Black Women of Brazil
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
By now most of us should recognize the photos of Marina Silva, currently the Socialist Party candidate for President of Brazil, who may possibly defeat Workers' Party President Dilma Rousseff, in the upcoming elections. She's been attracting a lot of press attention here, with two recent features in the Wall Street Journal.
I've written about Ms. Silva here before, in "Through a glass darkly: A United States lens on Brazilian Politics and Race." If she wins, she would become Brazil's first black female President. Several US news outlets have incorrectly stated she would be Brazil's first black president - but that is not exactly correct. It depends on whose racial lens one is looking through, and Silva, is "afro-descendente" (African descended) but so have been other Brazilian Presidents (see my previous article). Silva does fill out the census as "black".
While searching for news pieces from Brazil, on Silva, and Brazilian perspectives I happened upon a Brazilian website with a major feature on Silva. The article emphasized her Afro-Brazilian heritage, which is not surprising since the site is called Black Women of Brazil.
Fascinated, I spent the next 6 or 7 hours reading the features there, which ran the gamut from politics, culture, health, Afro-Brazilian religion and more.
I admit, I struggle reading news from Brazil in Portuguese. I have to sit with a dictionary. This site is in English - translations of many items from around the country. Curious about the genesis of the site I worked my way backwards to posts from 2011, and managed also to contact the site's founder, Marques Travae, the editor and translator of BW of Brazil via email, who was delighted to hear from me and to find out about Black Kos.
He wrote:
The blog debuted in November of 2011 and was initially only meant to be a photo blog featuring the faces of Afro-Brazilian women. But as this type of forum from the perspective of race didn't exist, the format changed.
He explained:
The idea of the blog actually arose from the fact that when one comments on issues of race in Brazil in ways that are counter to the traditional understanding of racial politics throughout Brazil, Brazilians usually react vehemently against what they uniformly believe could only be North American opinions. What the blog shows is that, when Afro-Brazilians come to a certain degree of consciousness, they begin to come to similar conclusions about the racial situation. These voices need to be heard to contrast the widespread belief that "we're all equal", a belief that many people continue to hold.
I wanted to share some of the recent articles featured at BW of Brazil, and encourage you to visit.
March Against Black Genocide galvanizes 50,000 people throughout Brazil; where is the media coverage?
Note from BW of Brazil: Here at BW of Brazil, the consistent pattern of genocide being carried out against the black population of Brazil has long been a topic of concern. Whether being killed in day to day violence, by Military Police (MP) in actions of which the policy seems to be “shoot first and ask questions later”, esquadrões da morte (death squads whose hit men are often composed of off-duty MPs) or victims of the stray bullets fired in majority black neighborhoods, the bodies continue to stack up. In the United States, the repercussions of the murder of the unarmed black teen Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri has gained international attention. Brown’s murder at the hands of police was only one of a number of unarmed black men who have been killed by police in the US over the past several weeks as the blatant assault on the black community seems to be reaching a boiling point in that country. But, as the numbers pointed out on a post here a few years ago, the situation is still much worse in Brazil.
As Jonathan Watts of The Guardian wrote on August 29th: “Although Brazil has a population that is a third smaller than that of the US, it has almost five times as many killings by police. And though the vast majority of the victims are black or mixed race, there is far less of a debate about race.” So as the general population continues to go on with the day to day as if nothing is strange is going on, thousands took to the streets all over Brazil on Friday, August 22nd to express their outrage at this disregard for life, particularly against those of darker skin. As such, the question is, where is the international media? In the march that took place in São Paulo, a large sign carried throughout the march showed solidarity with African-Americans in the death of Mike Brown. (Sign in photo below: “We are all Mike Brown. For the end of the police”). But is Mike Brown’s death more important that the deaths of Raissa Vargas Motta, the mother/daughter pair of Maria de Fátima dos Santos and Alessandra de Jesus, the infamous murder of Cláudia da Silva Ferreira and too many black Brazilian men and youth to name here? The struggle is the same throughout the African Diaspora. The media coverage should be also!
Dedicated to the struggle against racial inequality and the class struggle, the UNEGRO organization completes 26 years
Note from BW of Brazil: For many decades, the Federative Republic of Brazil was a country that steadfastly denied racist treatment of its African descendant population. Not only did it go as far as promoting itself as a “racial democracy” in the face of blatant racism, at one point during its m0st recently experience of a military dictatorship, it even outlawed the discussion or denouncement of the existence of racism in the country. Although cracks in the system eventually allowed that the Movimento Negro as a whole organized resistance against the system, it has only been after the years of the “political opening” that organizations have been able to fully push for racial equality throughout the nation. One of the leading organizations in the fight for racial equality after the return to democracy in 1985 has been UNEGRO, which began its operations in a key year, 1988, a year in which 100 years of the abolition of slavery was celebrated. The organization recently celebrated 26 years of its existence and below is brief article about its activism over the past few decades.
May the orixás (deities) protect her: Afro-Brazilian religious leader’s temple has suffered eight violent attacks in eight years
Note from BW of Brazil: The persecution of followers of African-oriented religions is another form of intolerance that we’ve been following for some time. There’s nothing new about it and represents yet another means in which Brazilian society shows its rejection of the African presence and influence in the country. The rise of Evangelical churches over the past few decades all over the country has only intensified often times violent attacks on those who practice their religious convictions. The story presented here today is particularly troublesome as the religious leader’s temple has been attacked a number of times in the past eight years.
Why racism in Brazil is a perfect crime: Racists are not going to jail
Note from BW of Brazil: Although one could argue that racism has existed in Brazil since its very founding, there are several stumbling blocks in addressing this social ill. One is the long believed and widespread idea that Brazil is a “racial democracy”. Two, even when Brazilians are willing to admit the existence of racism throughout the country, these same people never admit to being racist themselves. Three, victimized persons sometimes don’t recognize racism for what it is due to a belief in the “racial democracy”. Four, although victimized, many victims never pursue any sort of action against their aggressor, preferring to suffer in silence. Five, when a victim does gather the courage to call out their offender in a court of law, the judging of what distinguishes racism from a racial injury/slur often determines whether an aggressor goes to jail or simply get s a slap on the wrist and walks away free. There are many in Brazil who believe that racism isn’t problem in Brazil because there’s a law against racism. But the fact is, the existence of a law against racism doesn’t mean an aggressor automatically faces a severe penalty if caught discriminating against or insulting someone on the grounds of race. As the following article shows, accusing someone of racism is one thing; but managing to secure a prosecution is not as easy as one may believe.
Okay...I'm going to stop. I just spent another couple of hours reading the site, and can't possibly list more pieces you should read. Go check it out.
I want to again express my thanks to Marques, for allowing me to share some of the pieces from the site. He is going to try to join us today in discussion.
Muito obrigada Marques.
P.S.
Had to share some music before closing.
From Ellen Oléria - black, lesbian winner of "The Voice" competition.
Singing the Jorge Ben classic "Zumbi". (you can read about Zumbi dos Palmares: An African warrior in Brazil, on the site too)
Angola, Congo, Benguela
Monjolo, Cabinda, Mina
Quiloa, Rebolo
Here where the men are
There’s a big auction
They say that in the auction,
There’s a princess for sale
Who came, together with her subjects
Chained on an oxcart
I want to see, I want to see, I want to see
Angola, Congo, Benguela
Monjolo, Cabinda, Mina
Quiloa, Rebolo
Here where the men are
To one side, sugarcane
To the other side, the coffee plantation
In the middle, seated gentlemen
Watching the cotton crop, so white
Being picked by black hands
I want to see, I want to see, I want to see
When Zumbi arrives
What will happen
Zumbi is a warlord
A lord of demands
When Zumbi arrives, Zumbi
Is the one who gives orders
I want to see, I want to see, I want to see
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comparing examples of white and black Americans’ encounters with police seems to present undeniable evidence of injustice. But does this type of footage ever make a difference? The Root: A Video Survey of Police Interactions: Inequality in Black and White.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photographs of lynchings didn’t foster a shift toward justice. News reports of water hoses and police dogs didn’t compel national outrage from “sea to shining sea.” Even the advent of the camcorder did not produce accountability or a cultural shift in America’s Jim Crow policing. Remember that in 1992, after George Holliday documented the beating of Rodney King, a Simi Valley, Calif., jury still found it in their minds and hearts to declare the four officers innocent.
Why would we expect video to change things now?
Despite the amount of evidence of the lack of justice in individual cases and larger patterns of police brutality—for years now, people have been picking up their camcorders and camera phones to document police officers clotheslining, kicking and tasing pregnant black women, as well as beating, choking, body-slamming, punching and even killing unarmed black men and teens—a picture or a video is rarely enough to prompt the necessary action.
That said, our comparison of publicly available videos of black and white Americans in encounters with law-enforcement officers does reveal fundamental racial differences that deserve attention.
Themes emerge: The white subjects directly challenge the authority and knowledge of the police, often confidently citing their constitutional rights. The black videographers taping black subjects, on the other hand, adjust to get better lines of sight for their shots and to capture the dialogue and actions of the cops. They also narrate for us what has already happened to the person being arrested or beaten. People in the crowd offer advice to keep quiet or not to resist. White subjects are often in cars, with their interactions with police calmly captured by passengers. Those videos involving blacks are more often shot in public spaces, to be documented only by bystanders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First you deny racism exists. Then you smear the reputation of any black man who appears to be a victim. Slate: The New Racism.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know Michael Brown was a killer?
Did you know he was a devoted gang member with an extensive juvenile record who routinely robbed convenience stores and committed acts of mayhem? And did you know that when Officer Darren Wilson shot Brown, he wasn’t using unjustified force, he was defending his life? The 6-foot-4, 300-pound 18-year-old fractured Wilson’s eye socket while reaching for his gun, and was killed while charging at Wilson to land another blow.
If this sounds suspect—if it sounds almost unbelievable—then your head is in the right place. Nothing in this narrative is true. Racist innuendo aside, there’s no evidence Brown was a violent gang member, nor is there evidence of any serious wrongdoing—as a juvenile, Brown was never convicted of a felony nor was he facing charges as an adult. And while Wilson was taken to the hospital after his encounter with Brown, he didn’t suffer serious injuries—the fractured eye socket is a myth.
But if you read websites like the Independent Journal Review, dive into far-right media, or explore the world of Darren Wilson support pages, you’ll find plenty of people who buy the fantasy. They reject the mainstream picture of Brown: A typical teenager, struggling to carve an identity and a life out of his beliefs, actions, and missteps. In their minds Brown was a budding criminal, and Wilson a hero. Or, as one Wilson supporter said during a demonstration for the officer, “We’ll all see this in the end that it was a good shooting. You know, it was a good kill.”
We know why the Brown family was quick to give a loving portrait of Michael. Like any parents in their situation, they wanted the world to see their son as they did—a decent boy who didn’t deserve to die.
The question is for the other side: Why attack Michael Brown’s reputation? After all, if the goal is an objective look, there’s no need to explore Brown or Wilson as individuals. Brown could have been Gandhi or he could have been the Unabomber; all that matters for the case is what happened in a few brief moments on the streets of Ferguson.
Michael Brown: typical teenager who died tragically, or dangerous thug who invited trouble?
Photo courtesy of Jahi Chikwendiu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atlanta Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson announced that he is selling his share of the team after he admitted to writing an e-mail two years ago that contained racially insensitive remarks about fans. Chicago Tribune: Citing 'offensive' email, Atlanta Hawks co-owner to sell stake in team.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Bruce Levenson
To: Ferry, Danny
CC: Foreman, Todd (ucg.com); Peskowitz, Ed (ucg.com)
Sent: 8/25/2012 11:47:02 PM
Subject: Re: Business/Game ops
1. from day one i have been impressed with the friendliness and professionalism of the arena staff — food vendors, ushers, ticket takers, etc. in our early years when i would bring folks from dc they were blown away by the contrast between abe pollin’s arena and philips. some of this is attributable to southern hospital and manners but bob and his staff do a good job of training. To this day, I can not get the ushers to call me Bruce yet they insist on me calling them by their first names.
2. the non-premium area food is better than most arenas, though that is not saying much. i think there is room for improvement and creativity. Levy is our food vendor so we don’t have much control but they have been good partners. i have wished we had some inconic offereing like boog’s barbeque at the baseball stadium in balt.
3. our new restaurant, red, just opened so too early for me to give you my thoughts.
4. Regarding game ops, i need to start with some background. for the first couple of years we owned the team, i didn’t much focus on game ops. then one day a light bulb went off. when digging into why our season ticket base is so small, i was told it is because we can’t get 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tixs and they are the primary demo for season tickets around the league. when i pushed further, folks generally shrugged their shoulders. then i start looking around our arena during games and notice the following:
— it’s 70 pct black
— the cheerleaders are black
— the music is hip hop
— at the bars it’s 90 pct black
— there are few fathers and sons at the games
— we are doing after game concerts to attract more fans and the concerts are either hip hop or gospel.
Then i start looking around at other arenas. It is completely different. Even DC with its affluent black community never has more than 15 pct black audience.
Bruce Levenson announced plans Sunday to sell controlling ownership in Atlanta Hawks.
ESPN SCREENSHOT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes it was, but the Economist pulled the review. Talking Point Memo: Author: The Economist Review Of My Slavery Book Was 'Blatantly Racist'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Cornell University professor Ed Baptist read The Economist review of his book on slavery, he knew that it would be a big deal. The review dismissed his work as "advocacy" because "all the blacks in his book are victims, almost all the whites villains."
That characterization of his work, which attracted the most backlash from journalists and academics, was not entirely a surprise to Baptist, he told TPM on Friday. It is something he has heard in history circles before the reaction to his new book, "The Half Has Never Been Told."
"I thought that was silly," he said. "But I've been talking about this kind of stuff for a while in academic circles and public history circles, and it's not uncommon for people to protest that I'm not being sensitive enough to the inner lives of enslavers."
"On one level, I want to respond, 'No, actually, I think I'm being very sensitive to it and I'm just unfurling these other sides to the story that are often left under the sheets as it were,'" he continued. "The point that other people have made that I think is so effective is that for me to write a book about the exploitation of enslaved people, by definition, is going to show enslaved people as the objects of all kinds of victimizing processes and, on the other hand, enslavers as the agents of those processes."
The Economist did apologize and withdraw the review, though Baptist said he believed the magazine had only apologized for the last line on "victims" and "villains." Another bit of the review, which questioned the reliability of ex-slaves in relating experiences under slavery, struck him as "blatantly racist."
"One thing that really did aggravate me about the review was this suggestion and this sort of implicit argument that ex-slaves had some sort of vested interest and are unreliable reporters on what actually happened," he said. "That is such an old struggle when you're talking about the history of slavery, the constant undermining of testimony from survivors."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam
Black Kos Poetry Editor
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, though born a free woman in the time of slavery, was nonetheless, a fierce advocate for abolition and equal rights. She was part of the Free Produce Movement, a boycott of goods made with slave labor. "Free" meant, "not enlsaved" and "Produce" was any good or crop made or harvested by human effort. Some have argued how effective the movement was; given that slavery existed for almost a century from the movement's inception. But whether a boycott is against "Blood Diamonds", or "Sweat Shop Fabric", an individual stand, indeed, carries great power. It brings about irrevocable change; like waves wearing away rock along the coast line. When asked by the landed gentry of the times, why she would boycott goods made by her "people", she insisted that what she owned was Free; that it was manufactured by men and women of their own Free Will, who were paid an honest wage for an honest day's work. She insisted that what she owned was not extracted by the whip and the lash, by the tearing apart of families, flesh and the Soul. She insisted that what she owned was truly from:
Free Labor
I wear an easy garment,
O’er it no toiling slave
Wept tears of hopeless anguish,
In his passage to the grave.
And from its ample folds
Shall rise no cry to God,
Upon its warp and woof shall be
No stain of tears and blood.
Oh, lightly shall it press my form,
Unladen with a sigh,
I shall not ‘mid its rustling hear,
Some sad despairing cry.
This fabric is too light to bear
The weight of bondsmen’s tears,
I shall not in its texture trace
The agony of years.
Too light to bear a smother’d sigh,
From some lorn woman’s heart,
Whose only wreath of household love
Is rudely torn apart.
Then lightly shall it press my form,
Unburden’d by a sigh;
And from its seams and folds shall rise,
No voice to pierce the sky,
And witness at the throne of God,
In language deep and strong,
That I have nerv’d Oppression’s hand,
For deeds of guilt and wrong.
-- Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Black Kos Community Front Porch