Atlantic Archives: Tell us a little about yourself and what you represent.
Alex: I am Alex Alberto Santos de Jesus and I am 29 years old. I was born and raised in Salvador Bahia, Brazil on streets in a part of the city called, the community of Souza Ouzel known as “13th Street” by the locals. In my community is one of the most famous Candomble houses called “Terreiro de Mae Menininha”.
I’m graduating in computer science at the Federal University of Bahia and also I’m currently Director of the Department of Policies for People with Disabilities for the city of Lauro de Freitas, which is a city that borders Salvador.
AA: What is it like for you, to be Black in Brazil?
AASJ: Being Black in Brazil a fight for survival in a racist, sexist and homophobic country. It means living in a country where identifying as Black is very difficult. Because we grow up hating our hair, hating our history. It is a place where things that are related to our race are marginalized. To be Black in Brazil is to fight to escape the terrible social statistical statistics because in Brazil despite being the largest population, Black people are usually in the worst social conditions. We are the largest number but we are denied quality education and this is reflected in us being the smallest number in universities. The smallest number in the sciences, the smallest number in prestigious propositions in private companies and also in the public sectors. Being Black in Brazil means living in a society where privilege is a word that doesn’t apply to us on a daily basis.
On the other hand, Brazil is a pyramid-shaped society. So the Black population is the one that suffers the most. It is the population that has the greater numbers in prisons and violence against young Black people. This is the population where our Black women are the most violated and the group with the least opportunities for social growth. So being black in Brazil is knowing that you need to look to the ancestors for the strength to fight against all discrimination and survive discount in this country who tell us that accepting our Blackness is bad.
AA: In your work, you have met a lot of African Americans. What has that been like? And what do you think prevents Blacks in Brazil and the USA from being more united ??
AASJ: Before my current job, I worked coordinating exchange programs in Brazil I had an opportunity to meet and make friends with many African-Americans. The difference between the relationships we managed to maintain with Black tourists and white tourists from exchange programs was remarkable. Generally, white tourists came to enjoy the country (meaning to enjoy the cultural part- samba, capoeira and also the Brazilian women). But when I connect with the African-Americans, the conversations usually try to understand how the Black population of Brazil and the United States live. It is in this dialogue that we realize that the reality of the Black population in both countries is similar.
I’ve had the opportunity to talk to people from not only the United States but also from England and other European countries and we realize that the reality of the Black population in the world is similar. What that says is the Black institutions in Brazil and exchange groups from North American universities in needed to create institutional relationships. Some of our projects brought the institutions closer to discuss the reality of the Black population, however, most of the time this relationship is configured as “the arrival”- the North Americas come to Brazil to research and study our history and experiences and then return to their country of origin to complete their work. Generally, they don’t return to give feedback or get feedback on the research, or to create sustainable or transversal political projects for the Black population. So the realities are close… yes… but we need to unite more around political projects.
AA: You have an intimate view of Brazilian politics from working in city government but also student organizing. What should African Americans know about the upcoming Brazilian elections?
AASJ: I worked for a few years in the City Hall of Salvador and now I work in the City Hall of Laura de Freitas. Today this City Hall is managed by a woman from the Workers Party (The PT Party) which is a left-wing party. The city of Salvador where I live is managed by a white man, high society and he belongs to the party of the Democrats, a right-wing party in Brazil. I can clearly see the difference between the mayors in the cities where the main issue is how to improve the lives of the people who need it most. The left-wing party tends to listen better to the population and distribute social policies for people. This is a year when the election is more complicated.
We vote for many different positions including president, governors, deputies, congressmen… Brazil has experienced six years of setbacks after Dilma’s impeachment. There were the following two years of Michelle Temer and people forget about it and now we have had to experience four years of [Jair] Bolsonaro, who is really a racist, sexist, homophobic, a man who brought the extreme movement back to Brazil.
Bolsonaro has the support of the elite and big business, but mainly of Evangelical pastors who manage to influence and alienate their followers in such a way that poverty is associated with the lack of faith in God and then we move in the blame from a terrible president who made one of the worst administrations in the country‘s history.
So this support from the evangelical church helped his election and the placement of his henchmen into important government positions. And if we are not careful, the expansion of the evangelical which- which became even richer in Bolsonaro’s government- has a chance of making real action and this is bad.
On the other hand, you have Lula, who was in the history of the country, one of the best presidents. If he’s elected he will have a very difficult task of bringing back the dignity of the poorest and most suffering population, the Black population. We have a lot of problems with Bolsonaro’s government because he removed or denied money to a lot of social programs that Lula will have to reinstitute. Along with institutions for social and cultural programming, he has to find work for people because they don’t have money to survive. If Lula is elected he will have a really difficult task in the country and that’s how it is that’s gonna be a difficult year during the elections. It’s going to be difficult to elect Lula, not only because of the money but without the support of the Evangelical church. These churches occupy the poorest communities and become richer while their devotees become poorer. So, it’s going to be a difficult year.
Part two of the Atlantic Archives interview with Alex Alberto arrives on TheHub.news on Friday.
