Four Years Without Marielle: A Living Legacy in Politics for Black Brazilian Women
“To be a black woman is to resist and survive at every moment.” The phrase was said by Marielle Franco, a woman who would change the course of Brazilian political history, in an interview given to Brasil de Fato as part of a series on women’s struggles, in March 2017. Today, this is the premise of black women in politics. They are the seeds planted by Marielle Franco, born and bred in the anti-racist struggle for human rights, gender equality and democracy in Brazil.
The low representation of black women in political spheres has always been an obstacle. The disparate nature of the occupation of decision-making spaces continues to be fed by social exclusion, rooted in the racism and sexism that structure society. In the 2020 elections, men were 84% of the city councilors elected in Brazil. Among the 16% of women councilors elected, 59% were white women and 34% were black. This means that for every 100 city councilors elected in the country in 2020, only 16 were women and, of these, only five were non-white, even though black women comprise the largest demographic group in the country—28% of the population. These data resulted from a survey conducted by UN Women in partnership with Gênero e Número, from data provided by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Though the percentage of women elected in 2020 was low, it was higher than in the previous election. In 2016, only 13.5% of elected councilors were women. In this context, Marielle Franco, born and raised in the favelas of Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, did not allow herself to be silenced, whether socially or politically. Her path led to the acknowledgement of the importance of the black, favela woman for the strengthening of democracy. State deputy Renata Souza and city councilor Mônica Cunha, who was also founder of Movimento Moleque, are two black women who were shaped by the struggle for rights and who had their lives marked by Marielle Franco and her legacy.
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