She was one of five students with feminist activist Lélia Gonzalez who founded the Group Lima Barreto,[1][2] and was involved in the Nzinga Collective of Women and the Unified Black Movement (Movimento Negro Unificado).
She received a Master's Degree in Comparative History and wrote her thesis entitled "Race relations, Gender, and Social Movements: The Thought of Lélia Gonzalez, 1970-1990" under the supervision of Professor Flávio dos Santos Gomes.
While studying and working as an administrative assistant at Globex Utilidades, Viana simultaneously remained an active participant of Brazil's democratization and the development of grassroots women's movements.
[4] Viana was interviewed with black feminist activist and history professor Giovana Xavier as two of thirteen Brazilian women featured in the Global Feminisms Project (GFP) from the University of Michigan.
[4] A summary of the GFP Brazilian archives highlights Viana's work in the late 1970s and 1980s wave of social movements arising during the country's transition to democracy, concentrating on her role as a militant in Black neighborhood organizations and in anti-racist mobilization.