There is no climate justice without racial justice. On July 29, GT Marielle Franco, of the Institute for Climate and Society, promoted the important launch of the series of debates “Black Women and Climate Change,” whose first webinar discussed the subject “Food Security in the Traditional Territories.”
“We, from GT Marielle Franco, believe that the debate should consider inequality and racism, and that it should be capable of producing a vision of the future based on inclusion and equality,” explained Denise Reis, from iCS, at the opening session. Ana Toni, executive director of iCS, says that the issue is fundamental and that climate philanthropy still does not know exactly how to deal with it.
“The name of iCS says it all, Institute for Climate and Society. If we are going to talk about society, we cannot talk about society in Brazil without the issue of the Brazilian black population and racial equity. However, climate philanthropy and climate organizations are a long way from knowing how to deal with this issue and how to include black men and women in the climate debate. It is a very white community inside Brazil and outside Brazil. The international community became more concerned after the murder of George Floyd,” she explains.
Anielle Franco, the sister of Marielle Franco, took part in the discussion and reinforced the importance of the discussion about food security and the direct relationship with the favelas, where the most affected people live. “There is a revolution going on, and this revolution is feminist and black. Mari was not murdered in vain. We are going to transform this grief into a fight. I hope and want to talk about black women while they are alive,” she said.
The discussion included Ana Santos, social educator and co-founder of the Serra da Misericórdia Integration Center (CEM) – RJ; Karina Penha, biologist, Senior Creation Mobilizer at Instituto NOSSAS; and Maria Aparecida Mendes, who has a master’s degree in Sustainability with Traditional Peoples and Lands from UnB, from the Quilombola Territory of Conceição das Crioulas in the Pernambuco Sertão, led by CONAQ – the National Coordination for the Rural Black Quilombola Communities in Brazil.
“Real food is a right or a privilege?” asks Ana Santos. “Food sovereignty is essential in vulnerable territories. Agroecology and food production transform and provide us with autonomy to think about other ways of living in this territory,” she adds.
It was powerful, beautiful and unmissable. Please watch the debate, here .
