Essential Afro-Latino/ Caribbean Current Events
- Thread starter Poitier
- Start date
i may be wrong but i don't think DC metro has a lot of black Latinos/West Indians
16 December 2014 Last updated at 21:07 ET
Anti-government demonstrators fall to the floor as they clash with police in Port-au-Prince
Hundreds of people in Haiti have marched through Port-au-Prince, demanding the resignation of President Michel Martelly.
The protest turned violent as police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres in the streets of the capital.
They are angry at Mr Martelly's reluctance to call legislative and local elections, which were due to have been held in 2011.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, resigned on Sunday following weeks of protests, but the opposition insist that President Martelly should go too.
Earlier US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Haiti to hold elections as soon as possible in order to put an end to the crisis.
"Recognizing the concessions made by all sides to resolve the impasse, the United States urges all parties to reach without delay a definitive agreement on all outstanding issues and to carry out that agreement in good faith," Mr Kerry said.
Devastating earthquake
Mr Martelly was to have called polls in 2011, but they were postponed in a stalemate over electoral law.
Opposition politicians accuse Mr Martelly of wanting to rule by decree and that legislation that would authorise the vote unfairly favours the government.
Mr Martelly (left) has not yet announced a replacement for Mr Lamothe (right)
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere
Mr Martelly has faced calls for his resignation for over two years
The current parliament's mandate expires on 12 January. Unless a new parliament is elected by then, the president will be allowed to rule by decree.
The government argues that opposition politicians are dragging their feet in the hope of extending their time in office without elections.
Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in January 2010.
Much of the capital has been rebuilt, but the country is still struggling to recover from the tragedy.
Mr Kerry said that "too much progress has been made since the earthquake to risk going backwards now".
Mr Martelly, a former pop star, was elected in May 2011 with 68% of the vote and strong support from younger voters.
However, he has faced protests calling for his resignation since 2012.
Anti-government demonstrators fall to the floor as they clash with police in Port-au-Prince
Hundreds of people in Haiti have marched through Port-au-Prince, demanding the resignation of President Michel Martelly.
The protest turned violent as police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres in the streets of the capital.
They are angry at Mr Martelly's reluctance to call legislative and local elections, which were due to have been held in 2011.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, resigned on Sunday following weeks of protests, but the opposition insist that President Martelly should go too.
Earlier US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Haiti to hold elections as soon as possible in order to put an end to the crisis.
"Recognizing the concessions made by all sides to resolve the impasse, the United States urges all parties to reach without delay a definitive agreement on all outstanding issues and to carry out that agreement in good faith," Mr Kerry said.
Devastating earthquake
Mr Martelly was to have called polls in 2011, but they were postponed in a stalemate over electoral law.
Opposition politicians accuse Mr Martelly of wanting to rule by decree and that legislation that would authorise the vote unfairly favours the government.
The current parliament's mandate expires on 12 January. Unless a new parliament is elected by then, the president will be allowed to rule by decree.
The government argues that opposition politicians are dragging their feet in the hope of extending their time in office without elections.
Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in January 2010.
Much of the capital has been rebuilt, but the country is still struggling to recover from the tragedy.
Mr Kerry said that "too much progress has been made since the earthquake to risk going backwards now".
Mr Martelly, a former pop star, was elected in May 2011 with 68% of the vote and strong support from younger voters.
However, he has faced protests calling for his resignation since 2012.
Argentina town bans 'sexist' beauty competitions
Argentine women have a long history of competing in international beauty competitions
A town in Argentina has become the first in the country to ban beauty queen competitions.
The town council of Chivilcoy, in the Buenos Aires region, said the contests were sexist and encouraged violence against women.
It said they encouraged an obsession with physical beauty and illnesses like bulimia and anorexia.
In Latin America the beauty pageant often serves as a springboard for a career in television or entertainment.
A number of Latin America's television personalities have won major beauty competitions and with it, celebrity status and lucrative careers.
The council said that from now on Chivilcoy's festivities and anniversaries would be celebrated by recognising the achievements of young people.
They said the contests will be replaced with carnival mask competitions and prizes for volunteering.
Correspondents say a debate has been emerging for some time in Argentina about the validity of beauty competitions.
Mariano Anton of Argentina's anti-discrimination watchdog, the National Institute against Discrimination and Xenophobia, has called for the scrapping of beauty competitions in schools to prevent attacks on participants, Clarin newspaper reports.
He said his organisation had seen a large number of cases of violence against young participants in various provinces because "they were too beautiful".
Argentine women have a long history of competing in international beauty competitions
A town in Argentina has become the first in the country to ban beauty queen competitions.
The town council of Chivilcoy, in the Buenos Aires region, said the contests were sexist and encouraged violence against women.
It said they encouraged an obsession with physical beauty and illnesses like bulimia and anorexia.
In Latin America the beauty pageant often serves as a springboard for a career in television or entertainment.
A number of Latin America's television personalities have won major beauty competitions and with it, celebrity status and lucrative careers.
The council said that from now on Chivilcoy's festivities and anniversaries would be celebrated by recognising the achievements of young people.
They said the contests will be replaced with carnival mask competitions and prizes for volunteering.
Correspondents say a debate has been emerging for some time in Argentina about the validity of beauty competitions.
Mariano Anton of Argentina's anti-discrimination watchdog, the National Institute against Discrimination and Xenophobia, has called for the scrapping of beauty competitions in schools to prevent attacks on participants, Clarin newspaper reports.
He said his organisation had seen a large number of cases of violence against young participants in various provinces because "they were too beautiful".
Ferguson and NY are in Brazil! Inspired by protests in the US, thousands take to the streets in São Paulo to protest police violence against Afro-Brazilian youth
Thursday the 18th, thousands participated in march against police violence in downtown São Paulo
Note from BW of Brazil: This has been a topic of discussion for many weeks in meetings and social forums in activists circles. In the United States, when black men are killed in the streets by police, thousands across the nation take to the streets, whilein Brazil, where police kill far more people, protests are either rare, few and far between and don’t last for very long. But recent protests in the US prompted one writer’s premonition that the situation in the US could spark more racial justice in Brazil. I don’t really see it that way. In the US, recent murders of unarmed blacks have led to consistent injustices, so how and why would this lead to justice in Brazil? What I DO see is the activism influencing black Brazilians, thousands of which took to the streets across the nation in protest back in August. As I pointed out in a previous article, black Brazilians don’t have a long history of widespread activism as was the case among black Americans in the turbulent 1950s, 60s and 70s, and as such, this is one of the principal reasons why collective activism around specifically racial issues has been such a long time coming.
Perfect example. An African-American friend of mine who has been involved with Afro-Brazilian causes for a few years relayed this story to me. In addressing a specific issue in the city of Salvador, which is the capital city of the heavily Afro-Brazilian state of Bahia, she suggested to a well-known black activist and leader that they construct an international coalition of activists and take their demands to the streets in huge numbers. He didn’t agree. “No, no, no…we don’t do that here!” she recalled his reaction being. The 1950s-1970s struggles of the African-Americans as well as African independence movements had a huge influence on Brazil’s Movimento Negro. This is not necessarily saying that following that example is clearly the way to go. If it were, there wouldn’t be such continuous racial inequalities and police brutality that continues to the plague the black community in the US.
As such, we’ll have to wait to see how the situations in Ferguson and New York will affect the Afro-Brazilian community. Hopefully what happened on Thursday is a only sign of things to come!
Military Police, black youth want to breathe
Protestors and victims of police violence wait in front of the Secretariat of Public Security
Inspired by the movement that erupted in the US against police violence, thousands of young black men and women take to the streets in São Paulo, protesting their greatest tormentor, the Military Police
By Igor Carvalho – Photos courtesy of Mídia NINJA
About two thousand people participated in the demonstration. Signs include cases of 17-year old Douglas Rodrigues, Amarildo de Souza, Eric Garner and Mike Brown
Forty-five social movements and organizations called the act “Ferguson é aqui” (Ferguson is here), which alludes to the Michael Brown murder in the city of Ferguson in the US by Darren Wilson, a white cop who will not be tried for the crime. The fight against institutional racism of the police went international and arrived in Brazil, where police lethality is not new nor are street protests against state violence.
Thursday (18), about two thousand people, according to organizers (the PM did not disclose its estimate), marched against police violence. The act, which began at about 5pm in República square downtown, ended at 8:30 in front of the headquarters of the Secretaria de Segurança Pública (SSP or Secretariat of Public Security).
Police violence in São Paulo, victimizes three times more blacks than whites, according to a study by the Department of Sociology at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar).
According to the survey, presented in March this year, from 2009 to 2011, the Military Police (MP) killed 823 people. Of this total, blacks account for 61%. Blacks represent about 32% of the population of São Paulo. Most of the victims were male and were between 20 and 24 years of age. The murders were committed, in 79% of cases examined by the group, by white officers.
On December 4th, Amnesty International presented research that justifies the use of the word “genocide” by the social movements. According to the organization, in 2012, 56,000 people were murdered in Brazil, with 30,000 being young people, of whom 77% are black.
From Ferguson to Sao Paulo, there are similarities in police modus operandi and differences in reaction on the streets. “The mobilization in the US inspires us. The death of Michael Brown is not seen as something normal. The center of capitalism proves that it cannot account for the end of racism. In a parallel with Brazil, the country that kills people, up to what point does death move us?” asks Juninho Jr. of the Círculo Palmarino.
Police violence was the main theme of the act
Although statistics show the black man as the main target of homicides in the country, other types of violence oppress women. “If we look at the history of Brazil, women are the main victims. We suffer psychological, physical, sexual and moral violence, constantly. Violence is everyday,” says Sara Mendes Siqueira, of the Marcha Mundial das Mulheres (World March of Women).
The demonstration, mostly made up of young people, was inspired by protests in the US, after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The executioners of the two murdered young black men passed unscathed by the American Justice, which triggered a series of protests in the country.
Eric Garner, before dying, alerted police who strangled him: “I can’t breathe” (translated as “eu não consigo respirar”, in Portuguese). Recalling the last phrase spoken by him, the Brazilian protesters repeated the gesture that Americans and British have done and laid down on the ground with their hands on their neck, simulating suffocation.
Beatriz, of the Levante Popular da Juventude movement
“We wanted young people to mobilize here, as has happened there [USA]. What happens in the US, it has happened here in Brazil for a long time, too. In Brazil, since the 90s, when we found Hip Hop, we learned to position ourselves against police violence. Now we need to take to the streets,” said Ananda Felisberto, of the Levante Popular da Juventude, which means Popular Uprising of the Youth.
Signs remind victims of police violence
Black men and women, although not young, are still affected by police violence in spaces of struggle. Who affirms this is Jussara Basso, of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto (MTST or Movement of Homeless Workers), which was also incorporated into the manifestation “Ferguson é aqui.” Violence in the periphery. That says a lot about where you live. Whoever is poor in these areas, is a ‘criminal’ for the MP. The rich are in their neighborhoods, protected by their private security, the MP. Slavery is over and we cannot continue to be targets,” she protested.
Gilvan Máximo, of “Nós da Sul” (Us from the South), screamed into the microphone, corroborating Jussara’s accusation and being faced by four police officers guarding the front of the Secretariat of Public Security, insurmountable for the people, physically and politically. “The MP does not ask to come into occupation, it’s in the beatings. There, it plays the role the system gives it, which is to exterminate. The government doesn’t even give us water. Go see if there is a lack of water in Jardins,” said the protester, remembering the recent water crisis faced by the state.
SSP
The protesters remained in front of the SSP for two hours, demanding a meeting with the secretary, Fernando Grella Vieira. It was in vain. No representative of the secretariat camedown to talk to the activists. Again, just as what happens in the suburbs, the only arm of the state that came to the militants was the armed wing. The Tropa de Braço, as well as some MPs agents, oversaw the two thousand black men and women outside the building.
Protesters climb the SSP’s headquarters to protest
In parallel with the protest, in a meeting with the Attorney General of Justice of the State of São Paulo, Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa, guaranteed a promise that representatives of movements will meet with the new secretary of the SSP, Alexandre de Moraes, in the beginning of 2015.
The Attorney General also promised improvements in the external control of illegal police actions as well as studying a policy of reparation to families who have lost a relative to police violence.
Source: Mídia Ninja
Thursday the 18th, thousands participated in march against police violence in downtown São Paulo
Note from BW of Brazil: This has been a topic of discussion for many weeks in meetings and social forums in activists circles. In the United States, when black men are killed in the streets by police, thousands across the nation take to the streets, whilein Brazil, where police kill far more people, protests are either rare, few and far between and don’t last for very long. But recent protests in the US prompted one writer’s premonition that the situation in the US could spark more racial justice in Brazil. I don’t really see it that way. In the US, recent murders of unarmed blacks have led to consistent injustices, so how and why would this lead to justice in Brazil? What I DO see is the activism influencing black Brazilians, thousands of which took to the streets across the nation in protest back in August. As I pointed out in a previous article, black Brazilians don’t have a long history of widespread activism as was the case among black Americans in the turbulent 1950s, 60s and 70s, and as such, this is one of the principal reasons why collective activism around specifically racial issues has been such a long time coming.
Perfect example. An African-American friend of mine who has been involved with Afro-Brazilian causes for a few years relayed this story to me. In addressing a specific issue in the city of Salvador, which is the capital city of the heavily Afro-Brazilian state of Bahia, she suggested to a well-known black activist and leader that they construct an international coalition of activists and take their demands to the streets in huge numbers. He didn’t agree. “No, no, no…we don’t do that here!” she recalled his reaction being. The 1950s-1970s struggles of the African-Americans as well as African independence movements had a huge influence on Brazil’s Movimento Negro. This is not necessarily saying that following that example is clearly the way to go. If it were, there wouldn’t be such continuous racial inequalities and police brutality that continues to the plague the black community in the US.
As such, we’ll have to wait to see how the situations in Ferguson and New York will affect the Afro-Brazilian community. Hopefully what happened on Thursday is a only sign of things to come!
Military Police, black youth want to breathe
Protestors and victims of police violence wait in front of the Secretariat of Public Security
Inspired by the movement that erupted in the US against police violence, thousands of young black men and women take to the streets in São Paulo, protesting their greatest tormentor, the Military Police
By Igor Carvalho – Photos courtesy of Mídia NINJA
About two thousand people participated in the demonstration. Signs include cases of 17-year old Douglas Rodrigues, Amarildo de Souza, Eric Garner and Mike Brown
Forty-five social movements and organizations called the act “Ferguson é aqui” (Ferguson is here), which alludes to the Michael Brown murder in the city of Ferguson in the US by Darren Wilson, a white cop who will not be tried for the crime. The fight against institutional racism of the police went international and arrived in Brazil, where police lethality is not new nor are street protests against state violence.
Thursday (18), about two thousand people, according to organizers (the PM did not disclose its estimate), marched against police violence. The act, which began at about 5pm in República square downtown, ended at 8:30 in front of the headquarters of the Secretaria de Segurança Pública (SSP or Secretariat of Public Security).
Police violence in São Paulo, victimizes three times more blacks than whites, according to a study by the Department of Sociology at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar).
According to the survey, presented in March this year, from 2009 to 2011, the Military Police (MP) killed 823 people. Of this total, blacks account for 61%. Blacks represent about 32% of the population of São Paulo. Most of the victims were male and were between 20 and 24 years of age. The murders were committed, in 79% of cases examined by the group, by white officers.
On December 4th, Amnesty International presented research that justifies the use of the word “genocide” by the social movements. According to the organization, in 2012, 56,000 people were murdered in Brazil, with 30,000 being young people, of whom 77% are black.
From Ferguson to Sao Paulo, there are similarities in police modus operandi and differences in reaction on the streets. “The mobilization in the US inspires us. The death of Michael Brown is not seen as something normal. The center of capitalism proves that it cannot account for the end of racism. In a parallel with Brazil, the country that kills people, up to what point does death move us?” asks Juninho Jr. of the Círculo Palmarino.
Police violence was the main theme of the act
Although statistics show the black man as the main target of homicides in the country, other types of violence oppress women. “If we look at the history of Brazil, women are the main victims. We suffer psychological, physical, sexual and moral violence, constantly. Violence is everyday,” says Sara Mendes Siqueira, of the Marcha Mundial das Mulheres (World March of Women).
The demonstration, mostly made up of young people, was inspired by protests in the US, after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The executioners of the two murdered young black men passed unscathed by the American Justice, which triggered a series of protests in the country.
Eric Garner, before dying, alerted police who strangled him: “I can’t breathe” (translated as “eu não consigo respirar”, in Portuguese). Recalling the last phrase spoken by him, the Brazilian protesters repeated the gesture that Americans and British have done and laid down on the ground with their hands on their neck, simulating suffocation.
Beatriz, of the Levante Popular da Juventude movement
“We wanted young people to mobilize here, as has happened there [USA]. What happens in the US, it has happened here in Brazil for a long time, too. In Brazil, since the 90s, when we found Hip Hop, we learned to position ourselves against police violence. Now we need to take to the streets,” said Ananda Felisberto, of the Levante Popular da Juventude, which means Popular Uprising of the Youth.
Signs remind victims of police violence
Black men and women, although not young, are still affected by police violence in spaces of struggle. Who affirms this is Jussara Basso, of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto (MTST or Movement of Homeless Workers), which was also incorporated into the manifestation “Ferguson é aqui.” Violence in the periphery. That says a lot about where you live. Whoever is poor in these areas, is a ‘criminal’ for the MP. The rich are in their neighborhoods, protected by their private security, the MP. Slavery is over and we cannot continue to be targets,” she protested.
Gilvan Máximo, of “Nós da Sul” (Us from the South), screamed into the microphone, corroborating Jussara’s accusation and being faced by four police officers guarding the front of the Secretariat of Public Security, insurmountable for the people, physically and politically. “The MP does not ask to come into occupation, it’s in the beatings. There, it plays the role the system gives it, which is to exterminate. The government doesn’t even give us water. Go see if there is a lack of water in Jardins,” said the protester, remembering the recent water crisis faced by the state.
SSP
The protesters remained in front of the SSP for two hours, demanding a meeting with the secretary, Fernando Grella Vieira. It was in vain. No representative of the secretariat camedown to talk to the activists. Again, just as what happens in the suburbs, the only arm of the state that came to the militants was the armed wing. The Tropa de Braço, as well as some MPs agents, oversaw the two thousand black men and women outside the building.
Protesters climb the SSP’s headquarters to protest
In parallel with the protest, in a meeting with the Attorney General of Justice of the State of São Paulo, Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa, guaranteed a promise that representatives of movements will meet with the new secretary of the SSP, Alexandre de Moraes, in the beginning of 2015.
The Attorney General also promised improvements in the external control of illegal police actions as well as studying a policy of reparation to families who have lost a relative to police violence.
Source: Mídia Ninja
After being called ‘neguinha’, student is barred in nightclub in São Paulo; at the same time, police refuse to register her as black
Thayla was barred from a club, called “neguinha” and then defined as “brown” by the police
Note from BW of Brazil: Some might look at this post and ask, “OK, so another case of racism in Brazil. What’s the big deal?” Well, the details of this story speaks much to how race can be such a difficult issue to deal with in Brazil. As such, parts of this story would be a good read for non-Brazilians to understand that racial identity in Brazil is not always as simple as saying, “those people are just confused.” Read on and BW of Brazil will chime in on this case later…
After being called ‘neguinha’, student is barred in nightclub in São Paulo
André Caramante
A young woman then had trouble registering the racial offense in two police stations; in one, of the Military Police, she heard: “You are parda (brown). Negra is that one who is born quite dark.”
“This neguinha is not getting in here today!”
This was the racial slur that the student Thayla Elias Alves, 22, claims to have been fired in her direction by a hostess (receptionist) of Villa Mix in the neighborhood of Vila Olímpia, in the southern area of São Paulo and considered one of the most famous nightclubs in the city.
The incident happened around 11:45 on December 5, a Friday, when Thayla, her cousin, Law student Natália Timossi and and Debora de Castro, were denied entry at the Villa Mix. The case is being investigated by Decradi (Delegacia de Repressão aos Crimes Raciais e Delitos de Intolerância or Bureau of Repression for Racial Crimes and Crimes of Intolerance), of the Civil Police of São Paulo (SP).
The student Thayla Alves, 22, was refused entry into the Villa Mix nightclub and believed to have been the target of racial discrimination | Photo: Personal Archive
The allegation of the Villa Mix receptionist team for impeding the entry of the young women was that their IDs didn’t appear on a guest list, but the three have emails in which the prior submission of their names for inclusion on the list is recorded.
According to the young women, when they presented their documents to enter Villa Mix, without even checking the guest list, one of the nightclub hostesses said they were not included in the list of names and the three were removed from the line for entrance by security.
Out of the line, the women presented the email sent with their names to the nightclub to Denis Iugas de Sousa, who identified himself as manager of Villa Mix, but he also impeded access of the three to the club.
“While we were waiting for the definition of our release or not, we saw several people going in without their names being found on that list,” said Thayla.
It was also while they were waiting for the definition of the entry in Villa Mix that the two women who accompanied Thayla heard one of the nightclub hostesses say to a co-worker, “this neguinha is not getting in here today.”
Both involved in the dialogue were white, about 1.70 m (5’8”) tall and thin. One of them, identified as being responsible for the racial offense against Thayla, is loira (blonde). The other is morena (brunette).
Difficulty registering police report
Soon after the racial offensive, Thayla, Natália and Debora decided to go to the 96th DP (precinct) (in Brooklin), 1.2 km (3/4 of a mile) away from Villa Mix and where there was no police chief to register the boletim de ocorrência (BO or police report) on the racial slur.
In the 96th DP, the three young people were sent to the 27th DP (Campo Belo), 2.2 km (1.36 miles) away from the police station in Brooklin. When they reached the second precinct, Thayla, Natália and Debora heard from an investigator of the Civil Police that they should return to the nightclub and, at the Villa Mix door, call the Military Police. That’s what the young women did.
Thayla said it was the police commissioner Eliane Tome F. Lima, on duty at 27th DP, who gave the order in the case that it was not immediately registered and that the three young women would return to Villa Mix to call the MP.
The run around with the MPs
When two MPs arrived at the nightclub, the hostess that barred the three young women from entering Villa Mix telling police she would call the manager, Denis de Sousa. It was this same woman who uttered the phrase attacking Thayla. After 20 minutes at the nightclub door, the MPs knew that the hostess had gone.
Email shows that Thayla Alves and friends sent their names to the Villa Mix list. Young woman was prevented from entering and claims to have been called “neguinha” by nightclub receptionist
In conversation with the MPs, Denis de Sousa said the hostesses were not employees of Villa Mix and, as they were outsourced, he could not provide the names of the professionals who were at the nightclub door that Friday night.
After being given the run around by the hostess and Denis de Sousa, MPs led Thayla, Natália and Debora again to the 27th DP, where a clerk recorded the injúria racial (racial injury/slur) in the BO. Until the completion of the document, the police commissioner Eliane Lima had not had contact with the three young women, according Thayla.
Only when Thayla asked to sign the police report after the arrival of her lawyer, that happened in about ten minutes, is that the police commissioner Eliane Lima decided to talk to the young women to say that she would not need to wait. “They wouldn’t let me read the police report,” Thayla said.
When Thayla’s lawyer arrived at the 27th DP, the police commissioner Eliane Lima was no longer at the station and, according to the clerk, “had left for an endeavor.” Also in the 27th DP, before not being able to sign the police report, Thayla faced another issue involving the color of her skin. Filling out the document about the service she received at the Villa Mix door, a PM wrote that the student was parda (brown). Telling the MP that she is negra (black), Thayla heard him say, “You’re parda. Negra is that one who is born quite dark.”
From the 27th DP, without the police report, the three girls and the lawyer went to the Corregedoria Geral da Polícia Civil (Internal Affairs Division) of the Civil Police, where they filed complaints about the way they were attended at the police station. By then it was after 6am of Saturday morning (6/12).
Thayla ensures that, despite the difficulties with the way the police acted, she will follow through to the end so that the hostess and the Villa Mix nightclub are held responsible for what happened on the night of December 5th.
“I know that my struggle to not to let this racist act go unpunished could contribute to other people not going through the same thing. I felt distressed when I went through it all, but I will not cease from going after the law.”
Racism vs. Racial Injury
Currently, Decradi is attempting to locate and summon the hostess of Villa Mix identified as responsible for the racist comment against Thayla.
The police investigation in Decradi was opened to investigate the crime of racial injury, which is when the discriminatory offense is directed at a person, attacking their honor and their self-esteem in reference to their race, color, ethnicity, religion or origin. In the racial injury, the author can pay bail and respond to the crime free.
Thayla believes that the Villa Mix hostess’s comment was a crime of racism, based on the discriminatory offense directed at a particular group or collective. Thayla believed that she was refused entry into the nightclub because she was black. Racism is inalienable and a non-bailable crime.
Institutional racism
Carmen Dora Freitas de Ferreira, president of the Comissão da Igualdade Racial (Commission for Racial Equality) of OAB –SP (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil/ Order of Lawyers of Brazil) of São Paulo, also believes that the Villa Mix hostess practiced racism.
“By calling the girl neguinha, this receptionist offended the young woman’s race. The police report and the police investigation should investigate the crime of racism. We can no longer tolerate people being excluded because of skin color. This is harmful. It would have been a racial slur if the receptionist had said some offense such as macaca(monkey), preta suja (dirty black) or something as low as that,” explained the lawyer Carmen Ferreira.
Analyzing the MP’s attitude who tended to Thayla’s call at the Villa Mix door when he wanted to describe her as parda and not as negra as in the records of the Military Police, the president of the Commission of Racial Equality of the OAB-SP was direct at finding a new racist act.
“You know what that Military Policeman did against this young woman? He practiced institutional racism. And it is also harmful,” said Carmen Ferreira.
Villa Mix denies racial discrimination
According to the press office of the Villa Mix, “because of the rush of the holiday season,” those responsible for the nightclub could not protest the Decradi investigation about the possible crime of racial injury against Thayla.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Villa Mix reported:
“Villa Mix adopts a policy of only releasing people who are named on the list and really the names of the three girls were not included.”
From what was ascertained, there was no kind of criminal injury on the part of any Villa Mix employee, inclusive of customers being respected and well treated so that they come back to the establishment.
Talking to the hostess, she said she did not commit any kind of racial slur. To the contrary. She treated the customers politely, however, customers were outraged that their names were not on the list and the club was already reaching maximum capacity.”
Secretary of Public Safety is silent
Sought since Wednesday (17/12) for the report to speak out about the problems faced by Thayla in registering the racial offense she suffered with the police, the secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Fernando Grella Vieira, responded to only one of the seven issues sent to the press office.
Grella Vieira did not answer the following questions:
1 – What was the reason that Thayla could not register the BO in the 96th DP? Where was the police authority responsible for the shift of the 96th DP?
2 – For what reason did the police commissioner Eliane Lima order Thayla back to the nightclub where she was offended to call the MP? Is this a standard procedure of the Civil Police of SP?
3 – What is the number of the open preliminary investigation in the Corregedoria Geral da Polícia Civil of SP to investigate the conduct of the police commissioner Eliane Lima? Has the delegada already been heard by the Magistrate? What did she say, if it she had been questioned? I ask, please, that the secretary of Public Security makes possible an interview with the police commissioner.
4 – For what reason did the Military Police who went to the nightclub not direct the receptionist who offended Thayla to the 27th DP?
5 – In case of possible crime of racism or racial insults, what is the guidance that you give to the victims? How does the secretary of Public Security of São Paulo determine that the victims of racism or racial insults act to have their rights preserved?
6 – How many people have been arrested in the act of racism in the state of São Paulo this year?
Through a spokesperson, Grella Vieira only replied to the questioning of the report about how many police reports were recorded for racial insults and racism in 2013 and this year, in the State of São Paulo.
According to a survey of Decradi in 2013, there were 36 police reports for racial slur and another 15 for discrimination/prejudice. This year, from January to September 2nd, there were 38 for racial injury and 16 for discrimination/prejudice.
Grella Vieira did not affirm the total number of cases registered in the State of São Paulo in police stations that are not specialized like Decradi.
Thayla was barred from a club, called “neguinha” and then defined as “brown” by the police
Note from BW of Brazil: Some might look at this post and ask, “OK, so another case of racism in Brazil. What’s the big deal?” Well, the details of this story speaks much to how race can be such a difficult issue to deal with in Brazil. As such, parts of this story would be a good read for non-Brazilians to understand that racial identity in Brazil is not always as simple as saying, “those people are just confused.” Read on and BW of Brazil will chime in on this case later…
After being called ‘neguinha’, student is barred in nightclub in São Paulo
André Caramante
A young woman then had trouble registering the racial offense in two police stations; in one, of the Military Police, she heard: “You are parda (brown). Negra is that one who is born quite dark.”
“This neguinha is not getting in here today!”
This was the racial slur that the student Thayla Elias Alves, 22, claims to have been fired in her direction by a hostess (receptionist) of Villa Mix in the neighborhood of Vila Olímpia, in the southern area of São Paulo and considered one of the most famous nightclubs in the city.
The incident happened around 11:45 on December 5, a Friday, when Thayla, her cousin, Law student Natália Timossi and and Debora de Castro, were denied entry at the Villa Mix. The case is being investigated by Decradi (Delegacia de Repressão aos Crimes Raciais e Delitos de Intolerância or Bureau of Repression for Racial Crimes and Crimes of Intolerance), of the Civil Police of São Paulo (SP).
The student Thayla Alves, 22, was refused entry into the Villa Mix nightclub and believed to have been the target of racial discrimination | Photo: Personal Archive
The allegation of the Villa Mix receptionist team for impeding the entry of the young women was that their IDs didn’t appear on a guest list, but the three have emails in which the prior submission of their names for inclusion on the list is recorded.
According to the young women, when they presented their documents to enter Villa Mix, without even checking the guest list, one of the nightclub hostesses said they were not included in the list of names and the three were removed from the line for entrance by security.
Out of the line, the women presented the email sent with their names to the nightclub to Denis Iugas de Sousa, who identified himself as manager of Villa Mix, but he also impeded access of the three to the club.
“While we were waiting for the definition of our release or not, we saw several people going in without their names being found on that list,” said Thayla.
It was also while they were waiting for the definition of the entry in Villa Mix that the two women who accompanied Thayla heard one of the nightclub hostesses say to a co-worker, “this neguinha is not getting in here today.”
Both involved in the dialogue were white, about 1.70 m (5’8”) tall and thin. One of them, identified as being responsible for the racial offense against Thayla, is loira (blonde). The other is morena (brunette).
Difficulty registering police report
Soon after the racial offensive, Thayla, Natália and Debora decided to go to the 96th DP (precinct) (in Brooklin), 1.2 km (3/4 of a mile) away from Villa Mix and where there was no police chief to register the boletim de ocorrência (BO or police report) on the racial slur.
In the 96th DP, the three young people were sent to the 27th DP (Campo Belo), 2.2 km (1.36 miles) away from the police station in Brooklin. When they reached the second precinct, Thayla, Natália and Debora heard from an investigator of the Civil Police that they should return to the nightclub and, at the Villa Mix door, call the Military Police. That’s what the young women did.
Thayla said it was the police commissioner Eliane Tome F. Lima, on duty at 27th DP, who gave the order in the case that it was not immediately registered and that the three young women would return to Villa Mix to call the MP.
The run around with the MPs
When two MPs arrived at the nightclub, the hostess that barred the three young women from entering Villa Mix telling police she would call the manager, Denis de Sousa. It was this same woman who uttered the phrase attacking Thayla. After 20 minutes at the nightclub door, the MPs knew that the hostess had gone.
Email shows that Thayla Alves and friends sent their names to the Villa Mix list. Young woman was prevented from entering and claims to have been called “neguinha” by nightclub receptionist
In conversation with the MPs, Denis de Sousa said the hostesses were not employees of Villa Mix and, as they were outsourced, he could not provide the names of the professionals who were at the nightclub door that Friday night.
After being given the run around by the hostess and Denis de Sousa, MPs led Thayla, Natália and Debora again to the 27th DP, where a clerk recorded the injúria racial (racial injury/slur) in the BO. Until the completion of the document, the police commissioner Eliane Lima had not had contact with the three young women, according Thayla.
Only when Thayla asked to sign the police report after the arrival of her lawyer, that happened in about ten minutes, is that the police commissioner Eliane Lima decided to talk to the young women to say that she would not need to wait. “They wouldn’t let me read the police report,” Thayla said.
When Thayla’s lawyer arrived at the 27th DP, the police commissioner Eliane Lima was no longer at the station and, according to the clerk, “had left for an endeavor.” Also in the 27th DP, before not being able to sign the police report, Thayla faced another issue involving the color of her skin. Filling out the document about the service she received at the Villa Mix door, a PM wrote that the student was parda (brown). Telling the MP that she is negra (black), Thayla heard him say, “You’re parda. Negra is that one who is born quite dark.”
From the 27th DP, without the police report, the three girls and the lawyer went to the Corregedoria Geral da Polícia Civil (Internal Affairs Division) of the Civil Police, where they filed complaints about the way they were attended at the police station. By then it was after 6am of Saturday morning (6/12).
Thayla ensures that, despite the difficulties with the way the police acted, she will follow through to the end so that the hostess and the Villa Mix nightclub are held responsible for what happened on the night of December 5th.
“I know that my struggle to not to let this racist act go unpunished could contribute to other people not going through the same thing. I felt distressed when I went through it all, but I will not cease from going after the law.”
Racism vs. Racial Injury
Currently, Decradi is attempting to locate and summon the hostess of Villa Mix identified as responsible for the racist comment against Thayla.
The police investigation in Decradi was opened to investigate the crime of racial injury, which is when the discriminatory offense is directed at a person, attacking their honor and their self-esteem in reference to their race, color, ethnicity, religion or origin. In the racial injury, the author can pay bail and respond to the crime free.
Thayla believes that the Villa Mix hostess’s comment was a crime of racism, based on the discriminatory offense directed at a particular group or collective. Thayla believed that she was refused entry into the nightclub because she was black. Racism is inalienable and a non-bailable crime.
Institutional racism
Carmen Dora Freitas de Ferreira, president of the Comissão da Igualdade Racial (Commission for Racial Equality) of OAB –SP (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil/ Order of Lawyers of Brazil) of São Paulo, also believes that the Villa Mix hostess practiced racism.
“By calling the girl neguinha, this receptionist offended the young woman’s race. The police report and the police investigation should investigate the crime of racism. We can no longer tolerate people being excluded because of skin color. This is harmful. It would have been a racial slur if the receptionist had said some offense such as macaca(monkey), preta suja (dirty black) or something as low as that,” explained the lawyer Carmen Ferreira.
Analyzing the MP’s attitude who tended to Thayla’s call at the Villa Mix door when he wanted to describe her as parda and not as negra as in the records of the Military Police, the president of the Commission of Racial Equality of the OAB-SP was direct at finding a new racist act.
“You know what that Military Policeman did against this young woman? He practiced institutional racism. And it is also harmful,” said Carmen Ferreira.
Villa Mix denies racial discrimination
According to the press office of the Villa Mix, “because of the rush of the holiday season,” those responsible for the nightclub could not protest the Decradi investigation about the possible crime of racial injury against Thayla.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Villa Mix reported:
“Villa Mix adopts a policy of only releasing people who are named on the list and really the names of the three girls were not included.”
From what was ascertained, there was no kind of criminal injury on the part of any Villa Mix employee, inclusive of customers being respected and well treated so that they come back to the establishment.
Talking to the hostess, she said she did not commit any kind of racial slur. To the contrary. She treated the customers politely, however, customers were outraged that their names were not on the list and the club was already reaching maximum capacity.”
Secretary of Public Safety is silent
Sought since Wednesday (17/12) for the report to speak out about the problems faced by Thayla in registering the racial offense she suffered with the police, the secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Fernando Grella Vieira, responded to only one of the seven issues sent to the press office.
Grella Vieira did not answer the following questions:
1 – What was the reason that Thayla could not register the BO in the 96th DP? Where was the police authority responsible for the shift of the 96th DP?
2 – For what reason did the police commissioner Eliane Lima order Thayla back to the nightclub where she was offended to call the MP? Is this a standard procedure of the Civil Police of SP?
3 – What is the number of the open preliminary investigation in the Corregedoria Geral da Polícia Civil of SP to investigate the conduct of the police commissioner Eliane Lima? Has the delegada already been heard by the Magistrate? What did she say, if it she had been questioned? I ask, please, that the secretary of Public Security makes possible an interview with the police commissioner.
4 – For what reason did the Military Police who went to the nightclub not direct the receptionist who offended Thayla to the 27th DP?
5 – In case of possible crime of racism or racial insults, what is the guidance that you give to the victims? How does the secretary of Public Security of São Paulo determine that the victims of racism or racial insults act to have their rights preserved?
6 – How many people have been arrested in the act of racism in the state of São Paulo this year?
Through a spokesperson, Grella Vieira only replied to the questioning of the report about how many police reports were recorded for racial insults and racism in 2013 and this year, in the State of São Paulo.
According to a survey of Decradi in 2013, there were 36 police reports for racial slur and another 15 for discrimination/prejudice. This year, from January to September 2nd, there were 38 for racial injury and 16 for discrimination/prejudice.
Grella Vieira did not affirm the total number of cases registered in the State of São Paulo in police stations that are not specialized like Decradi.
Note from BW of Brazil: So let’s take a look at this…What happened in this case, assuming everything is true, is so typical of the racial situation in Brazil! An ongoing debate on this blog has been the whole question of who/what is negro (black), who is pardo (brown) and who is branco (white). It’s a topic that’s been covered in a number of posts on this blog but also a topic in which there will never be complete agreement on. For some, “negro” includes anyone who bears any physical features denoting African ancestry. For others, a “pardo”, meaning basically “brown”, is a person of any combination of racial mixtures of blacks, whites and Indians and a completely separate category from “negro”. For the Movimento Negro (black civil rights organizations), “pretos” (also meaning black, but usually of darker skin) and “pardos” combined represent Brazil’s população negra, meaning black population. But even with these views being defined, there is still much room for debate.
For example….
In a debate about racial classification/identity, what takes precedence? Personal identity or exterior classification? If someone describes another person as “negra”, but another person defines said person as “morena” or “parda”, and the person identifies as “parda”, which term has more value? Of course people can identify in any manner that they wish, but if this person is subjected to the same type of treatment that a person who identifies him/herself as “negra” receives, again, which term holds more weight? What happens if most people see a woman and all agree that she is “parda” but due to her consciousness and/or experience with history, racism and/or black culture, she identifies herself as “negra”? This last example is perhaps what happened in today’s feature.
As we have pointed out, the Movimento Negro’s proclamation of Brazil having the “largest black population outside of Africa” may be true when the preto and pardo populations are combined and add up to more than 100 million people, but in terms of personal identity, the vast majority of Brazil’s pardos don’t in fact identify as negros. Even with pardos being subjected to as much discrimination in terms of everyday treatment and experiences with Brazil’s lethal police as pretos, this doesn’t necessarily correlate to an “identidade negra”, or black identity. On the other hand, as a number of posts have show on this blog, often times when pardos come into a certain level of consciousness, they come to take on a black identity.
Over the years, I’ve read comments from a number of people who accuse the Movimento Negro of “kidnapping” pardos into the black population when they don’t see themselves as negros. But how do these “stop enforcing a black identity on pardos” react when a person who would be classified as “parda” insists on identifying herself as “negra”? As we can see in the story above, although it clearly appears that this woman was discriminated against and even referred to as a “neguinha” (little black girl), when she recognized this discrimination and insisted on defining herself as “negra”, the police refused her this identity. We saw a similar incident happen at a bakery in the city of Belo Horizonte some time back. Although this blog do NOT subscribe to the infamous “one-drop” of black blood rule by any sense, at the same time we recognize that the idea of race is based upon privileges and penalties based upon social understandings connected to “superior” and “inferior” racial groups. In the above story, Thayla was discriminated against because someone defined her as a “neguinha”, but even after experiencing an incident that clearly adheres to racial concepts of the “other”, she was still denied this identity by the police who were supposed to be assisting her.
What we see here is classic Brazil. The same Brazil that wants its black population to disappear. The same Brazil that has used census trickery to avoid being seen as a “black country”. The same Brazil whose favorite insult for its African descendants ismacaco, meaning monkey. The woman in this story, unlike millions of persons who look like her who prefer to identify themselves as “pardos”, defines herself as “negra”. But in a Brazil that wants be as white as possible, even if one wants to be “black”, there is no guarantee that this identity won’t be “blacked out”.
Source: Ponte
For example….
In a debate about racial classification/identity, what takes precedence? Personal identity or exterior classification? If someone describes another person as “negra”, but another person defines said person as “morena” or “parda”, and the person identifies as “parda”, which term has more value? Of course people can identify in any manner that they wish, but if this person is subjected to the same type of treatment that a person who identifies him/herself as “negra” receives, again, which term holds more weight? What happens if most people see a woman and all agree that she is “parda” but due to her consciousness and/or experience with history, racism and/or black culture, she identifies herself as “negra”? This last example is perhaps what happened in today’s feature.
As we have pointed out, the Movimento Negro’s proclamation of Brazil having the “largest black population outside of Africa” may be true when the preto and pardo populations are combined and add up to more than 100 million people, but in terms of personal identity, the vast majority of Brazil’s pardos don’t in fact identify as negros. Even with pardos being subjected to as much discrimination in terms of everyday treatment and experiences with Brazil’s lethal police as pretos, this doesn’t necessarily correlate to an “identidade negra”, or black identity. On the other hand, as a number of posts have show on this blog, often times when pardos come into a certain level of consciousness, they come to take on a black identity.
Over the years, I’ve read comments from a number of people who accuse the Movimento Negro of “kidnapping” pardos into the black population when they don’t see themselves as negros. But how do these “stop enforcing a black identity on pardos” react when a person who would be classified as “parda” insists on identifying herself as “negra”? As we can see in the story above, although it clearly appears that this woman was discriminated against and even referred to as a “neguinha” (little black girl), when she recognized this discrimination and insisted on defining herself as “negra”, the police refused her this identity. We saw a similar incident happen at a bakery in the city of Belo Horizonte some time back. Although this blog do NOT subscribe to the infamous “one-drop” of black blood rule by any sense, at the same time we recognize that the idea of race is based upon privileges and penalties based upon social understandings connected to “superior” and “inferior” racial groups. In the above story, Thayla was discriminated against because someone defined her as a “neguinha”, but even after experiencing an incident that clearly adheres to racial concepts of the “other”, she was still denied this identity by the police who were supposed to be assisting her.
What we see here is classic Brazil. The same Brazil that wants its black population to disappear. The same Brazil that has used census trickery to avoid being seen as a “black country”. The same Brazil whose favorite insult for its African descendants ismacaco, meaning monkey. The woman in this story, unlike millions of persons who look like her who prefer to identify themselves as “pardos”, defines herself as “negra”. But in a Brazil that wants be as white as possible, even if one wants to be “black”, there is no guarantee that this identity won’t be “blacked out”.
Source: Ponte
NATU
Dios Patria y Libertad
These are people from a province called "Samana" in the Dominican Republic, my country.. The population in Samaná is mostly comprised of descendants of african slaves brought from the United States in the 1800's and it's considered the blackest part of DR..
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San Pedro de Macoris is another small town in DR that is composed mostly by black dominicans who are descendants of immigrants from english speaking West Indies islands that were called "cocolos" by the locals at the time, they came to work on the growing sugarcane industry.. Some of them actually speak english and have english surenames, the same applies in Samaná.
Aaaand, the Congos from Villa Mella a neighborhood of the Capital city "Santo Domingo".. These people are authentic dominicans who were in the island before haitians, probably some of the first africans in the whole continent, including North America. They've been here since colonial times.
Unfortunately for Villa Mella, what once was a small pieceful and cultural village, has merged with the growing metropolis of Santo Domingo with the pass of time, and has become another violent and dangerous neighborhood in Santo Domingo.. The culture is dying and most young folks instead of conserving their ancestors cultural practices and exploiting its potential, they're about that drug trade life and dembow, hookah and all that bullshyt.
That's why there are so many people pressuring the government to impulse and re-establish the cultural value of this neighborhood we all love.. It is in our best interest as dominicans to protect this and other dying cultural manifestations throughout the country.
San Pedro de Macoris is another small town in DR that is composed mostly by black dominicans who are descendants of immigrants from english speaking West Indies islands that were called "cocolos" by the locals at the time, they came to work on the growing sugarcane industry.. Some of them actually speak english and have english surenames, the same applies in Samaná.
Aaaand, the Congos from Villa Mella a neighborhood of the Capital city "Santo Domingo".. These people are authentic dominicans who were in the island before haitians, probably some of the first africans in the whole continent, including North America. They've been here since colonial times.
Unfortunately for Villa Mella, what once was a small pieceful and cultural village, has merged with the growing metropolis of Santo Domingo with the pass of time, and has become another violent and dangerous neighborhood in Santo Domingo.. The culture is dying and most young folks instead of conserving their ancestors cultural practices and exploiting its potential, they're about that drug trade life and dembow, hookah and all that bullshyt.
That's why there are so many people pressuring the government to impulse and re-establish the cultural value of this neighborhood we all love.. It is in our best interest as dominicans to protect this and other dying cultural manifestations throughout the country.
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