Ana Flávia Magalhães was sworn in this Friday (17) as general director of the National Archive. The ceremony took place at the Palácio da Fazenda, in Rio de Janeiro. In the speech, the historian and journalist, the first black woman to direct the institution, said that she will prioritize the promotion of diversity of race, gender and sexual orientation in projects to promote and value the collection. She said that the support of different sectors of society was decisive for her to accept the invitation to the post. “I confess that I looked for support to refuse, but I didn’t have it. Instead, I heard from different people who are references to me – black, indigenous, cis and transgender women and men, people with different sexual orientations and regional origins, white people with anti-racist and anti-sexist commitment – that: ‘this is a space that it is strategic and we created conditions for our arrival there. We will be with you as always’”. The general director reinforced that it is necessary to amplify the records and memories of the groups that, for a long time, were hidden from the general public. “We are committed to working hard so that the institutional mission of the National Archives is understood as essential for the preservation of a very valuable national heritage: our singular memory, but mobilized in the plural. We will be at the service of promoting citizenship and human rights”. Ana Flávia Magalhães is a native of Planaltina, administrative region of the Federal District. She holds a PhD in History from Unicamp and a Master’s from the University of Brasília (UnB), where she has been working as an adjunct professor since 2018. She also holds a degree in Journalism and is a member of the Black Historians and Black Historians Network. The main research themes are the political-cultural production of black thinkers, black press and racial struggle. Ana Flávia Magalhães during the inauguration ceremony as general director of the National Archives, at the Palace of Justice, in the center of the capital of Rio de Janeiro – Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil The Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services, Esther Dweck, participated virtually in the event. The National Archive became subordinate to the folder this year, with the status of secretariat. Dweck said that the focus of the new management is to improve the protection of the document collection and that she trusts the new board to assume this responsibility. “Bringing Ana Flávia Magalhães to the direction of the National Archive means bringing courage, determination and respect to the preservation of these memories. It also means promoting heritage education, cultural history and the memory of the Brazilian population so that we can face the past and violence together”. The Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, also participated in the inauguration and highlighted the importance of more and more positions of power in the federal government being occupied by black women. “Every time I stop to think about how much we are defending memory, I am reminded of how our bodies are considered disposable organs and, many times, we are left aside. We have been fighting hard to reframe the memory of the black people for a long time. So, me being at the head of the Ministry of Racial Equality, Ana Flávia being in this place, we did not arrive alone and we are not going to leave here alone, we arrived with a lot of responsibility”, said Minister Anielle Franco. Philosopher Sueli Carneiro, executive coordinator of Geledés, a Brazilian political organization of black women, said she is confident that the new direction of the National Archive will be able to place socially oppressed groups in a more prominent position. “Ana Flávia’s ability to listen, added to her professional, academic and activist experience, will be fundamental for the document management of the National Archive to be valued and expanded, without giving up the institution’s responsibility in this phase of public investment in memory as a foundation of the reconstruction of the country”. Sueli added that she “hopes to witness a National Archive that is democratic, open, plural and active in confronting racism, gender inequalities, coloniality and epistemicide. [ocultação de construções culturais e sociais]”.
Agência Brasil
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