Marielle Franco in August 2016. Credit: Mídia NINJA/Flickr. [CC-BY-SA-2.0].

Some rights reserved.In Brazil, the federal government’s makeup does not reflect the societal DNA of the population. More than 54% of the country’s population is black, but about 80% of the parliament and 98% of the senate is white. Only two black senators have ever been elected. Women hold only 22% of senior positions in government; just 2.4% of them are black.

At the local level, in the 2016 elections, only 4.6% of elected council members in all of Brazil’s municipalities were women. Of the 51 city council members of Rio de Janeiro, Marielle Franco was one of four black council members.

The only black woman from the favelas on the Rio city council, Franco was a clear exception in this political landscape. She advocated for the rights of the most oppressed Brazilians – and paid the ultimate price. She was assassinated on 14 March 2018. This is why people are mourning and protesting her death around the world.

There are many different “Brazils”

Brazil is one of the 10 most unequal countries in the world. Indeed, there are many different “Brazils”. One of these realities is the favelas, mostly populated by black Brazilians; a reality that is often ignored by national politicians and policies.

Franco was born and raised in the favela Complexo da Maré, in the north of Rio de Janeiro. She started working at age 11 to help support her family. At age 19, while pregnant with a daughter she would then raise on her own, she received a full scholarship to study Social Sciences at PUC-Rio, one of the best private universities in Brazil.

She later earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the prestigious Fluminense Federal University, with a thesis on police violence in the favelas. In it, she acknowledged that for favelados (people who live in favelas) to overcome the vicious cycle of poverty and stigmas imposed on them, they must be twice as good at everything.

Franco represented the struggle to succeed in Brazil when one does not belong to the white middle class. Ambitious and intelligent black women like Franco are not uncommon. But few are able to overcome the stigmas in a society suffering from deeply rooted racism and sexism. Franco, elected as a city councilmember of Rio in 2016, received the fifth largest number of votes.

Franco represented the struggle to suceed in Brazil when one does not belong to the white middle class. 

As a militant and a politician, Franco fought for the empowerment of others who, like her, have few opportunities to break the barriers imposed on the black population of Brazil. She represented a Brazilian reality in which black citizens are deprived of their voice and of public power. She fought for the rights of the black people, the poor, and all who suffer injustices at the hands of a corrupt police state, including police members themselves.

Franco became a symbol of representation and resistance for poor and black Brazilians and bothered the predominantly white system.

In February 2018, the federal government gave the military control of security in Rio – a measure not taken since the dictatorship which ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. This decision has been widely criticised as a political strategy employed by the current conservative government to generate fear and gain votes in the upcoming presidential elections.

Franco was against this intervention and was appointed the rapporteur for a commission monitoring the military’s use of force in the favelas.

She pushed barriers; her work rattled the system every day. This is why Franco was silenced. She was assassinated on 14 March 2018 after speaking at an event called “Young Black Women Who are Changing Power Structures”.

“Marielle is with us, today and always!” Credit: Geraldo Magela/Agência Senado/Flickr. [CC BY 2.0] Some rights reserved.

Franco bothered the system by doing the work a politician is supposed to do: represent and defend their electorate, and ensure that campaign promises are honoured.

Her position threatened the status quo in Brazil with its failed institutions and repressive policies that have only contributed to the exponential growth of homicides. We now have one every 21 minutes, most of which are of poor black people.

Upon her death, Brazilians poured into the streets of cities all over the country and protests have taken place around the world.

In Portugal, there were protests in more than nine cities. The Portuguese Parliament demanded the European Union suspend free trade negotiations with the South American trade bloc Mercosur until the violence ends against human rights defenders in Brazil.
In the US, vigils took place both in New York and in Washington, DC. Cities in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom also saw protests.

She rattled the system, so she was silenced.

In Latin America, a region where most countries still live with the haunting memories of brutal dictatorships, Franco’s death hit close to home.

In Argentina, more than 300 people marched along with the Madres de la Plaza de Marzo, the mothers and grandmothers whose children were disappeared during the military juntas of the 1970s and 1980s.

In Chile, a vigil took place in front of the Brazilian-Chilean cultural centre, joined by anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist and feminist groups. A large crowd took to the Plaza Libertad in Uruguay under the motto: We are all Marielle.

In Honduras, activists connected Franco’s death with that of Berta Cáceres, an indigenous leader and environmentalist who was killed in 2016.

Franco was silenced, but she has become a global icon. Now, the world might be able to start waking up to the complexities of the favelas, the deeply-embedded racism in Brazilian society and impunity towards those who attack and even kill activists for change.
The United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnès Callamard, said the evidence suggests that Franco’s assassination was a targeted political act. This has left some of the groups she represented, and other human rights defenders in Brazil, feeling hopeless and intimidated.

Franco was a beacon of hope to those who suffer the stereotypes imposed by rich white men, who rule a country they do not represent. She could have been our Martin Luther King Jr., if she had had more time. To borrow her words: “how many more will have to die until this war is over?”

Juliana de Moraes Pinheiro is an internationalist passionate about culture, music, recycling and sustainable development. With a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from American University, she identifies as a feminist, a dreamer, and a fighter for human rights. She is a consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank. She tweets @Ju_Moraes. 

Courtesy: Open Democracy
 

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‘MLK’ as he was fondly known, was a true champion of civil rights. He was unable to accept the injustices that were heaped on his fellow blacks. He was convinced that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." He left no stone unturned to be visible and vocal in his quest for a more just and equitable society. He emphatically stated that “our lives begin to end the day we become SILENT about things that matter”. He reminded those who were afraid to take a stand that, "in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." 

MLK was never afraid of the ‘powers’ and ‘vested’ interests that controlled the destinies of his people. His was a prophetic and selfless leadership; it also put him at great risk; for him, "the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy;” and further, "there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right." 

He did not spare those who were unable to deal with the truth: “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."  Ultimately, “we must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience." 

 Non-violence was the strategy, which King adopted; he always acknowledged the inspirational role of Mahatma Gandhi in his life. In 1964, when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize he said, “non-violence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method, which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”

There is no denying that MLK was deep in his Christian faith and in the values enshrined in the Gospel. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Faith is taking the first step even when you do not see the whole staircase."

He desired a society in which people were able to trust one another, "People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other."  
He also wished for a society, which is founded on mercy: "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." 

A society in which we can truly be of service to one another, "everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You do not have to have a college degree to serve. You do not have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." 

 Martin Luther King had a dream, which he shared with all, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. I have a dream a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character; that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
In our world today, we experience an upsurge of xenophobia and jingoism; of racism and casteism; of discrimination and divisiveness; of hate and violence. In several countries today, we have rulers who have institutionalised and mainstreamed attitudes and practices that go against cherished human values and even the most basic of civil behaviour.

MLK challenges every one of us today to have the courage to realise his dream and for what he epitomised in his lifetime.

(Fr. Cedric Prakash sj)

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