In the street protests after the murder of Congolese Moïse Mugenyi Kabagambe, amid the banners with the Portuguese translation of the words Black Lives Matter (black lives matter), a poster carried a version of the American anti-racist slogan with an extra word. The phrase “black immigrant lives matter” was displayed by a member of a network of activists of the same name, which emerged two years before the brutal beating that killed Moise last month in Rio de Janeiro.
The group, which brings together people and organizations fighting xenophobia and racism in Brazil, was created after the violent murder of another immigrant in May 2020, the Angolan gas station attendant João Manuel. A resident of the eastern region of São Paulo, he was stabbed near his home by a Brazilian mechanic, after a discussion about the receipt of emergency aid by immigrants – who were entitled to the government benefit, when in force. Two of his friends were injured while trying to stop the crime.
Congolese Hortense Mbuyi, one of the first to join the network, says that for some time she had already noticed an escalation in discrimination against African and Haitian immigrants who live in the periphery. “There was so much violence, so much aggression, that when João Manuel was murdered, we said: ‘Enough.’
A lawyer, Hortense is the current president of the Municipal Council of Immigrants in the city of São Paulo. She herself lived in the Itaquera region for more than five years and left fearing for her safety.
“When I arrived, in 2014, I was welcome, they welcomed me. But since the last presidential elections, and with the arrival of more Africans and Haitians to the neighborhood, I noticed a change. people began to be discriminated against in the market, on the bus”, he says. “Three or four people had to get together to take a taxi to the center, because bus drivers didn’t want to take us. We started to hear people shouting on the street, ‘Go back to your land’.”
Non-white immigrants such as Haitians, Africans, Bolivians and Venezuelans are the ones who suffer this kind of prejudice, she says. “White immigrants mix with Brazilians and are more respected. Africans or Haitians are seen from afar. And what I find shocking is that we suffer racism not only from whites, but from black Brazilians themselves”, she says.
In addition to the attacks with a fatal outcome, Hortense says that some black immigrants suffered aggressions that led them to need medical and psychological follow-up. She also points out that discrimination makes it difficult for those with good training to have access to good jobs.
“Even social organizations only think about us when there is a vacancy for a janitor. The life of black immigrants matters not only because they are murdering us. It matters because we have little opportunity to study, to get a decent job.”
Vidas Imigrantes Negras Importam is not an established organization, it does not have its own funding or institution behind it. “It’s a solidarity network, more than a movement. An articulation that arises to respond to very critical cases”, defines Karina Quintanilha, lawyer and researcher who is a member of the Forum Fronteiras Cruzadas.
“Joining forces, we managed to reach the person’s family, mobilize lawyers, social movements, the press, parliamentarians.”
After João Manuel’s death, in addition to demonstrations to give visibility to the case, the group organized a fundraiser to help the family and got a labor lawyer to seek rights for the Angolan’s wife and daughters.
In 2021, they helped Falilatou Sarouna, a Togolese woman arrested in a police operation after having her name used in bank accounts by a criminal organization. According to her lawyers, the immigrant, who is illiterate, was deceived and herself a victim of a scam. Falilatou ended up obtaining in court the right to respond in freedom to the process.
The network is also campaigning for the stay of South African singer and dancer Nduduzo Siba, who is at risk of being deported after serving time in a São Paulo penitentiary. The Federal Public Defender’s Office, which takes care of the case, asks the Justice that she not be expelled, as she demonstrates that she has inserted herself into Brazilian society — she has performed on stages such as the Ibirapuera Auditorium and the Oficina Theater.
The most recent violence denounced by the group is the murder of Venezuelan Marcelo Caraballo in Mauá (SP), according to his family for a debt of R$100 in rent. A local anti-racist collective is providing assistance to the victim’s wife and children.
Long-time activists from the black movement in Brazil have approached the immigrant cause and are also part of the Vidas Imigrantes Negras Importam network. This is the case of Regina Lúcia dos Santos, state coordinator of the MNU (Unified Black Movement) in São Paulo.
“The murder of João Manuel is emblematic. The brutalization of life on the periphery is so great that it becomes natural to take the life of a person who you think is usurping your right. And the immigrant only takes into account this policy of deaths because is black or of indigenous origin”, he says.
Regina defends that Africans automatically receive Brazilian citizenship, as a historical reparation for centuries of slavery. “The Africans who arrive here should not be treated as immigrants, but as full citizens. This country owes its construction process to Africa.”
For her, what exists in Brazil is not xenophobia, but “xenorracism”. “White immigrants are welcomed with open arms. It has always been that way.”
She recalls that while Moïse’s murder had great repercussions, other violent deaths of immigrants were barely visible. “Our movement is previous and will continue. Because this is not the first case and will not be the last, unfortunately.”
