August 11, 2021

06:08

Déborah Arruda – from Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – Racial activist and president of the National Institute Afro Origem (Inaô), Christian Rocha told journalist Andréa Vieira, in the program CENARIUM INTERVIEW, that the black movement has no institutional support in any sphere of public power. The program will be aired this Tuesday, 10, at 7pm, on Cenarium TV channel on YouTube.

“The Black movement does not ask for help, it asks for respect. Respect is constitutional and when it is not practiced, then there is a crime, an omission on the part of the State to promote this equality, nonexistent until then. The black community has no support in the parliament, in the government”, he highlighted.

The leader told that he felt racism in his skin during his adolescence, but he didn’t let it shake him. He met one of the greatest figures of the black social movement in the Amazon, Nestor Nascimento, and started to understand and integrate the cause.

“I have already been barred from supermarkets, when I was 15 or 16 years old, I was a reason for jokes at school, but I never put my head down or complained about it. I said ‘you know what, I’m going to fight’, and that’s when I saw Nestor Nascimento walking around downtown, that black guy wearing a white jacket. But until then I hadn’t approached him. I spent my childhood and adolescence in Praça 14, so that’s when they started talking about Nestor”, he said, touched.

For Christian, public health is a major point of discussion, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. “Health is primary in the life of any human being. There is a Law Project in the Parliament that deals with the black population in its equity. When we talk about equity, we are not talking about equality, there is a difference. So, the blacks as they were mostly victims of Covid, this project deals with equity, where the black doesn’t have the space to be attended in a dignified way”, he told.

Union of movements

A little over a week ago, social movements of the cause united in a historical action and manifested against the change of name of the Nestor Nascimento Square, in the Praça 14 neighborhood, to Oscarino Peteleco, famous ventriloquist of the State. The repercussion was so great that councilman Davi Reis (Avante) proposed a Law Project (PL) to guarantee that the square would keep the name of Nestor, an important black leader in Amazonas.

“It is important that we see that they are different fields when we try to compare the artist to the leader Nestor Nascimento. At no moment we wanted to discredit the artist. But it is important to emphasize and be realistic that: while one fought for equality in our state, in Brazil, and around the world, the other brought joy, however, today, he would be framed in a recreational racism”, he explained.

Christian said that before Nestor passed away, he handed him a folder with all his documents, as if he was passing on his legacy. For him, the moment was remarkable and meant a lot in his life.

“Before Nestor passed away he took a folder he had and passed it to me. Nestor had suffered a stroke and no longer spoke very well, and had difficulty in moving around, but even so, with his right arm, he gave me the folder with all his documents. With this gesture I felt so privileged because there are many people with greater knowledge than mine, and very good leaders. But what Nestor did with me was very magical,” he said.