Strumming a guitar, the Brazilian’s black dreadlocks bounce on a white shirt laced at the collar.

Jazzy paintings of dancers adorn the walls around a colorful round rug. And as if telling a story, a Portugese tune rolled off Eduardo Mendonca’s lips.

“I believe in music education as a very powerful means to connect people,” he said.

July 5 he became the first South American to receive the “Spirit of Liberty Award,” which is presented to naturalized immigrants who have served American communities by sharing their foreign culture.

“He’s the perfect example,” said Alma Plancich, executive director of Washington’s Ethnic Heritage Council Washington’s Ethnic Heritage Council, which gave the award. “He’s a really good American. However, he maintains his Brazilian heritage.”

In addition to playing with his band Show Brazil, Mendonca offers school programs, teaching kids about traditional Brazilian instruments.

“My goal is not to make musicians,” he said. “But it’s to build community through the music.”

A photo of former Gov. Gary Locke being happily squeezed between the Mendoncas blends into a collage of framed photos on his living room wall.

He’s entertained the famous and the powerful, including the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II.

“He is quite a huge contributor to the Brazilian community,” said friend Rey Labayen.

Mendonca also participates in community events, founding and organizing the 11-year-old BrasilFest with his wife Ana Mendonca at the Seattle Center.

Aug. 18 he plans on organizing a “rehearsal on the street” at the Renton Farmer’s Market, where he hopes to invite passers-by to join in on a beat he’s working out.

Bossa Nova originated when youth started mixing jazz with traditional Brazilian rhythms in often public places, he said. The rehearsals emulate that culture.

“I use music as a tool of education,” he said.

About 15 years ago Mendonca was in Seattle teaching a workshop, when he decided to move his family here.

He saw how people embraced cultural diversity and he felt respected, he said. He moved to Renton about four years ago.

“I thought Seattle was a nice place to share the Brazilian culture that was not well known,” he said.

Though becoming a professional musician at age 16, Mendonca pursued a career in education.

“Being a musician is very hard,” he said. “Music is the strongest part in my life, music and country.”

He was among the only one percent of public school students that make it to college in Brazil.

He soon became the first black principal at the largest public school in South America with about 8,000 students.

However, he missed working with students and seeing change in people’s lives.

“I think education is the means for transformation,” he said. “We can open minds, help better the community and help better ourselves.”

He recalls such a moment last year at BrasilFest, which focused on 100 years of Japanese immigration in Brazil.

When the Japanese-Brazilian speaker shared the details of her suffering, a girl in the audience understood for the first time the history of her own Japanese heritage.

“It was priceless to see someone change and to value where she came from,” Mendonca said.

At the Piazza in August

Come watch Eduardo Mendonca as he invites audience members to help make Brazilian rhythms Aug. 18 at the Renton Farmers Market at the Piazza, South Third Street and Burnett Avenue South.