Black women achieved a historic achievement when 300,000 people took to the streets of the federal capital in a march for compensation and a decent living. This activity brought together people from all regions of Brazil and 37 other countries. This was “the largest political mobilization of black women the world has ever seen,” according to organizers.
In fact, 300,000 women (Brazilian and foreign) cannot be mobilized overnight. It takes a lot of coordination to ensure the success of a project of this size (despite some setbacks). In this case, it took about three years of collective work (in various state, regional, national and global committees) that resulted in 11 concrete demands.
Among the demands are to defend public education, combat racism, implement real policies to reform the inequalities resulting from black slavery, and encourage and support the establishment of centers of African memory and culture in all units of the union.
Despite persistent gender and racial disparities, it is important to note the current involvement of the justice system in the battle against racism. In recent years, decisions have been taken on the constitutionality of racial quotas, the establishment of the Racial Governance Protocol, the National Charter for Racial Equality in the Judiciary, and the Racial Justice Oversight Commission. In the week that thousands of black and brown women marched on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, the majority of STF ministers acknowledged that systematic violations of the rights of the country’s black population had occurred.
It is worth noting the coincidence (or is it a paradox?) of fate that means that the beginning of the sentence of former President Bolsonaro – a self-proclaimed racist and sexist leader – convicted of crimes related to the coup attempt, occurred in the history of a pluralistic and democratic political demonstration organized by black women. It seems that time truly is the master of the mind.
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