First Person: 'Born fighting' for rights of Black Brazilians
05 June 2023
For Valdecir Nascimento, 63, the Black movement in Brazil was a “turning point” for her as a young woman, leading her from the revolutionary stilt houses in Alagados, to joining more than 1,000 participants last week at UN Headquarters for the second session
Organized under the theme, Realizing the dream: A UN declaration on the promotion, protection and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent, the Permanent Forum heard from experts and leaders from around the world, including Ms. Nascimento, explaining the challenges they have faced, and the dreams they have for the future.
. . .
“My whole life has been dedicated to the racial struggle. My encounter with the Black movement was a turning point for me. I was 19 or 20 years old when I found the movement.
I went looking for a barber shop to cut all my hair because my straight hair no longer fit me. I could not continue with those aesthetics after what the movement told me.
My whole life is attached to this relationship: the existence of the Black movement, as a subject.
‘Born fighting’
I was born in the stilt houses of Alagados in Bahia during the first stilt house occupation in Latin America. What brought me to the global level was essentially being born in that place, and knowing that you are born fighting.
Her dream is for Black women to “break away from the madness” and “have the power and possibility to decide”.
More:
https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2023/06/81707/first-person-born-fighting-rights-black-brazilians