MST – Black Futures

Who is the MST? How They Manifest Black Futures

January 31, 2023January 31, 2023 Erica Richardson

By Yuddy Fermin

On October 13, 2022, Cristina Sturmer, an activist, and researcher with Brazil’s Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), Landless Rural Workers Movement participated in Baruch College’s Black Studies Colloquium symposium “Black Futures: Black Ecologies.” The following post is a reflection of what I learned from her talk, from my research on the MST, and how I connected it to our class Afro-Latinidades taught by Dr. Rojo Robles.

Continue reading →

Learning from the MST

January 31, 2023February 23, 2023 Erica Richardson

By Riki Lorenzo Valdez

Movemento Dos Trabalhadores Rurias sem Terra - Brasil

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.

Continue reading →

Breaking Down Harmful Structures Through Ecological Relationships

January 31, 2023January 31, 2023 Erica Richardson

By Alexandra Acevedo

The foundations of Brazilian society are racist, anti-LGBTQ, patriarchal, and capitalistic. The same could be said about all the Americas and the United States. The colonizer European powers built these societal structures in Latin America. As a result, many indigenous and enslaved people (and their descendants) lost their relationship with the land and their ancestral communities. They partially lost the knowledge they held and their culture. Now, these belief systems of racism and so on are embedded in the way we view the world. However, we can repair these relationships through reconnection between people and the land. Through both the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil and Khalil Haywood’s essay “Paraíso Negro” we can see how reconnection to the land is crucial for the Afro-Latinx diaspora. We must unlearn these harmful belief systems and gain new knowledge to deconstruct these systems through reconnection to nature; in doing so, we can become closer to ourselves, our culture, and our families and communities.

Continue reading →