Rita Lee has given new meaning to the surname of a slave-owning general.

Rita Lee was an artist who fought against male oppression and all kinds of prejudice. Besides being the queen of rock, she is a Brazilian icon of freedom, of the battle against conservatism and prudishness. Few know, but "Lee" wasn't Rita Lee's surname. Born in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Rita was the daughter of a descendant of American immigrants from Alabama and Tennessee. She and her siblings received the compound name in homage to General Robert E. Lee.

After the American Civil War, and with the defeat of the slaveholding South, a large group fled the country in search of a place where they could continue to profit from the forced labor of enslaved people. Their destination was Brazil, where slavery was still the law, more specifically the region of the cities of Santa Bárbara do Oeste and Americana – which got its name from the immigrants. Even today, it is not uncommon to find a Confederate flag on the streets of these cities, just like in the southern United States.

General Robert E. Lee was one of the leading Confederate military figures, commanding the army in the Virginia region near Washington, from where Abraham Lincoln coordinated the Northern troops. Symbols honoring the general have become the subject of protests across the country in recent years. In September 2021, a large statue of the general was removed from Richmond and donated to the Black History Museum.

But Rita grew up and gave new meaning to the name "Lee." In Brazil, it is no longer a symbol of oppression and crimes against humanity, but rather of a brilliant artist who always remained on the right side of history. Our "Lee" was the black sheep of the family who showed that, yes, it is possible to be a better human being than those who came before us. Robert Lee went to the dustbin of history. Rita Lee will be immortalized by the same.