ANIELE FRANCO: African diaspora conference in Americas boosts connections

In the past few days Salvador was the venue for the Conference of the African Diaspora in the Americas, an event organised by the AU and government of Togo, in partnership with the Brazilian federal government and government of the state of Bahia, with the support of the Federal University of Bahia and the Brazil-Africa Institute.

We are the country with the largest black population outside Africa. The act of hosting this conference, which aimed to strengthen African connections worldwide and promote a broad discussion between officials from the state and various civil society groups from the AU and American nations, symbolised the arrival of a new era.

The conference is poised to go down in history as a significant event that will have a lasting impact, like the Durban conference in SA 23 years ago that set the stage for groundbreaking developments in global equality policies for Africans and individuals of African descent.

In my role as Brazil’s racial equality minister, a black woman hailing from the favela, I am a firm believer that recalling and understanding history is crucial in the pursuit of justice. It’s about nurturing a flame that illuminates our present reality and foresees a future in which all individuals are treated with dignity.

At the heart of our ministry lies the commitment to uplift people’s lives, particularly those who are most vulnerable, such as black individuals, inhabitants of quilombola settlements, traditional community members, followers of Afro-Brazilian religions, and gypsy populations.

This was the first time an official meeting of the AU took place outside the African continent. It was a preparatory event for the upcoming ninth Pan-African Congress set to be held in Togo from October 29 to November 2, focusing on the theme “Renewal of Pan-Africanism and Africa's Role in Reforming Multilateral Institutions: Mobilising Resources and Reinventing to Act”.

Racial equality

In Brazil the federal government is encouraging tangible and symbolic transformation that affects how society perceives black individuals, with initiatives such as the creation of the ministry, policies for black youth, allocation of land titles to quilombola groups, combating hunger and poverty, overseeing territorial and environmental aspects, and the addition of a fresh sustainable development goal, SDG 18, focusing on racial equality, to the UN’s 2030 agenda.

Our journey is far from over — there is a lot left to achieve to fulfil our goal. Recognising progress and staying alert are key to ensuring and expanding our accomplishments. The Brazil we should strive to be is one in which racial equality is paramount.

The relevance of our country in this diasporic setting is underscored by the series of policies taken in the past 20 years to promote racial equality. We bring a lot to the table. Through debates, attentive listening and effective articulation, the meeting paved the way for progress in agreements that will bolster our economic, cultural and social relations with the African continent, the Americas and domestically in Brazil.

In Salvador we had debates on subjects such as Pan-Africanism, which enlightens us on the ideas of struggle, pride and connection. Key discussions revolve around themes such as memory, which holds onto our personal history and that of our predecessors, as essential dialogues to establish our frameworks. How much of our history has been wiped out? The primary aim of this conference was to revive the memory and integrated progress of Africa and its descendants living in the diaspora.

Discuss restitution

In the course of reconstruction we observe how African peoples and nations have been influenced by colonisation, exploitation and the systematic trafficking of individuals; in addition to appropriation of knowledge, technologies and labour by European nations, causing detrimental effects on global south countries. Neoliberalism has led to critical issues of food insecurity and compromised health among the people of Africa and Latin America, further worsened by the planet’s climate crisis, with disproportionately damaging consequences for these populations. The racial equality ministry’s top priorities include the climate plan, with a focus on combating environmental racism and strategic actions outlined in the III National Plan for Food & Nutritional Security.

To acknowledge the split caused by the enslavement of individuals we discuss restitution and reparation. Having human rights protection systems is a positive advancement, such as the global one within the UN and the regional one within the Organisation of American States, to which Brazil formally and legally adheres, which include full reparation mechanisms in their institutions' sentences and recommendations.

Our mission at this significant gathering was to draft a letter containing suggestions to be forwarded to the ninth Pan-African Congress. Contemplating the constructions we have carried out in Brazil, with worldwide effects, I recall our writer Maria Carolina de Jesus: “They said I was lucky, I told them I was bold.” The audaciousness of the Afrodiasporic population has steered us to this moment. We will accept nothing less than plentifulness.

• Franco is Brazilian racial equality minister.