National assembly brings together over 350 quilombola women

“After a black woman falls, the whole quilombo rises with her.” The sentence, chanted by hundreds of women, marked the beginning of the 2nd National Meeting of Quilombola Women in the Federal District on Wednesday (Jun. 14). With the theme “Resist to Exist,” the assembly is organized by CONAQ, an association that coordinates rural communities known as quilombos, originally founded by black people fleeing slavery. The first edition of the gathering took place in 2015 and focused on “Quilombola Women as Protagonists.”

About 350 quilombola leaders from across 24 states and Latin American countries will be gathered until Sunday (18) to discuss alongside federal officials public policies key to improving the quality of life of quilombola women as well as to address racial, social, and gender inequalities. First among the demands made on the first day was land ownership.

Action

Since the opening of the event, ministers and other government authorities listened to the women’s demands for rights. They also listed the work done in the first six months of the Lula administration.

Minister of Agricultural Development and Family Farming Paulo Teixeira announced that all quilombola territories will be granted a certificate attesting the work of family farmers in them. “This will enable us to cover all traditional areas under food purchase program PAA,” he stated.

Paulo Teixeira also said the ministry will help quilombola communities organize into cooperatives and join national school food program PNAE, which provides food to public school students and buys products chiefly from family farming.

The minister also declared that the federal government will allocate a special credit line with lower interest rates to quilombola women farmers under the 2023 Plano Safra. The president is expected to unveil the agricultural policy by the end of the month. The information was confirmed by Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco, who said that meetings are being held with Banco do Brasil and the Ministry of Women with a view to making credit cheaper for quilombola women workers.

Demands

In her speech, activist Givânia Maria demanded better living conditions for urban and rural women living in quilombos. “We can no longer accept the silence about our agendas or claims. We need a firmer position of the government in partnership with states and municipalities so they can implement public policies for quilombola women in a collaborative manner.”

CONAQ representative Sandra Maria da Silva underscored the difficulties in organizing the second assembly over the course of five years. “These will be days of work and construction, but they’ll be worth it in the future. We’re building better paths for our young people and children.”

In her view, this is the time to bring visibility to quilombola struggles for territorial, cultural, ancestral, and development rights. Silva pointed out that most important among the issues is the defense of the ownership of quilombola territories, “with the return of democracy to the country, and our recognition as people with rights.”