Black Consciousness: Famous people remember racism and dream of changes in society

Regardless of social class, a black person is likely to suffer racial discrimination. Actress and singer Jeniffer Nascimento, 28, knows how this happens since she was a child. According to her, prejudice appears at many times, whether entering a store to buy something, when she is stopped at the airport because of the volume of her hair or inside the bank.

Precisely for this reason she understands that Black Awareness Day, celebrated on November 20th, should not need to exist, as awareness about blackness in a mostly black country should take place all year round.

“We are a country where we experience racism on a daily basis and many people insist on not seeing it and saying that it doesn’t exist. For all that, it ends up becoming important to have this day for these people, who live in their bubbles , can stop for a moment to think,” he reflects.

In the artist’s view, Brazil has made little progress in building a fairer and less discriminatory society. “Occupying spaces is already very important to open doors and paths, but it is also essential to conquer the place of effective listening and have the power of speech, which I think is still a long way off.”

Physician and writer Thelma Assis, 36, is another example of a person who, from an early age, needed to prove herself at all times. Since the time when many people did not believe that a black girl could go to college and go to medicine.

“Unfortunately, we live in an extremely racist country. What has changed is that black people have increasingly started to take a stand and use a place to speak to confront situations that perhaps in my mother’s time were not so common,” he says.

The struggle, she says, is a long one, and the internet is helping to globalize this agenda. The death of George Floyd in the US, a black man who had his neck pinched with his knee by a white police officer to death, sparked the cause before the whole world, including here.

For Thelma, it’s important to maintain this posture. “And we have to worry about what happens here. We need to see black people occupying prominent places in all places. Every 23 minutes, a black person dies in Brazil.”

The samba composer and composer Xande de Pilares, 51, has already gone through several moments of prejudice in his life. Especially in his early teens, when he started wanting to work and learn a profession.

“I remember that I had just finished a typist and programmer course when I was in line for employment at IBGE and a woman with a clipboard looked my face up and down and dismissed me”, he recalls.

Since that day, Xande decided to face prejudice. “I don’t bow to him, I don’t give up my place in line for him and I don’t get up for him. To make a difference, we have to work to overcome challenges,” he says.

Like his other colleagues, he says he hasn’t seen many changes with regard to racism. “The situation can still improve a lot, but with the people disunited as it is, it gets discouraged”, he says.

Also samba dancer Dudu Nobre, 48, sees the decision of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) which defined at the end of October that racial injury is equated with the crime of racism and, therefore, is imprescriptible and must be punished at any time as a victory. , regardless of the period of the episode.

“I think the celebration of Black Awareness Day is important for the country to remember how important blacks were in the cultural and social formation of the country. One of the milestones that can bring change is the issue of making racial insult a crime with a penalty equivalent to racism “, evaluates.

Actor Bruno Suzano, 29, remembers the time he was mistaken for a snack delivery guy by a white lady. At that moment, he decided to talk to her, who, according to him, did not understand that attitude as racist. He was in shorts and shirtless at the door of a hamburger shop on the beachfront in Rio.

But one thing that has been bothering him lately is that a lot of people haven’t seen him for the black man that he is. “I’m not a black black and that’s remarkable, because there’s colorism. Brazil is a country of miscegenation and I’m part of that group, but that’s not why I’m exempt from racism,” he says.

“I think that in order to improve, the people need more information and knowledge in general. Keep up to date. Dance to the music and without stepping on anyone’s toes. Because it hurts”, he adds.

Also actress and singer Lucy Alves, 35, says she believes that, as a nation, we still have a long way to go in relation to racism. “I feel that people, especially the younger ones, already understand this issue in a different way, and I believe that it is due to this work of awareness and inclusion”, he points out.

But nothing should change quickly, after all, she says there are centuries of prejudice. “The important thing is to continue the fight for a more inclusive society and to value any and all initiatives that bring more awareness”, he concludes.