Wanda Chase
Wanda Chase da Silva was a Brazilian journalist and an activist in her country's Black Movement.
Known for her work in cultural journalism, early in her career Chase became one of only a few black broadcast journalists in Bahia. Her promotion of Afro-Brazilian culture, coverage of the Bahian Carnival, and activism with the led to her characterization as a "voice of the Black Movement."
Early life and education
Wanda Chase da Silva was born in Manaus, Brazil, in 1950. She was the oldest daughter of five children born to a homemaker and a machinist. Some of her ancestors had come to Amazonas from Maranhão, while her maternal grandparents had immigrated to Brazil from Barbados.Encouraged by one of her teachers to become a journalist, Chase studied communications at the Federal University of Amazonas, graduating in 1974.
Journalism
Chase's journalistic career began at the newspaper ' and the stations TV Encontro das Águas and Rede Amazônica Manaus.Later, she moved to the Northeast, where she worked in Recife and in Campina Grande. She also contributed to the broadcast networks Rede Manchete and.
After moving to Salvador around 1990, she became an investigative reporter for TV Bahia, then became increasingly engaged in cultural journalism, serving as a commentator for the Bahian Carnival. She reported for the television programs ' and ' until her dismissal in 2015. Immediately after leaving, she began working for TV Aratu. In 2017, she returned to TV Bahia to cover that year's Carnival. After a brief stint at TV Educativa da Bahia in 2018, she went back to TV Aratu.
After retiring from television, Chase wrote the column "Opraí Wanda Chase" for the website ', hosted the podcasts "Papo Ciência" and "Bastidores com Wanda Chase," and worked on a book about the history of axé music.
Activism
After moving to Northeastern Brazil, a stronghold of Afro-Brazilian culture, Chase joined the and began wearing her hair in an afro.In the 1980s, she began spending time in the regional capital, Salvador, where she joined protest marches for the liberation of Nelson Mandela and for Ilê Aiyê's Noite da Beleza Negra. She moved permanently to the city around the end of that decade, becoming further enmeshed in the city's black Carnival community as an advisor and press officer for the carnival block Olodum. She worked throughout her career to promote Afro-Brazilian culture and combat racial inequality.
Death and legacy
Chase died during surgery for an aortic aneurysm in 2025. She was 74 years old. Her cremation was held at Salvador's Campo Santo Cemetery.The Legislative Assembly of Bahia honored her posthumously in a special session with the title Citizen of Bahia on April 7, 2025, which is Brazil's .