Summary
Brazil is one of the most racially diverse nations in Latin America and perhaps the world. Yet, there are a lot of racial inequalities and other forms of injustice in the country. As a result, groups such as Brazil Landless Workers Movements (MST) have started to fight those inequalities. Cristina Stumers, an activist and researcher, discussed in the “Black Futures, Black Ecologies” symposium what the movement is about, intergenerational struggles, ecological projects they have developed, and their Black Feminist social justice vision. I also learned how their ideas and actions could inspire and empower Afro-Latinxs in the US.
By Riki Lorenzo Valdez
Brazil is one of the most racially diverse nations in Latin America and perhaps the world. Yet, there are a lot of racial inequalities and other forms of injustice in the country. As a result, groups such as Brazil’s Landless Workers Movements (MST) have started to fight those inequalities. Cristina Stumers, an activist and researcher, discussed in the “Black Futures, Black Ecologies” symposium what the movement is about, intergenerational struggles, ecological projects they have developed, and their Black Feminist social justice vision. I also learned how their ideas and actions could inspire and empower Afro-Latinxs in the US.
In her talk, Sturmer gave context to the emergence of the movement. Before the 1930s, Brazil was mainly a rural country, but the lands belonged primarily to a selected few, the oligarchs. Christina Sturmers mentioned that land inequality is still visible in rural and urban areas because the poorer members of society lived in crowded small pieces of land, and those on the upper side of wealth lived in less crowded areas.
Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement is made up of rural workers and all those who want to fight for land reform and against injustice and social inequality in rural areas in Brazil. This organization has officially been fighting for over 38 years. Yet, it has a longer and richer history due to the history of slavery. This movement is tied to the process used to combat slavery. The fugitives from slavery, maroons, created quilombos or isolated lands that protected them from the enslavers. Quilombo inhabitants were fighting injustices by completely separating themselves from the rest of colonial society and occupying lands. The remoteness of their enclaves gave them power over their life by giving them freedom and access to lands, which is similar to what this movement does.
An organization like the MST is crucial because they tie contemporary struggles with Black Brazilian history. This organization has over 450,000 family settlements occupying lands. Those families are organized in 160 cooperatives that address social justice concerns. Furthermore, this organization helped people beyond having access to land. An example is Stumers’ father receiving a college education through the program.
The Landless Workers Movement has developed several ecological projects. These projects are produced in balance concerning the people and the communities. Spaces are built for issues to be debated. In the same manner, solutions are discussed. They also have trained several people to be professional in solving problems in deforestation, variety in food production, and much more through their various training centers.
Deforestation is a big problem in Brazil. You might remember that the Amazon Forest has constantly been burning for years. According to CNN, over 7,555 square kilometers of Amazon Forest were deforested in 2022. To combat the issue of deforestation, the Landless Workers Movement started a 10-year campaign in 2020 to plant over 100 million trees within and outside their area. And they don’t only plant new trees, but they also repair damaged ones through tree nurseries they created. It is simply one of their missions to save trees. The plan also included donating six million kilograms of food to vulnerable locations during the pandemic, and they continue to donate food to vulnerable populations. This amount equals over one million meals. This vulnerable population tends to be located in slums and outskirts of urban cities.
The movement also has a Black Feminist social justice vision through transformational policies. One transformational approach they have applied to their organization is having male and female coordinators in different sectors because they want women to be present in every situation. They also hope to combat the horrific statistics regarding violent acts, such as for every 23 minutes, a black youth is killed in Brazil, according to Sturmer. Similarly, domestic violence affects many women. Even within their movement, domestic violence occurred. She saw an increase in the number of domestic violence during the pandemic. The movement is dealing actively with these violent situations and confronting them from an intersectional perspective.
All these actions could inspire us in the Afro-Latinx community in several ways. We could start by researching organizations doing similar work in the United States and learning about coalition building. MST has been successful because they have united the community they are fighting for. Sometimes we miss that in the Afro-Latinx community in the United States. Some of us seem highly tied to national identity. We would discourage fighting for Afro-diasporic communities because “we are, insert Latin-American nationality, first, or believe we are not just black.” We definitely will need to overcome those obstacles. However, it may be a matter of paying more attention to Afro-Latinx organizers’ efforts here and how we can support them. From there, we could move to create coalition plans for exactly what we want to achieve. I would work on building the wealth of the community because sometimes communities get taken advantage of due to poverty. It is essential to keep money running within the community so it can grow, but in sustainable, ecologically conscious ways. We should invest in businesses owned by members of the community. Yet, we’ll first need to figure out what the wealth of the community is.
In conclusion, I learned about the Landless Workers Movement, intergenerational struggles, their developed ecological projects, and their Black Feminist social justice vision. From them, the Afro-Latinx community in the United States could empower themselves.