Ocupação Itaú Cultural

How do you see the current fight against racism and the affirmation of the black identity. What has changed, what needs to change?

The fight is continuous and cyclical. All the time we face the difficult task to resist, know, and fight. Our ancestors did as much as possible so that our generation could have access to knowledge to be able to make headway and have more dignity and strength to assume the policies to combat racism and [fight for] the affirmation of the black identity. Somehow, we have managed to organize and reinvent ourselves strategically speaking to communicate and contend for spaces that are still the privilege of a community that has always had opportunities, either because of their skin color or their social class. We have made headway with regard to the organization of black women to fight against sexism and racism through networks that discuss specific topics, such as militant motherhood and access to entrepreneurship, and so forth. And, in this agenda, the fight against lesbophobia and transphobia has been more prevalent, because there is an effort to unify the struggle of black women while respecting their diversity.

How do the Manifesto Crespo actions fit in this fight? What have you managed to transform with your work?

The Manifesto Crespo is one of these strategies of struggle for identity, for the right to the body with its characteristics and its history. It is a delicate work and at the same time impressive, because we use the braids, the turbans and, currently, the adinkra to re-bind the body-identity understanding by questioning what kinds of violence roam the black body, specially that of the black women, when we refer to hair. Each round of conversation or training with young people, children, and educators is a catharsis. Memories of the hair care, stories of racism situations at school and home bring out a painful reality of segregation and exclusion. From these collective experiences, in which we use multiple artistic and instructional strategies, we could move on to the political discussion of each one’s role in combating racism, and all that has to do with the body and what you communicate through it. The braid, for the Manifesto Crespo, goes through the concrete field and then becomes symbolic, because it is the act of mixing, weaving, building bonds. In this sense, we have held meetings to exchange [experiences] with original communities, such as the guaranis mbyas, the African and Latin immigrants, quilombola communities, with the purpose of putting up the stories of resistance and our artistic practices.

How can we fight against racism, be it either in culture, in politics, or in everyday life? What can each of us do?

The fight against racism begins with the deconstruction of the hegemonic notion of “whiteness” and all this overwhelming Eurocentric narrative that we are taught in schools, in which we do not see ourselves as subjects of history. The original peoples, called Indians by the Europeans, and we, descendants of enslaved Africans called blacks, face the challenge of rebuilding the Brazilian identity that wants to be European in its manners and customs. Values such as ancestry help us move forward with firmer footsteps and showing respect to those who came before us and those who will come next. At the same time, we have to prize our everyday life, which is full of nice actions and initiatives of many collectives, evening parties, and spaces for exchange that break the space of fear and curfews. In literature, theater and cinema, we are increasingly taking the lead in the productions and this has to grow to reach more people for them to think how our access to things is still hard and that this has nothing to do with lack of knowledge or inability. The struggle goes on by knowing that the sense of responsibility to ensure more dignity and the right to life is what will lead us to a less-genocidal Brazilian society.

How do you see the legacy of Abdias Nascimento? Do you know his work? Did he influence you in any way? Does he have anything that you care about?

Abdias Nascimento left us a legacy that we can translate as “pathways.” There are so many initiatives that he introduced to the Afro-Brazilian community, both in the field of the arts and in the field of politics. This shows that we do have to contend for all the spaces of power and voice. Abdias was a trailblazer and generously left us many possibilities to move on, just like Lélia Gonzalez did when she pioneered the realization of the gender facet in the black movement and the leading role played by the black women in the fight both in the private and public lives. As black women, we still have to fulfill this threefold role by serving the white patriarchal structures in wage labor, in the private domain (taking care of the family) and the political domain (with the voice of struggle against sexism and violence against women). In light of this, with the inputs from Lélia Gonzalez, Beatriz do Nascimento, and Carolina Maria de Jesus among other memorable warriors, the collectives and the black-women movement have raised their heads and made headway in politics and other realms. We are bringing our beautiful, black, and canny faces out to the sunlight, but without forgetting those who bequeathed us the fight against racism and sexism.

Abdias was one of the greatest defenders of our culture. Undoubtedly, he left us an extensive history of fight. However, we are more influenced by Maria de Lurdes Vale Nascimento, activist, social worker, journalist, professor. A central figure among intellectuals who conceived the Black Experimental Theater movement, her presence is still silenced for having been Abdias Nascimento’s partner. We are so inspired by this woman that our fight is to prevent women like her or any other one from being erased from history or become icons or an example of minor importance.

Maria de Lurdes Vale Nascimento stated: “If we, black women in Brazil, are really prepared to enjoy the benefits of civilization and culture, if we effectively want to achieve a standard of living compatible with the dignity of our status as human beings, we need – with no more delay – to engage in politics.” This is the kind of source that nurture the Blogueiras Negras [Black Women Bloggers] so that they can move on. She is one of the black women that inspires us.

Little by little, we are raising the visibility of the importance of the fight against racism. We have had some specific achievements in this regard, like the quotas in the public service and universities, and the teaching of African and Afro-Brazilian culture and history in schools. These measures have not been fully implemented as yet, but at least they fuel the debate about their need. We are many people involved in the content and media production, we have been able to foster more dialog each day seeking change and equality.

But still, we are the ones who die more, those who are more exposed to domestic violence, the highest rate of youth murdered, we have a lot to go.

Lélia Gonzalez told us that we need a name and a family name, otherwise racism will give us the name of its choice. And it calls us “lesser,” “mulattas,” something that we do not accept anymore. We have a prized black aesthetic and culture. This is the time to offer a new perspective of who we are and produce new stories about us. Real stories.

The Blogueiras Negras [Black Women Bloggers], aiming at making sure that the black women’s voice is heard, proposes that we stop being regarded as objects of study and start taking the lead in writing our own stories. It is more than a website: it is also an active community with more than 1,200 women debating issues that are dear to them and obviously, owing to the oppression and violence they have also undergone, transform them into a written article, a video, accusations. The Blogueiras Negras is a space of struggle and strengthening. Together, we can discuss and go after anything that will change our lives, keep ourselves and our families alive.

To fight against racism…

The fight against racism happens everyday and in various ways.

Through music, literature, in the daily chores or the school. Each one, on her own way and with the tools he/she has, fights against the oppression, denounces, and makes the other people re-think themselves.

We learned with Audre Lorde that silence will never protect us. Then, speaking up, denouncing, shouting, singing, and breaking the far-off silence are all we have left.” Never shut up again when faced with anything that hurts us, that demotivates us, that which devalues us or undermines our self-esteem. And breaking the silence can materialize through a mild or incisive gesture, full of love or anger, because anger is also a powerful tool that can be transformative.

We wish everyone, black or not: that you never be quiet in the face of racism. That is the lesson of the black women, that is the lesson we learned with black feminism.

“One of my father’s sisters did resemble Abdias, with a strong gaze full of tenderness; light, beautiful face; and kind, like poetry roaming around gently.

My aunt used to work as a cook. Her pay was very low and she would spend almost all of her income buying birds in cages that were sold in the street market in town.

She would carry the cages into the woods near her house and there, with great joy, she would release all the birds and watch them fly away.

One day my aunt Maria got sick. My mother said that she had no health treatment because she was spending all her money with the birds. My mother said that she was going to die in a hospital as an indigent. My father would say:

– This thing of death has nothing to do with Maria.

My mother, annoyed, would reply:

– You mean that your sister is going to become a seed?

And my father would reply proudly:

– She is already a Seed. Seed Maria.

Abdias is a Seed. He planted many trees in a number of places around the planet. In his strong eyes, there was great tenderness. On his light face, there was the poetry of all poets. This thing of death has never had anything to do with Abdias. Seed Abdias.

(Article written by Iara Rosa, writer and fine artist)