Act organized by the Black Coalition for Rights was able to create 206 Anti-Racism Committees in several cities and suburbs in the state of São Paulo during the first round of the elections

Anti-Racism Committee in the suburb of Itanhaém, south coast of São Paulo. (Photo: Thiago Fernandes)
Last Thursday, October 5, the Black Coalition for Rights published a report for the campaign Quilombos nos Parlamentos, an initiative to promote visibility and the importance of electing black candidates committed to fighting racism in the spheres of power of institutional politics.

Based on data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the note published by the organization stated that 26 representatives were elected on October 2. However, this number of black candidates elected was not an advance in representativeness in the Legislative Branch, since the number of representatives of the black movement remained the same, and representatives with a long history of defending the rights of the black population were not re-elected.

“With the result of the election last Sunday, the Senate in particular became more aligned with Bolsonaro and the policy of killing the black population. We need to prepare for a more violent house (Senate) that is less receptive to the issues faced by this population”

Sheila de Carvalho, articulator for the Black Coalition for Rights and political director of the Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum.
In addition, she highlighted that the political and racial profile of the remaining congressmen and senators indicates a scenario of strong resistance against proposals to advance the rights of the black and indigenous populations, as well as women, in Congress.

The race for state deputy in São Paulo

The Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo (ALESP) will be occupied in 2023 by the collective candidacy Pretas, elected with 106,781 votes. Led by the state deputy Mônica Seixas at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the mandate of black women in the suburbs defines itself as feminist and anti-racist.

In an interview for Desenrola, Seixas stated: “I would like for black women to occupy the Legislative Assembly, and that is why, for this project (Pretas), I invited women from other suburbs such as Osasco, Itapevi, Barueri, Tabõao da Serra and the coast of São Paulo”, said the re-elected congresswoman, who is known for integrating one of the first collective mandates in ALESP in 2018, the Bancada Ativista.

The collective candidacy Pretas is part of the platform Quilombo nos Parlamentos, an initiative by the Black Coalition for Rights to facilitate the access to information about people related to the black movement who are running for positions at the National Congress or at Legislative Assemblies around the country.

In addition to the platform Quilombo nos Parlamentos, black candidates who ran for political positions in the 2022 elections received another important aid in their campaign: the Anti-Racism Committees.

Created by the Black Coalition for Rights to fight racism in the political-partisan context, the committees organized mobilizations on social networks and on the streets to encourage and support mandates who political proposals are to defend the sovereignty of racial causes, particularly the rights of women and the black and poor population of the suburbs.

The Committees cover the entire national territory and were created in 2020, when the pandemic had a greater impact and took more lives within the black and poor population, who could not stay at home to protect themselves – as shown by the images of the transformation in the Cemetery of Jardim São Luís, South Zone of São Paulo, in that year.

The lack of commitment by a portion of the Federal Government regarding black and poor lives made us understand that our duty is to elect candidates committed to the collective, against racism, taking a stance in the houses of parliament so that there is no margin for the genocide of this population”

Aline Barbosa, organized of the Anti-Racism Committee in the city of Embu das Artes, metropolitan region of São Paulo.
Currently, there are 206 Committees spread over the state of São Paulo and based in residences, associations, universities, collectives and other spaces for organized black movement. According to Alice, the methodology for raising awareness consists of word of mouth.

We know that electoral campaigns on TV and party funds are not the same for everyone. The members of the committees are mobilizing so that all candidates and their proposals are heard. This movement happens within families and groups of friends and neighbors through in-person or online meetings, as well as WhatsApp groups, to spread these candidacies”, defends Aline.

Elections and legacy

After the TSE tallied the votes of the 2022 elections for the National Congress and Legislative Assemblies in the country, the Quilombo nos Parlamentos campaign noticed the impact of promoting the culture of the anti-racism vote on social networks and in the suburbs through Anti-Racism Committees.

The candidates whose electoral campaign was promoted by the platform Quilombo nos Parlamentos obtained 4 million votes. Eight federal deputies and eighteen state deputies connected to the black movement were elected. In addition, 97 candidacies currently hold substitute positions in their parties.

The narratives of the anti-racism vote

In the last 60 days, a period that corresponds to the pre-campaigns and official election campaigns, Twitter data showed that one of the main public figures promoting the debate on the anti-racist vote is the profile of Douglas Belchior, a leader of the black movement at Uneafro Brasil and a candidate for federal deputy for the Workers Party (PT), who failed to be elected to the National Congress, reaching 50 thousand votes.

“Vote black” is one of the major messages promoted in publications on Twitter. Belchior and other openly progressive leaders linked to left-wing partisan movements have maintained a narrative on Twitter to make institutional politics more representative, with the active participation of black people committed to the anti-racist fight and to the fight against social and racial inequalities that affect the black and poor population in the Brazilian suburbs.

In the period analyzed, the publications highlighted the presence of the Black Coalition for Rights as a source of information about black candidacies that propose an important debate in the face of the political polarization on social networks: Brazilian democracy needs to be built by black people in institutional politics.

Parties such as PT and PSOL were the most mentioned in more than 4,000 publications, which associated the figure of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the presidential candidate for PT, with the support for the organized black movement in order to change the way of doing politics in spaces of power.

The Digital Democracy Room at FGV ECMI is an initiative to monitor and analyze the public debate on the internet. Currently, it has partnerships to help monitor politics on the networks in Brazil and in Latin America. This content was produced by the partner Desenrola e não me enrola.