Global Affirmative Action Praxis Project (GAAPP)

On Wednesday, we visited the first and only Afro-Brazilian university in the country, Faculdade Zumbi Dos Palmates. Our visited is recounted on the school’s website here. We first met with administrators and then had a chance to meet with a large group of law students at the university.

The university admins seemed quite in tuned to the longevity of the university. They are very focused on achieving independence from the Ministry of Education in the next few years.  In addition, they are committed to the success of the students. They provide supplementary classes for those students who feel they need to pay additional attention to a given subject.  In addition, the university is studying ways to ensure that once their students graduate, they will actually become employed.

Our meeting with the students was great because we saw that for many of them the question of affirmative action and better educational and occupational outcomes are at the forefront of their concerns.  The very first question was how we think affirmative action has functioned in our own institutions.  They were curious about some of the arguments put forth by opponents of affirmative actions. And towards the end of the conversation, we focused more on the question of mobilization.  One gentlemen reflected on the energy of the Civil Rights Moment in the United States in the 1960s and asked how we could recreate that energy here in Brazil. We talked about the nature of blackness in Brazil and the fact that it seems to be negotiable and that indeed many people opted to negotiate.  We noted that the law requiring that schools teach about Afro-Brazilian history was a step. Palmares is a step.  A change in the depictions of blacks in the media would be a step. More politicians that see racial injustice as an issue would be a step.  But ultimately, there must be a push from the people.

While in Salvador, we met with the group, Olodum (http://olodum.uol.com.br/). They are probably most famous in the United States for their performance in the Michael Jackson video, “They Don’t Really Care About Us.”  Olodum is a cultural organization that draws from African traditions, culture, and history in seeking justice.  Traditions like Samba and Kandomble to create an environment where Afro-descendents can identify as black and engage as a political and social energy. 

(Ayanna London, João Jorge, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Lincoln Ellis, Dania Lopez, and Jamelia Morgan at Olodum)

One of the problems is that knowledge about African traditions is not very well known or encouraged.  I think Olodum is right on point in recognizing the empowering nature of this knowledge.  Suppressing that knowledge and miseducation has been a too for oppression for too long. Embracing and drawing from this rich heritage is key.