a think tank with three main actions: we train peripheral subjects, strengthen democracy and disseminate peripheral narratives through the three projects below.

The Maria and João Aleixo Institute's mission is to guarantee dignity for the peripheries and their subjects.

UNIPERIFERIAS

Our International University of the Peripheries promotes the training of people from the peripheries and seeks to spread new forms of perception and knowledge about the power of the peripheries.

Seja Democracia

Our plural political training center offers education and seeks to build an agenda for the rights of the peripheries that supports the fight for democracy.

Editora Periferias

Our publisher produces knowledge through the publication of books and magazines, always with the aim of promoting the powers present in peripheral territories.

GALLERY

Some memorable moments from IMJA