Michael Jackson - They Don’t Care About Us (Brazil Version)

What this video is

Released in March 1996 as part of the HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I campaign, the Brazil Version of 'They Don't Care About Us' represented an unprecedented convergence of global pop spectacle and on-the-ground social documentary. By filming in Santa Marta favela and the Afro-Brazilian colonial center of Pelourinho in Salvador, Jackson and Lee embedded a Western pop superstar within living communities of…

Why it matters

A landmark of 90s protest pop music video, the Brazil Version redefined the location-shoot format by replacing studio artifice with genuine socioeconomic environments. It bridged African-American protest music traditions with Afro-Brazilian cultural performance, demonstrating how the MTV video…

The director

Shelton Jackson 'Spike' Lee (born March 20, 1957, Atlanta, GA) is an American filmmaker, actor, and producer. He earned his MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and launched his career with She's Gotta Have It (1986). His filmography — including Do the…