By EDERGENIO NEGREIROS VIEIRA*
Both here and there, racism acts by shaping social and political relations, showing itself in a structural, organic and functional way.
Latin America is a land of many charms and disappointments. In a way, it is almost a cliché to talk about the natural beauty that the continent presents to us, with waterfalls, mountains, forests, rivers, seas, languages and a rich diversity that captivates everyone. The social formation of this part of the planet is also a special case, marked by a history of struggles and resistance; peoples were formed here, who still fight today for the simple right to exist.
There were battles, wars, processes of struggle and resistance that challenged and challenge countless intellectuals, who sought and seek to create interpretations to try to capture and translate into language which, or rather, which meanings make up the ways of living and existing of the countless “Latin American towns”.
Among these innumerable intellectuals, one that stands out is the historian, anthropologist and psychoanalyst Lélia González, a professor in public and private institutions. Lélia formulated a rich and dense epistemology that sought to articulate race, class and gender long before the popularization of the term intersectionalities.
To understand the importance of Lélia's work, we can refer to the account of another great intellectual, Angela Davis, who during one of her visits to Brazil said: “I feel like I am being chosen to represent black feminism. But because in Brazil you need to look for this reference in the United States. I think I learned more from Lélia González than you will learn from me.”
However, even though she is referenced by intellectuals from other countries, and whose work presents a highly sophisticated interpretation of our history, the Brazilian thinker is still an unknown source for many. Concepts such as pretoguês, double Oedipus, Brazilian cultural neurosis, among others, were/are often restricted to the walls of universities, and at most circulate in groups of social movements, which are inspired by the legacy of this Minas Gerais-Carioca to articulate their struggles.
Have you ever heard of Améfrica Ladina? Formulated by Lélia González in the now classic text “The political-cultural category of Amefricanity” (1988), the concept goes beyond simply referencing the geographical condition of black people in the Americas. On the contrary, Amefricanities refers to the ethnic marker incorporating cultural, social and political dynamics that go against Brazilian racial capitalism and its main technology of domination, racism.
According to González (1988, p. 92-93), “this is a new and creative perspective on the historical-cultural formation of Brazil, which, for reasons of geography and, above all, of the unconscious, is not what is generally claimed: a country whose unconscious formations are exclusively European and white. On the contrary, it is an African America whose Latinness, because it does not exist, had its T replaced by a D so that its name could be assumed in all its letters: Améfrica Ladina (it is no coincidence that the Brazilian cultural neurosis has racism as its symptom par excellence)”.
Lélia González, a committed intellectual, extremely attentive to the challenges imposed by her time, rejected any romantic perspective on the African continent. Drawing on the history of struggle and resistance of Afro-diasporic peoples, she stated that all these potentialities were present in the rebellions, in the organization of tactics and strategies of cultural resistance, as well as in the development of alternative ways for these peoples to organize themselves, in a free, sovereign and independent way, whose materialization can be seen in the quilombos, cimarrones, cumbes, palenques and other forms of resistance and existence that spread throughout the “Amefrican” continent.
Lélia González always spoke of the need to recognize the gigantic work articulated by countless sociocultural technologies that connect us with the other side of the Atlantic, and that constitute us as being what we are: Amefricans.
And all of Lélia Gonzalez's power continues to inspire today, whether social movements or the State's institutions proposing new, old paths to follow. And so it was, with Lélia González as a kind of intellectual godmother, that the Caminhos Amefricanos Program, an initiative of the Ministry of Racial Equality, the Ministry of Education, the Commission for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA) made it possible for 50 basic education teachers in Brazil to undertake a short-term exchange in the city of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, where they were able to meet, experience and exchange knowledge with students, educators, managers, intellectuals and researchers from that country.
The Colombian edition was held in the capital of the Andean country, located in the North of South America, and provided many of us with our first experience beyond the Brazilian borders. Bogotá is an incredible city, with its 2640 meters above sea level, the place is hospitable and inviting for all those who love the rich culture and diversity of Africans. In the Colombian capital, when you climb Monserrate, you can touch the sky, with its incredible altitude of 3152 meters, from up there you have one of the best views of Bogotá. The Basilica Sanctuary of the Lord of Monserrate is a show in itself, as well as a fair of local products, where you can experience a little of the rich diversity of the city.
In cold Bogotá, I was able to witness the passion of Colombians for football. At El Campin, the stadium where the Independente Santa Fe and Milionarios play their games, the atmosphere is reminiscent of the charming Brazilian stadiums of the 1990s.
In the "streets” (streets) of Bogotá, it is possible to buy good books spread by street vendors on carpets, which are always ready to be collected, as at any moment that one could fall “Downpour” (rain). Another interesting aspect is the great abundance of coffees, of the most varied types and specialties. The most common is the “red black”, which you can buy for 1000 Colombian pesos (R$ 1,40 cents), and magical realism was revealed to the senses, in the Santa Fe District, where I was always served by a clerk named Alegria. At the Mint, located in the neighborhood La Candelaria It is possible to learn a little about the history of Colombia, with excellent guides and speaking of currency, the 50.000 peso note features the face of an illustrious Colombian, Gabriel Garcia Marques.
Colombia, like Brazil, is a country of inequality. Despite representing around 10% of the Colombian population, black people are the main victims of violence; for every 10 violent deaths in that country, eight are Afro-Colombians. Both here and there, racism acts to shape social and political relations, manifesting itself in a structural, organic and functional way.
In Colombia, some summaries of racism in the Global South can be inferred: “It is structural, institutional and everyday; it is denied and made invisible in the educational system; it is a phenomenon that is foreign to itself, configuring a problem of the abstract other; it creates stereotypes, harms and denies the idea of subject; it omits history and culture from an Afrocentric perspective; it is epistemological, it operates through the curriculum in an environment of disciplinary control and in the management of conflicts; whiteness is desirable, blackness is inferior; a colonial discourse predominates, which creates a regime of representation and a model of civilization that acts to control subjectivities.”
However, both in Colombia and in Brazil there is resistance, spirit, strength and energy that comes from the streets, from the palenquesTwo roots, by Admiral José Prudencio Padilla, from the poetry of Candelario Obeso; and Manuel Zapata, who teaches us that “The African presence cannot be reduced to a marginal phenomenon in our history. Its fecundity floods all the arteries and nerves of the new American man. "
*Edergênio Negreiros Vieira is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Brasília (UnB).
References
IN SÃO PAULO, Angela Davis calls for the appreciation of black Brazilian feminists. Available at: https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2019/2019/10/em-sp-angela-davis-pede-valorizacao-de-feministas-negrasbrasileiras/.
Gonzalez, Lélia (January–June 1988). The political-cultural category of Amefricanity . Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian weather (92-93): 69-82.
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