O Black conscience day happens in a week, on November 20th. This date was chosen because it is attributed to death of Zumbi dos Palmares, icon of Brazilian quilombola resistance.
Quilombos were concentrations of people who, for the most part, escaped from slave quarters and started a new life. upon gaining freedom. This was one of the forms of resistance that black people practiced against the slave regime.
Despite resistance and the Golden Law, achieved in 1888, the black Brazilian people still find the need to impose themselves against the legacies of the slavery system, which was in force for more than 300 years.
Today, there are black people everywhere in society; this is one of the reasons whysee different points of view on Black Consciousness. To understand these manifestations, we carried out a series of interviews with black people who occupy different positions in society.
Our first conversation was with the professor of Law at the University of Brasília (UnB) Benedito Cerezzo, see how it went:
The importance of Black Awareness Day
First we asked the teacher about the importance of Black Awareness Day, he responded that the relevance of the date is demonstrated in the name itself, that is, it is a date to make people aware of the issue of blackness.
The issue involving black people in the world, especially in Brazil, so that this brutal inequality and the crimes that are committed, mainly related to racial prejudice, can be addressed.
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The history of black people in Brazil
When we asked how Benedito feels when looking at the history of black people in Brazil, he said it is very painful. She recalls the fact that Brazil was the last country to put an end to slavery, and highlights that this It didn't happen because of conscience, but because of political pressure.
Another reason for the feeling of pain felt by the teacher is the lack of a feeling of equality. At this point, he mentions the senators who voted against the quota policy:
Recently, three senators voted to deny the issue of racial quotas on the grounds that it would create apartheid in relation to white people who did not have financial conditions, that is, a lack of knowledge, a lack of sensitivity and, in some, evil
He says it is painful to see that, even after centuries of the abolition of slavery, is a half-assed abolition. Then, he quotes Montaigne, who says:
It is not enough for the weak to lift them up, it is necessary to keep them standing
Demands of the black population in Brazil
We also asked the teacher, from his point of view, What are the most urgent changes for the black population in Brazil? He responded that black people need to be seen in Brazil and that it is necessary to naturalize the idea that black people can belong to places of power, he exemplifies:
If I start to see, in the Federal Supreme Court, black people, if I start to see in the board of companies, black people, if I start to see in bank managers, black people, if I start to see in universities, black people, this makes the visibility and acceptability of black people something Natural
He says the way to Fighting prejudice means treating black people as equals.
Advice for Young Black People
We asked the teacher to give some advice for young black men and women who want to follow a path like his and become academics and university professors.
He said that everyone has their own story and that there is no magic formula. But at the same time, he said that there is no way not to say that You have to fight, you have to face and always expose the situations. He stated:
We black people, we will always be subject to setbacks and adversities, I will take Vini Júnior as an example. He is an international football star and suffers from racial prejudice
He says it is necessary impose and resist, because there is no acceptability of black people as equals and, consequently, they are tasked with carrying out the most humble jobs. Then, Benedito says that all prejudice comes from ignorance and, consequently, from evil.
What do we black people have to do? We have to fight, we can't forget where we came from and where we can go. We cannot forget that our grandparents, therefore, are very close to us, suffered slavery firsthand and that we were and are subjugated all the time. So, we always have to look for a way to reach a space in this extremely unequal society.
