Itamaraty Palace Illuminated at night - Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil. Image Credit: iStock.
Anielle Franco Brazil Minister of Racial Equality

Anielle Franco is the Minister of Racial Equality in new Lula government

Soledad Quartucci

Anielle Franco is the Minister of Racial Equality in new Lula government.

Anielle Franco is the Minister of Racial Equality in the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Anielle became an important voice in the fight for the rights of blacks and women, especially after she took over as director of the Institute Marielle Franco, created shortly after the murder of her councilor sister in 2018. Marielle was murdered along with her driver Anderson Gomes, in a political crime that remains unresolved to this day, reports Exame.com

When she accepted the invitation to join the new government’s transition team, Exame describes that Anielle credited those who paved the way:

“It is important to emphasize that I do not join the transition team alone, I arrive with Marielle’s legacy and with the trajectory of black women. This shows that we are much bigger than any hate speech, misinformation and violence. It is also important that we, women and black people, reach all decision-making spaces in a transversal way. We are qualified to be in all ministries and secretariats. Let’s build the Brazil of the future, of hope for all.”

 

Brazilian Women, Powerful Women

 

 

“These powerful people here are working to listen to Brazil and helping in the transition. These are smart women! Arise respect for Brazilian women!” Maria do Rosário, Professor and Federal Deputy – Secretary of Political Formation of the PT/Brazil. She was Minister of Human Rights of Brazil.

 

Upbringing and Influences

Born in 1985 in Complexo da Maré, Anielle started playing volleyball at just eight years old and ended up becoming a professional player, playing for teams like Vasco and Flamengo. For her performance, she won a scholarship to study in the United States, when she was just 16 years old.

With the sports scholarships, Anielle studied at several American schools, such as Navarro College, Louisiana Tech University, North Carolina Central University and Florida A&M University.

“Anielle was influenced from the beginning to think in an anti-racist way and to understand herself more as a black woman. There, she learned about the work of black thinkers such as Angela Davis, Martin Luther King and Malcom X,” analyzes Exam.

Anielle graduated in Journalism from the State University of North Carolina, in the USA, and in English and Literature from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She also completed a master’s degree in ethnic-racial relations at the Federal Center for Technological Education Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET/RJ).

In 2016, Anielle worked in Rio as an English teacher and began to help her older sister, Marielle Franco, who had just been elected councilor for the PSOL/RJ, in the preparation of political speeches. “Marielle’s murder two years later turned Anielle’s life upside down,” describes Exam.

In the same year as the crime, she created the Marielle Franco Institute to continue the political, anti-racist, feminist, pro-LGBTQIA+ and pro-human rights struggle that inspired her sister’s work.

As a leader of the institute, she worked on important initiatives, such as the launch of the Plataforma Antiracista nas Elecções, in July 2020, to support black candidacies in municipal elections.

She also coordinated a survey to map racial and gender political violence in Brazil with the aim of drawing a picture of the political rights of black women in the country, details Exam.

 

 

Inauguration Ceremony, Monday January 9

Founder and former director of the Marielle Franco Institute, educator, journalist and now Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, will participate in the inauguration ceremony next Monday, January 9.

 

 

Public Policy and Affirmative Action

“The ministry will be responsible for public policies aimed at affirmative action, combating racism and for quilombola peoples, terreiro peoples and traditional communities of African origin,” reports Noticia Preta.

Anielle was invited by President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to take over the Ministry of Racial Equality in December.

 

“I accept in the name of the memory of my sister and the more than 115 million black people in Brazil, who are the majority of the population and who need a government that is concerned with the rights to good living, opportunities, security, food, education, employment, culture and dignity.”

Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco

 

Not an Isolated Ministry

Noticia Preta states that Anielle Franco has participated in the inaugurations of other ministries and she has reinforced that this will be the character of the Ministry of Racial Equality.

“It will not be an isolated ministry, we are going to work with all the ministries to recover the setback that has been done in recent years,” said Franco.

 

 

“I arrived in Brasilia and look at the Minister I ran into? Let’s build politics for all, for everyone, with black women! We are rushing to prepare everything for the inauguration and the start of work in January! Who’s coming to the Festival of the Future? 4 days left!” tweeted Franco, posing with Minister of Environment, Marina Silva.

 

Democracy Has a New Face

 

 

“Excellent news for all those who defend a representative and democratic country. Anielle Franco and Silvio Almeida are new government ministers, @aniellefranco will assume Min. of racial equality and @silviolual as Min. of Human Rights. Viva!,” tweeted Macae Evaristo.

 

Ministry of Racial Equality Aims

According to provisional measure MP 1,154/2023, edited on Sunday 1st, by President Lula, the Ministry of Racial Equality is responsible for managing, creating and promoting affirmative action policies and combating and overcoming racism; policies for quilombolas, traditional peoples and communities; policies for the protection and strengthening of people from traditional communities of African origin and terreiro people, in addition to other actions to combat racism, stated Cut.org.

Minister of Racial Equality wants to create bank with resumes of black talent

As part of her agenda, the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco wants to create a bank with CVs of black people to occupy positions in the ministries of the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The idea arose after the Minister of Planning and Management, Simone Tebet (MDB-MS), cited the challenges of bringing black women to the Esplanada dos Ministérios.

 

“I have just participated in the composition of Minister Tebet’s inauguration table and I pointed out that we, black women, have always been at the forefront in building this country with dedication and care, now, being here in public service, serving our people, it will not be different.

When a black woman moves, the entire fabric of society moves with her. We are working hard to ensure that our legitimate occupation is a reality in this government. Let’s go together for justice and reparation everywhere!”

Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco

 

Simone Tebet cited the commitment in ensuring the diversity of her team along with the challenges to do so. Cut.org describes that part of the challenge to bring black Brazilian women to roles in government is that “black women are usually the breadwinners of the family… and, therefore, it is difficult to take them out of their cities….and the salary offered in the ministry is not good enough to encourage the change,” cited Cut.org.

In view of this statement, the Minister of Racial Equality delivered last Thursday, a list of black women identified from the Elas no Budget movement.

“Since last year, the movement has gathered CVs of women from all over the country with performance and specialization in these sectors. The complete list of Elas no Budget includes 216 private sector workers and public servants from the three spheres of government. Of these, 49 are brown and 20 are black,” reports Cut.org.

Elas No Budget, “They in the budget.”

Elas No Budget  is an initiative of women specialists in planning, budgeting and public finance. Collaborative, non-partisan and voluntary, the initiative identifies and publicizes the names and CVs of women with high competence in the area, “in response to the misogynistic stance shown by ALL male candidates for the Presidency of the Republic in the last electoral process that they could not commit to gender parity in top government positions because “the criterion was competence.” Well, they decided to refute the implicit thesis that there are no competent women. There is! And there are many!” reports Centro Feminista de Estudios y Asesorias.

Elas No Budget  was created to challenge the invisibility of women in decision-making processes. They started to make noise and will continue regardless of what is decided to adopt for the country.

The delivery of CVs

The delivery of CVs was announced by Anielle Franco during an interview, after Simone Tebet assumed the Ministry of Planning and Budget, reports Cut.org.

“I already presented her [Simone Tebet] with some ideas… one of them, for example, which was an idea of our ministry, is that we create a bank of people, curricula, the public itself, in connection with transversal ministries, so that we can fill all these vacancies,” said Anielle, who had spoken hours before at Tebet’s inauguration.

“We are part of a historic ministerial composition and, for our work to be great and generate a positive impact on our people, we need a network of people who are present. Write this story with us!” Tweeted Anielle Franco, encouraging Brazilians to sign up.

 

 

“I wish minister Simone Tebet the best of luck, and I’m sure we’ll do reference work together, thinking about the inclusion of women, blacks, blacks, poor people in the public budget,” said Anielle.

Increasing Diversity in the Composition of the Ministries

“I also come up here to say that I have already made myself available to the minister, and we will work together on strategies that increase diversity in the composition of the ministries. And that we will continue working to highlight the talents that the Brazil of the future produces every day,” she added.

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This Monday, tune in to the Live Broadcast of the inauguration of the Ministra da Igualdade Racial do Brasil Anielle Franco

This Monday, the 9th, at 4 pm at the Ministry of Racial Equality!

 And there will be live streaming!

Save the link:

https://bit.ly/aovivoposseaniellefranco

 Subscribe to Ministry of Racial Equality Youtube:

http://youtube.com/@ministerioigualdaderacial channel

 

Soledad Quartucci | Founder

Dr. Soledad Quartucci founded Latina Republic in 2015. The company envisions a world where Latin American countries are seen as partners, and immigrants and refugees don’t have to live in the shadows. Latina Republic is a digital content company that highlights local Latin American perspectives that don’t make it into mainstream news. We feature articles, interviews and reports on conservation efforts, social justice, governance, culture, and tourism. Latina Republic champions equity, diversity, and inclusion, delivering timely communications that prioritize local Latin American voices.

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