Events such as the Back2Black Festival, which develops discussions on the culture of the black population, presentations by prominent black artists in music, dance and literature, in addition to celebrating Africa, represent advances in social movements. The conclusion is by historian and professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Flávio Gomes, winner of the 2022 Jabuti Non-Fiction Award. and by Earth. Participating in the debate were the president of the Association of Quilombola Communities of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Acquilerj), Bia Nunes, member of Quilombo Maria Conga de Magé, in Baixada Fluminense; agronomist Fran Paula, researcher of the Working Group on Environment and Agriculture of the National Coordination for the Articulation of Quilombos in Mato Grosso; and the youth director at Acquilerj, Rafa Quilombola. “I really like to think of these events, whatever they are, in their more mediatic, more political, more cultural dimensions, as an advance of social movements. Perhaps 30 or 40 years ago, an event like this was impossible due to society’s inability to understand the importance of an annual event of black voices and of various dimensions in the production of black culture. I always see these events in the perspective of the continued struggle of organized society in relation to the debate on racial inequality, the debate on the forms of cultural production of the black community”, said Flávio Gomes in an interview with Agência Brasil. Although it appeared in 2009, Back2Black has already had international editions. In its 11th edition, Back2Black returned to Armazém da Utopia, on the Olympic Boulevard, in the port region of Rio. The last day of the meeting will be at Parque Madureira, in the north of the city. Flávio Gomes is the author of books such as Quilombola Stories, Atlantic Experiences, Mocambos and Quilombos, A History of the Black Peasantry in Brazil, Blacks and Politics and The Hydra and the Pântanos. In addition to these works, he organized the Dictionary of Slavery and Freedom, in partnership with historian Lilia Schwarcz. The historian highlighted the importance of the conversation wheel having the participation of three black women representing the quilombola communities, who spoke about their own realities and about contemporary racial issues, territories and constitutional rights. “The quilombo is not just a remnant of the past. Quilombo, today, means a national and broad discussion on citizenship in the rural world and of rural people, on income distribution and constitutional rights in territories and on quilombola lands. The theme of the quilombo is not just black. It is the theme of Brazilian society. It is the theme of land, of income distribution. If we want to talk about Brazil, we have to talk about quilombola, if we are talking about quilombola, we are talking about Brazil”, he said. Although he admits that there have been advances in the elaboration of public policies, the professor says there is still a long way to go. “Ironically, I usually say that everything is missing. When I say that everything is missing, it could just be a criticism that nothing has been done. No. A lot has been done, including with social pressure. Now, things are missing, because there are many interests around income distribution and that, in fact, a public policy actually reaches the end, it does not disappear in the mediations of political and partisan logics that involve interests of various sectors economic aspects of Brazilian society”, he highlighted. In Gomes’ assessment, there is also a lack of a broader understanding of all sectors, including governments, of understanding that the quilombola and black situations are not specific issues or only related to quilombola or black people. “This is a question of Brazilian society, the democratization of Brazilian society and the dimensions of the advancement of society”, he said. “We will not have advances if we do not work on this. It is a Brazilian issue, a national issue. I think this has been a problem. Sometimes, such questions are seen as identity issues, of minorities, of just a certain sector of the social movement, when, in fact, they express a desire for deeper transformations in Brazilian society, which is profoundly unequal. Then, I feel very comfortable talking about it as a historian”, said Gomes. The professor also warned of the need to preserve the areas of quilombola communities. ci“The Amazon background is discussed as if the quilombo did not exist. Land is discussed as if the quilombo were just one part of it. Improvements in cities are discussed as if there were no quilombos on the outskirts of cities. So, all the issues, in addition to the obvious and education, because we have quilombola education projects, culture, the formatting of the original cultures of the quilombos, everything goes through the land issue, the presence of these black peasants and this historical dimension of these peasants blacks.” Census Flávio Gomes also commented on the 2022 Census, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which included visits by census takers in quilombola communities. According to the historian, in a country like Brazil, which has more than 50% of black population, it is relevant to have specific data from the quilombos, because, until now, what exists are estimates. “There are around 6,000 quilombola communities throughout Brazil. The number might even be a little higher – I don’t think it’s lower. This means that, in the Brazilian rural agrarian set, in each place, for example, in Rio de Janeiro, we have expressive quilombola communities both in regions on the urban margins and in the Lagos Region. That is, where there is no quilombo? There are quilombos everywhere because there were slaves all over Brazil, there was a tradition of escape or peasant training in these communities. What we have is not the rest of that.” The historian also highlighted the importance of the production of the quilombos. “It is maintaining the transformation of these communities, including production, because these communities are not just asking for rights due to a past debt. Today, they produce food that reaches our tables, which does not come from agribusiness, and the state government policies have to recognize this as a main agenda.” Game Flávio Gomes also spoke about an electronic game in which the user is a “slave owner” and which was available until the early afternoon of Wednesday (24) on the Google Play platform. The player was encouraged to obtain financial gain and hire guards to prevent rebellions. The game also allowed the user to sexually exploit people placed under his power within the virtual world. In addition to showing images of people in chains, including a black man, who appeared covered in shackles in an aesthetic similar to that of a cartoon. On the cover, a historical engraving depicted a white man, in elegant clothes, next to a half-naked enslaved black man. According to the platform itself, until Wednesday morning, the game had been downloaded a thousand times. The name Magnus Games is presented as the creator of this and other games available on Google Play. However, it is not possible to clearly identify the company or person behind the product in social media profiles. The historian said that he did not open the game, but followed the repercussions on the subject and drew attention to the necessary precautions in the face of the effects of practices that seem innocent. Care must be taken because some practices, apparently childish, supposedly educational and for leisure and fun, are reinforcing racial practices, stigmatizing the presence of the black population, which includes kidnapping enslaved Africans, he said. “This game is a matter for the police, because, if there is a direct relationship with its dissemination, the implementation of the type of advertisement, the type of content, which reinforces stigma and prejudice, it is a matter for the police, the Public Ministry, the case of the Ministry of Justice, fundamentally, access who programs this and the promoters”, he emphasized. “The other thing, which has already been done gradually, but may increase, are inclusion policies in the field of education and citizenship, so that we have more material that actually disseminates what the history of the presence of Africans in the country represented. Brazil, slavery, post-emancipation and recent history”, he reported. Quitandinha This Saturday (27), Flávio Gomes will be the presenter and mediator of the Gender, Art and Diaspora seminar, with the participation of historians Iamara Viana and Raquel Barreto, at 5 pm, at the Sesc Quitandinha Cultural Center, in Petrópolis, in the mountainous region of Rio. He is the curator of thought actions in written, literary and oral language, for the exhibition Um Oceano para Lavar as Mãos, which inaugurates the cultural space. The exhibition will be on display until September 17. Formed by works by black artists, the exhibition is an interesting movement, as it gives visibility to artistic production with an ethnic signature and an intervention project and visual identities, says the professor. He informed that the event will have two more seminars: the next one will be on Black Insurgencies, with historians João José Reis and Isadora Mota, and the last one, on black images, will be with historian Lilia Schwarcz. “It is a nucleus of seminars that articulate with the debate on art, performance and diaspora”, he concluded.
Agência Brasil
Folha Nobre - Desde 2013 - ©