The black woman in place of leadership

I heard from the US Ambassador to the UN Security Council, Linda Thomas Greenfield, that I am the first Afro-Brazilian woman she has ever met. “I will tell my Brazilian colleagues: where are your black people?” she said in a relaxed tone. The diplomat is born in Louisiana and is 69 years old. Naturally, this conversation ended in a reflection on how to empower more black women in the world.

There’s no magic formula, and Greenfield emphasizes that getting to the position he’s at “isn’t easy.” A combination of studies and resilience explains the trajectory of the woman who became the American voice and face in the world’s main decision-making arena on security, in times of wars and violence of all kinds, rural and urban.

“I didn’t internalize (racism). That didn’t become my problem. I left it as someone else’s problem, who wanted to be racist. I knew I had a job to do. In every job I’ve had, I’ve always had an attitude of commitment, hard work, and a sense of pride and accomplishment,” he says.

As part of the leadership program that the United States is holding this month with black Brazilian journalists, I am in Iowa, a city with few blacks but home to a museum on African American history.

The interview with Greenfield was online because she is in New York. All American states, to a greater or lesser extent, celebrate from this Friday (17) the arrival of June 19, when the emancipation of blacks is celebrated.

Although the president at the time, Abraham Lincoln, had freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, only two years later, the information advanced and reached all the states.

The end of slavery was confirmed by the last American state that still held slaves, Texas, on June 19. This is the celebrated date.

Thomas-Greenfield’s great-grandmother was born exactly in 1865, still a slave. “If the people of the state of Louisiana had been informed [do fim da escravidão]she could have been born a free person”, says the ambassador about her great-grandmother, who later received freedom and lived to be 100 years old.

“I must be one of your wildest dreams, because your great-granddaughter, just two generations later, became a United Nations ambassador. I don’t think she would have ever imagined that. It was not in my grandparents’ imagination, and certainly not in my parents’ imagination, that this could happen in the United States,” she emphasizes.

The struggle of blacks in the United States for space in public policies, in the job market, in the media, in positions of command is constant. More than being seen, they demand equality.

Follow excerpts from the ambassador’s exclusive interview with CNN:

CNN – Is it correct to say that the population is sensitive to this type of mobilization? The United States celebrates the emancipation of slaves, right? Everyone knows, everyone celebrates, around the world and here in the United States. Does the world know this date?

Linda Thomas-Greenfield “I’m so glad we created this holiday. And I was surprised that the Biden administration was able to pass the date so quickly.

This sends the message to African Americans and people of color across the world that we can remember this horrific event called slavery, which impacted millions of people of African descent who were trafficked across the world, including your own country.

It gives us the opportunity to take a step back, to really look at our history and reflect on our past.

In my case, I thought about the fact that I had a great-grandmother who was born in 1865 into slavery, and if the people of the state of Louisiana had been told [do fim da escravidão]she could have been born a free person.

I don’t know how it affected her and her family’s lives over a hundred years. When I met my great-grandmother, I was little.

She died at one hundred, when I was in eighth grade. And unfortunately, I never had the opportunity or never thought about it, because I was too young to talk to her about her experiences right after slavery in the United States.

But I said a few days ago, in a speech, that I must be one of his wildest dreams, because his great-granddaughter, just two generations later, became a United Nations ambassador. I don’t think she would have ever imagined that.

It was not in my grandparents’ imagination, and certainly not in my parents’ imagination, that this could happen in the United States.

So while the reason behind the “Juneteenth” holiday is a little sad, the fact that the holiday exists is a very, very happy time of celebration and reflection. I am very proud that we have this holiday here in the United States.

What does it take for a black woman to become a leader like you? What difficulties does a woman have in the United States? I’m from Brazil and I know the challenges here. Do you think she can somehow influence other women to become leaders too? And just one more question: how important is this representation, Linda Thomas-Greenfield?

I still can’t believe I’m here. I think it’s important to have people who look like me in leadership roles, so that young people like you, anywhere in the world, know that this is an attainable possibility in their lives. Because in my generation, when I was young, I didn’t see that possibility.

People want to make plans and be like others who look like them.

My family gave me a T-shirt that read, “My US Ambassador to the United Nations looks like me,” with a picture of me. So I hope that my presence will give confidence to young black men and women, and women in particular, people of color and people of color, wherever they are, that it is possible to reach the highest levels.

It was not easy. I won’t say it was easy. Looking back at some of the struggles I’ve had, I don’t know if people of today’s generation would accept the kind of sheer prejudice and lack of respect that my generation had to face in order to achieve something.

But I’ve always stated that the reason I was able to accept it is because I didn’t internalize it. That didn’t become my problem. I left it as someone else’s problem, who wanted to be racist. I knew I had a job to do. In every job I’ve had, I’ve always had an attitude of commitment, hard work and a sense of pride and accomplishment.

If young people have this attitude towards work, they can conquer the world. And I think that for your generation, the world is there to be conquered. There’s nothing you can’t do.

You can go to space. They can be great doctors. They can be great scientists. You can be the best lawyer in the United States, and you can be a UN ambassador, because you can do it.

And I think my image and my presence contributed a little bit to the feeling that anything that can be done, we can do.

In Brazil, I have been a journalist for fifteen years and I did a postgraduate degree in history as well. Now I’m studying Law, to be better in the future.

This is fantastic! And I think you also give the world a sense of all the possibilities that a young black woman can realize. It’s a pleasure to see you, that you’re on CNN, that you’re from Brazil.

And look, you are the first Afro-Brazilian I know. It’s a great honor for me, because now I’m seeing people from Brazil who look like me. I will say to my Brazilian colleagues: “where are your black people?”