Afro-Brazilian Women and Inexplicit Racism

Yesterday we met with Claudete Alves, currently one (1) of only five (5) women on the Sao Paolo City Council, and the only female Afro-Brazilian councilwoman in the City of Sao Paolo in the last 450 years (with the exception of another Afro-Brazilian woman who didn’t finish her term).  She described her experience in this position as a lonely and challenging fight against racism and sexism, through which she has been accused of promoting reverse discrimination.  During our conversation with the councilwoman, she described an experience that she had coming to the United States in 2004.  She visited various cities including New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Atlanta, and New Orleans, and through her experience she said that although racial discrimination was much more explicit and clear, she never felt so much like a citizen.  In Brazil, she said that in any state, she can go to a middle class restaurant and if she is just waiting to meet someone, standing alone she will get suspicious glances from the waiters, who assume that she is a prostitute simply because she is an Afro-Brazilian.  It is not a new phenomenon that Afro-Brazilian women in Brazil don’t have access to their rights, nor are they guaranteed protection from domestic or state violence. 

In fact, during our meeting today with Geledes, the President of the program, Solymar Carneiro, spoke to us about the implementation of the Ministry of Women and the Ministry of Race in the Brazilian government and how both of these positions were created to people from discrimination based on gender and race, but how they fail to protect Afro-Brazilian women.  The Ministry of Women and the Ministry of Race both fail to address the needs of Afro-Brazilian women, and instead focus on the needs and issues affecting white women and Afro-Brazilian men.

During this trip, I have come to understand that countries are the same in that racial discrimination is a real occurrence, however in the U.S. minorities are more apt to admit to being discriminated against by virtue of their race than in Brazil.  Afro-Brazilian women are fighting this fight in Brazil with the help of organizations like Geledes, however, just as they face discrimination in everyday life, they experience this type of discrimination in securing fundamental protections and rights from the state.  This story is not too different from story of African American women in the United States, who often in guise are represented by the Women’s Movement, even though their needs are not fully understood and addressed.  Part of my project looks at discrimination and the various forms it takes.  The failure to address the issues affecting Afro-Brazilian women’s rights is one of the main facets of discrimination that is predominant in Brazil.  The fact that women play a central role in the family in Brazil makes this situation even more important to focus on, because if their potential is shunted systematically, the decisions they make and the reality that they implant in their children is essentially affecting generations of people.  

Better schools is not enough

I have learned a number of things about the way prestige/rankings work in Brazil, that I feel will contribute to my comparative analysis of how diversity affects prestige, reputation, and rankings in the United States.

To begin with, there are evaluations and rankings in Brazil, their impact is much greater than what I had previously thought. Before the year 2000, the only formalized evaluative mechanism was implemented by Playboy Magazine. Playboy had sent surveys to various professors to create a comparative evaluation of educational quality. The results have been used by those trying to decide where to disseminate their funds.

In the year 2000, the ministry of education began to institute a much more thorough ranking/evaluative system that takes into account a number of various measures in order to compare the relative strength and value of different educational institutions. What is interesting about these new evaluations is that schools depend on a good evaluation for funding, and students care about the evaluations when deciding what school to go to.

What I repeatedly hear from Brazilian students is that the best way to influence diversity and the way it is perceived and decided upon by universities and students, is to influence public education before the university level. I have gathered that we are at a crossroads with Brazil, and I believe we are going to have to learn from each other if we are both going to become more equal in the future. Rankings and evaluations are becoming more important in Brazil, while people are beginning to realize and accept that discrimination exists, and are even beginning to take some affirmative steps to remedy it. In the United States these rankings are already all important and we are moving towards a society that does not recognize that discrimination exists and are taking away affirmative steps to combat racism.

In both countries there is the seduction of colorblindness and racial democracy. Advocating for better public education is a great thing to struggle for, however, it seems to be too assuaging to those who desire the colorblind. They can simply say they want better schools, and then turn away from recognizing the influence of racism in creating the disparities and maintaining an educational gap between blacks and whites. Better elementary and high schools are necessary, but they are not enough and this road alone would take too long to travel down. We need better universities to close the educational gap, and in order to do that, we need to convince people that affirmative action makes universities better.

Meeting with Claudete Alves

Today we visited Claudete Alves, the only black woman member of Sao Paulo’s city council. The fact that she is the only black female councilwoman is remarkable given that the city of Sao Paulo is 33% Afro-Brazilian, and that Brazil is 45% Afro-Brazilian. Unlike many of the other politicians in Sao Paulo, she was raised in the favelas (slums). She recounted that her mom worked several jobs to send her to a private boarding school, and that she was the only Afro-Brazilian student in this school. The teachers discriminated against her because she was black, and punished her more severely than her classmates, burning her with a branding iron if she overslept (she took off her watch and showed us her scars). It was the injustice she experienced in school, she says, that instilled in her the desire to combat racism and sexism.

Thus far, she has introduced 79 bills, 4 of which have become laws. All the laws aim to help Sao Paulo’s Afro-Brazilians population. She has improved public school teacher training (where almost all Afro-Brazilian students study), established November 20 to honor Zumbi dos Palmares and celebrate Sao Paulo’s Afro-Brazilian heritage, created the Municipal Program to combat racism and promote affirmative action in Sao Paulo City Hall, and renamed the day care center after an Afro-Brazilian woman. She says that it is difficult to pass laws that combat racism because the other council members are eager to uphold the myth of racial democracy and deny that racism exists.

Our meeting with Claudete Alves reaffirmed the how important it is to have minority voices in public office. Due to her own experiences with racism and sexism, she spoke passionately about these topics and has become an agent for change. Furthermore, she serves as a role model for other women of color (such as myself) and affirms that a high-powered career is both possible and desirable.

Hippy Hoppy Brasil!

Again, I am investigating the impact of Brazilian government funding in hip-hop and social movements. I have learned a lot about the issue in the past few days. First, let me give some context to the hip-hop scene in Brazil.

One cannot talk about hip-hop in Brazil without mentioning Racionais MC's. Racionais are the most well known and respected artists in the history of Brazilian hip-hop. The group formed in 1988 and each member hails from the ring of favelas around São Paulo, Brazil locally called the periferia. Their lyrics combine themes of social justice with gangster imagery. Brazil hip-hop artists basically copycatted Racionais and adopted social justice themes, which is a good thing. A lot of the music challenges the idea of a racial democracy and talks about issues ranging from police brutality to support for affirmative action quotas surprisingly! Artists like Racionais and Rappin Hood have are the most well known artists to rap about such issues. The artists here can be seen as a mix between Tupac, NWA, and Public Enemy with regard to their message.

Liza and I spoke with several industry insiders including a hip-hop writer for Rolling Stone Brazil and an MC who once hosted Yo MTV Raps Brazil. Both gave similar descriptions of the hip-hop scene in Brazil with much praise of Racionais as the leaders of the hip-hop movement. With regard to the government funding of hip-hop, it all began when Lula became President of Brazil in 2002. Lula is the first President of Brazil to come from a poor and working class background. When Lula became President the working class believed that they all became President. Many progressive programs and policies have been started under Lula and the funding of music and cultural development was one of them. One of the things I found very interesting was the meeting President Lula had with the leaders of the hip-hop movement; including Racionais, MV Bill, Rappin Hood, and others. During this meeting, President Lula listened to the needs of the hip-hop movement and this is how the program was started.

However, the people with whom I talked to about the government programs had a few responses. One artist stated that 97% of the people involved in the hip-hop movement don’t have access to the funds because 1) they don’t know how to write projects and 2) the criteria is ambiguous. Others stated that the program is strictly to take students out of crime life and give them an alternative and not about the music most of the time. Therefore, mainly NGO’s seek funding to give poor kids an alternative to crime life. But, the music they make is not usually good because the people teaching the music don’t know how to make music themselves.

At minimum, the acknowledgement by the government that hip-hop is a culture point of Brazil is symbolic. Because popular hip-hop music in Brazil offers messages that engage race and discrimination, public and government recognition of the music can constantly encourage debate of these issues.

Check this out. "Favela Rising":

Ending Violence without Ending Violence?

Yay! Today I was able to speak with someone who works directly on my project. We met with Congress person Claudete Alves, one of four women on Sao Paulo’s city council and the only Black woman (and the first in four-hundred years). Since my work examines police violence, women’s police stations and anti-violence against women movements, meeting with Claudete was very important. Her narrative confirmed many of suspicions, yet, I was surprised by one of major differences between the US and Brazil. In the US, incarcerated people are disproportionately Black, Latino or Indigenous, however, most of the imprisoned men in Brazil are mixed race people. I assumed that the majority of imprisoned people in Brazil would be the same people who are denied access to resources. They are not Black, however, because as Alves said, when it comes to young Black men, “cops shoot to kill.” In fact, it is only after they have been killed that police check ID’s to see if these young men were their intended targets, Alves noted. One of the members of Afro Reggae organization corroborated this practically axiomatic position by saying, “if you are poor, Black, male and over 25 in Brazil, you are a survivor.” However, the vast majority of women prisoners are Black women, whom the police treat less harshly than Black men, but are subject to numerous forms of racialized state violence. This is a position worth investigated tomorrow with the Geledes organization.

After explaining the racism and cruelty of the police in Brazil, I asked Alves how many men are imprisoned for committing violence against women vis-à-vis the women’s police stations (which all-women stations that prosecute violence against women). In response, she explained her work to implement the Maria de Pena law, aimed at protecting women from violence. While I was excited to here the evolution of this law, I am still left wondering how using the police, whom commit such atrocious violence against Black communities, can protect Black women from violence. During our fortuitous luncheon with Alves and an attorney comrade, one of my initial assumptions was confirmed. She said that aside from this one case, she could not think of any other violence against women cases that have even been prosecuted, akin to Black police stations where no white person has ever been convicted for committing racism, an illegal act in Brazil. After I asked her if Black women use these police stations she answered with a resounding “no.” They don’t use them, she postulated, because they view the police as hostile and because they think that the police will not listen to them.

If Black women are not using women’s police stations, then how can they be seen as a medium to end violence against women? What underlying ideologies legitimize the antiviolence against women movement’s use of these stations if only white women are using them? What other remedies might be used? We must imagine alternative ways to address violence – if we really want it to end it.

US Politics in Brazil

Today we met with Sao Paolo Councilwoman, Claudette Alves, the only black woman to serve as a councilwoman in 450 years of Brazilian history. Mrs. Alves was an inspiration to many women in our group. As we sat at lunch with her discussing her perspectives of the black experience in Brazil, from her own experiences of torture as the only black student in her school, to the strength of the black hip hop movement in Brazil, our conversation inevitably turned to the upcoming election in the US and the question that seems to be on the minds of almost every person we have met since arriving in Brazil 10 days ago – what do we think of Barack Obama.

Interestingly, as I sat down to write this blog tonight, I opened my Internet to MSN.com and found an article discussing the affirmative action debate in the US and implications of having both a female and an African American vying for the presidential race. The article explained the “basics” of the affirmative action debate, citing Ward Connerly’s campaign to end affirmative action as part of his self-described “civil rights initiative”. It went on to mention one of his leading anti-affirmative action claims right now, that the struggle between a man of color and a woman as our nations leader shows that affirmative action is unnecessary to “compensate for institutional racism and institutional sexism.”

Whether visiting with the head of Olodum or Criola, or sitting over lunch with a council member of Sao Paolo, one of the most asked questions we have been given is our impressions over Barack Obama and the implications his election might have on both the US and the rest of the world. Councilwoman Alves shared with us her own thoughts on the implications of electing Barack Obama. She stated that whether or not he became the first black president in the US, his presence on the ballot and among the American people could not be denied. Councilwoman Alves shared with us her thoughts on Barack Obama, stating her belief that his election could lead to a tremendous change for our country. She believed that his election would change the way the rest of the world viewed Americans – that we know longer would be viewed as isolated elitists.
Many of the organizations we have met with have shown their enthusiasm over the potential of the first black president in the United States. As councilwoman Alves stated, the election of Barack Obama would have international implications, which she believes would be extremely positive. Other NGO leaders as well as University students have shown their excitement and wonder over Barack Obama. On a global scale, he has become a symbol of hope and promise for change within the United States. In Brazil, where many people believe that racism doesn’t exist or isn’t as bad in the United States, it seems as if they look at Barack Obama as a representation of where their own affirmative action programs may take him. For Councilwoman Alves and so many others here, Obama is a part of the beginning of what affirmative action programs might lead to – not a sign that racism has been cured and should be ended.

Favela Tours?

As I was jogging down the beach in Rio de Janiero, I saw several safari jeeps filled with white passengers and Black drivers. Was this one of the popular favela tours? I cannot be sure, but it was my inclination that they were headed to the nearest favela to experience an “illuminating view of the real Rio.” There are several popular tours that tourists can participate in to experience the favelas. That morning I was on my way to spend the day with AfroReggae and learn more about the social justice project this non-governmental organization promotes. Although I too was going to tour the favelas with this organization, I was seriously conflicted about the fact that others were going on tours that essentially seemed like a safari or a trip to the zoo. Their experience in no way could convey the role of slavery and the lack of a Reconstruction to provide social inclusion policies in the development of the favelas. I also do not think that the participants could fully understand the sense of community present in this complex environment.

During my time with the NGO I was able to gain a better understanding of the complexities of the favelas. However, I think that this was possible because of the background that I brought to the project as CRS student. I began the day with the understanding that there are many ways in which the laws works racialize society. It was this understanding that helped me to realize how a community that has been systematically disenfranchised by the state can rely on drug lords to pay for their prescription and hospital bills and plan parties for the holidays.

Knowing that many tourists were coming though these communities simply viewing the extreme poverty and at the time that they visited, during the hours that most adults are working outside of the favela, desolation made me uncomfortable and frustrated. I was uncomfortable with the thought of the tourists driving through an extremely poor community of color in their air conditioned vans. I was also frustrated by the fact that they were unable to experience the community building that is going on in these communities and the history behind their development. Although, I have no doubt that the tourists will never forget the images that they saw on the tour, I worry that it will reinforce the stereotypes of people of color. I hope that sharing my experience will further the understanding of these communities and the need to continue the fight for social inclusion.