Next Monday, July 25, Instituto Santos Dumont (ISD) will host a series of debates and activities in reference to Black, Latin and Caribbean Women's Day, internationally celebrated on the date, which is also celebrated in Brazil, the National Day of Tereza de Benguela and Black Women. The program, which will take place at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences (IIN-ELS), one of the ISD units in Macaíba, will start at 9 am and last until noon. The event will be open to the public, with no need to register in advance. 

During the morning, two rounds of conversation will be promoted. The first will have the theme “Black Women in Power and Good Living”, and will be mediated by the State Coordinator of the Policy for the Promotion of Racial Equality of the State Secretariat for Women, Youth and Racial Equality (SEMJIDH), Giselma Omilê. The debate will be attended by women from the quilombola community of Capoeiras, the largest in Rio Grande do Norte, a partner of the ISD in carrying out education and health projects.

“For me, celebrating this day is very important, as it symbolizes our struggles for acquired rights. We live in a patriarchal society, and this moment is to celebrate the struggles of our ancestors, of the women who came before us”, says Aline Moura, teacher at Escola Municipal Santa Luzia, located in Capoeiras. 

Next, a conversation will be held about the exhibition “Black Essence”, which features photographs of black women from different locations in Rio Grande do Norte. On the occasion, photographers Ana Cláudia Albuquerque, Kaline Lucena and Rodrigo Campos, organizers of the exhibition, will be present, in addition to some of the models portrayed in the paintings, which are available for visitation since the beginning of July at the Espaço de Exposições Nise da Silveira, also located in the IIN-ELS building.

The General Director of the ISD, Reginaldo Freitas Júnior, states that the struggles carried out by black Brazilian women for the construction of a fairer world must be honored and honored by all of society. “Honoring, thanking and embracing each of these women, on the day we celebrate the memory of Queen Tereza of Benguela and all the strength contained in her example, has a very special meaning for us. The ISD works for the collective construction of a citizen society, where sexism, racism and hunger, in its most diverse dimensions, need to be fought in a daily struggle, as fierce as the one to which Tereza dedicated her life. There are many Terezas from Rio Grande do Norte and receiving them to honor their lives and their struggles is very moving. They are the protagonists of this encounter. Our home is their home.” 

Black women in the construction of power and good living

In the year 2022, the theme chosen for “Julho das Pretas”, as the month in which Black, Latin and Caribbean Women’s Day is celebrated, and the National Day of Tereza de Benguela and Black Women is called, was: “Black women in power, building good living”.

The social director of the Associação Quilombola dos Moradores de Capoeiras, Liliane Moura, highlights the importance of debating the historical contribution of black women in social transformations, and the need for spaces to give visibility to themes that cover the overcoming of inequalities of race and gender. 

“Tereza was a quilombola leader, a woman far ahead of her time, who fought for freedom. This year, the 25th of July has the theme “Black women in power building good living”, and we have the visibility of being able to speak and also show how much it is necessary to talk about issues related to overcoming gender and racial inequalities, the importance of fellow quilombolas, indigenous, militants, coming together to try to change the reality in which we live. We can be whoever we want to be, and we are all a little Tereza”, says Liliane. 

Service

What: Black, Latino, and Caribbean Women's Day celebrations

Date: 07/25/2022

Hours: 9am to 12pm

Location: International Institute of Neurosciences Edmond and Lily Safra (IIN-ELS), Avenida Alberto Santos Dumont, 1560, Rural Area of the Municipality of Macaíba/RN.