A CNN he dedicated a good part of his programming this Saturday (20) to the Black Consciousness Day. Throughout the day, interviewees from the CNN On Plural, an initiative of the multiplatform channel to promote diversity and inclusion, they discussed the pillars of the fight for racial equality, the achievements achieved and, mainly, the open questions and the challenges that still have to be faced by all of society.
In the presentation of the CNN On Saturday morning, Luciana Barreto and Jairo Nascimento conducted the first articles of the day on the 133 years that have passed since the Abolition of Slavery and the racial inequality that still persists in the country.
Among those interviewed by CNN were Rachel Maia, founder and CEO of RM Consulting, Mylene Ramos Seidl, attorney and diversity consultant, and Nina Silva, CEO of the Black Money Movement.
A CNN it also aired on TV, on its website and on social networks, the remarkable testimonials about stories of racial resilience with names such as Kwami Alfama (CEO of Tereos Amido & Adoçantes), Arlane Gonçalves (Diversity Consultant), Theo Vander Loo (former CEO of Bayer ), and Edilaine Kosiur (social media analyst).
“I spend 365 days in the CNN Brazil, talking about anti-racist agendas. All year long I denounce structural racism, mistaken arrests, inequalities in the labor market, lack of equity in access to rights, machismo that allies to racism to make victims of black women”, vents Luciana Barreto, recently chosen by UN as one of the 100 most influential black people in the world.
“I think it is important for the channel to mark the date with a more incisive schedule, indicating that it needs to be contributing to a Brazil that does not tolerate racism, with a country that respects its diversity and its citizens”, he highlights.
In the same way, presenter Jairo Nascimento defends wide coverage on Black Consciousness Day, as all indices in the country still point to an unequal society from a racial point of view.
“This is a structural condition of racism that ends up denying basic rights to a large part of the Brazilian population. Showing problems, listening to specialists, debating ideas and bringing solutions is the role of journalism”, says Jairo.
“For me this coverage is very special. I was about to give up on journalism and CNN I feel that my work is respected. Here at the station I can be who I am”, he adds.
In an interview with CNN, Nina Silva, CEO of the Black Money Movement, stated that structural racism also manifests itself in spaces of power, such as large companies. “All these spaces where there is capital influence are not blackened spaces because we are not the owners and owners of the means of production”, he says.
Structural racism is a big problem for Brazil, also according to lawyer Mylene Ramos Seidl, a consultant on diversity and inclusion and a retired labor judge.
“We had more than three centuries of slavery regime, these three centuries had a supposed end 133 years ago and left many marks within our society,” she said in an interview with CNN.
Social media analyst and law student Edilaine Kosiur faced difficulties in the job market as a black woman. she told the CNN this Saturday that the difficulties were only overcome when he found a company with black managers.
“In the company I currently work for, the leader and supervisor for the area for which I applied are black. I knew that my skin tone would not be a disadvantage, that I would not be disadvantaged in the selection process. That brought me security.”
The challenges in the job market were also addressed by the content manager at CNN Brazil, Letícia Vidica.
“It’s been 133 years since the abolition of slavery and the provocative question that we must ask is ‘How many more years will it take to bring Brazilian society to a level playing field?’ asks Letícia Vidica.
“In search of this answer, which we know is quite complex, we adjusted a schedule in the CNN for Black Awareness Day, with the full awareness that it is an important day and that we have all the others to fight inequality. All of us, blacks and whites, have to fight for this equality”, he concludes.
Reference: CNN Brasil
