Brazil's Ongoing Struggle for Political Representation and the Importance of Black Leadership

 

Title: Brazil's Ongoing Struggle for Political Representation and the Importance of Black Leadership

Brazil recently observed Brazilian Black Awareness Day on November 20th, a significant occasion for Black movements and the anti-racism agenda in the country. While symbolic dates like this are essential for sparking discussions, the fight against racism is a daily commitment that extends across various fronts, including political representation.

Structural racism in Brazil continues to perpetuate daily inequalities faced by the Black population, affecting areas such as employment, education, security, and sanitation, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Political representation emerges as a crucial strategy to address power imbalances that underlie many of these disparities.

Recent years have witnessed progress in increasing political participation for Black individuals and women in Brazil. Between the general elections of 2018 and 2022, there was a notable 36.25% increase in Black candidates for the Chamber of Deputies. Elected Black politicians now occupy 26% of elected positions, a significant rise. However, this proportion remains well below the 56% of Brazil's population who identify as Black.

The road ahead remains long and challenging. This year, the Chamber approved two measures—the electoral mini-reform and the Amnesty PEC (Constitutional Amendment Proposal). Unfortunately, these measures will not apply to the 2024 local elections due to lack of progress.

Simultaneously, there is a growing societal movement urging President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to appoint the first Black female judge to the Supreme Federal Court, a decision that is still pending.

To shed light on these critical issues, we interviewed Vanessa Nascimento, president of the Peregum Reference Institute, a Luminate partner organization dedicated to strengthening institutions and supporting capacity-building strategies for Black individuals preparing to run for public office across various political parties. Here's what she had to say:

**Q:** What is the current landscape of political representation for Black individuals in Brazil, and why is it important to increase it?

**Vanessa Nascimento:** Regrettably, political representation in Brazil remains highly inadequate. Currently, in the Federal Chamber, 72% of seats are held by white individuals, according to the Superior Electoral Court. This percentage starkly contrasts with the racial distribution of Brazilian society, highlighting the fragility of our democracy. We use the term 'fragility' because there is no explanation for such disparities in political representation that is not Brazilian racism.

This lack of representation has practical effects, hindering the approval of measures contributing to overcoming racism and the enactment of public policies advancing the living conditions of Black people, women, indigenous people, LGBTQIA+, and other minority populations. Additionally, the absence of diversity in these spaces is a key factor undermining public confidence in Brazilian democratic institutions.

**Q:** What measures should be taken to increase political representation for Black individuals in the country?

**Vanessa Nascimento:** First, it's important to highlight the strides recently made by the Brazilian Black Movement in ensuring fairer conditions for elections. We emphasize the proportional distribution of public campaign funds and the allocation of television and radio time during electoral campaigns for Black candidates. In the 2022 elections, no political party with legislative representation adhered to the regulations. Given this reality, ensuring compliance with the rule by parties and stopping the approval of projects that undermine these established policies is undoubtedly the first step to be taken.

**Q:** Can you explain what the so-called electoral mini-reform is and how it impacts the political representation of women and Black individuals?

**Vanessa Nascimento:** The electoral mini-reform is a legislative initiative currently under consideration in the National Congress, which aims to alter provisions governing elections in Brazil, particularly those related to quotas for women, transparency, and electoral financial accountability. In essence, it goes against demands for democratisation, transparency, and the access of Black individuals and women to the electoral system.

Among its most severe proposals are limiting the scenarios where fraud in female quota fulfillment can occur, which disregards the complexity of the issue. It also aims to change the fulfillment of quotas only for party federations, allowing parties within a coalition, not a federation, to evade compliance with quotas. Prohibiting collective candidacies without broadening the discussion with civil society is another proposal, along with potentially allowing that female funding quotas are used by majoritarian candidacies—not only by the female candidates individually—with the benefit of men running together with women candidates. This last measure risks the creation of token women candidacies as vices solely to secure the use of the electoral fund.

**Q:** What does Peregum do to increase political representation of Black individuals in Brazil? If the mini-reform and the Amnesty PEC are approved, how will it impact your work?

**Vanessa Nascimento:** The Peregum Black Reference Institute contributes to the strengthening of representative leaders of the political agenda of the Brazilian Black movement.

In 2022, we introduced the Leadership Strengthening Project, which aimed to empower and train individuals from Black movements to participate more effectively in the electoral process. Through training and scholarship support before the election period, 19 leaders were directly supported.

The Institute has also prioritized, through its political advocacy strategy, mobilizing alongside other actors from civil society, to prevent the approval of the electoral mini-reform and the Proposed Constitutional Amendment 09 of 2023, the “Amnesty PEC”, which seeks to grant amnesty for political parties that did not comply with racial and gender quotas in the 2022 elections. Additionally, PEC 09 aims to establish the reservation of only 20% of funds for Black candidates, regressing from proportional distribution. Certainly, the approval of the mini-reform and PEC 09 directly impacts efforts to ensure the entry of Black and women candidates into elected positions.

**Q:** What is the importance of having a Black woman on the Supreme Federal Court?

**Vanessa Nascimento:** Despite Black women making up 25.4% of the population, there has never been a Black female judge in the Supreme Federal Court. This fact alone should be enough to justify the immediate appointment of a Black woman to the most critical, non-elective position in the country. It highlights the extent of the gap between Black women and white men, and addressing this gap should be a central focus in the Brazilian anti-racist agenda.

Moreover, while Black individuals are underrepresented in Brazilian courts, they are, on the flip side, the primary victims of the criminal justice system, the war on drugs, and numerous other issues that also fall under the purview of the Judiciary. When these individuals need access to justice, they encounter a predominantly white judiciary, who are often unaware of fundamental issues that befall Black people in Brazil. Thus, it is crucial to advocate for the presence of Black women holding seats on the Supreme Federal Court to champion a vision of the country that strengthens its democracy.

Stay updated on the fight for political representation and the anti-racism agenda by following Mwalimu Mtaalam on social media, exploring his groundbreaking Instructionals on his website, and keeping an eye out for future products, blogs, and posts.

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