I’m seeing way too many horrors happening in and outside my country. There is something wrong, on a basic human and moral level, with people who treat other people as if they’re less than human because of ANY REASON.
I’m saying this because of what happened with Marielle Franco, a black Brazilian woman, politician and feminist who was murdered in 2018 and whose murder was never solved. I’m saying this because of João Pedro, the 14-yo black CHILD who was murdered FOUR DAYS AGO in his own living room in Rio de Janeiro, shot by the police. And I’m saying this because of George Floyd, a black man murdered in broad daylight in Minnesota, also by the police.
I’m saying this because humorists in Brazil think it’s okay to say shit about disabled people.
I’m saying this because the beauty industry has been pushing people into absurd beauty standards.
I’m saying this because I’m ALWAYS in a constant state of fear something bad will happen to me or my queer friends.
I’m saying this because there are STILL young girls who are forced into arranged marriages.
I’m saying this because kids are STILL handed uzis and thrown into wars.
And I’m saying this because the French Revolution in 1789 brought for the first time the notion that says, under the feminist writing of Olympe de Gouges:
“The purpose of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of woman and man; these rights are liberty, property, security, and ESPECIALLY resistance to oppression.”
The political associations we have today, more than TWO HUNDRED years later, are DEFINITELY not giving a shit about that.
We need to resist these oppressions. As writers, we need to speak up about our views and beliefs. As readers, we need to support and spread the word. As humans, we MUST come together and we must SEE, understand, and try our best to be empathic about each other’s pain.
I’m Ligia Nunes and I’m fucking angry.
Still, I have hope…
Djamila Ribeiro, a black, Brazilian masters in Political philosophy, writer, and reporter, taught me that to be a true ally, you have to help those who are suffering in silence by supporting their voices and listening to them. She defends that black people should be the ones explaining their pain, that women should be the ones explaining their problems, and that’s what I’d LOVE to see you doing.
If you already have or if you feel like writing your own story about racism, prejudice, misogyny, etc, please do it, then send me the link. I’ll do my best to read them all and spread the word.
Bessos,
Ligia
LigiaNunes 