A
little bummed that I didn’t get tickets to An Evening with Danny Glover at
Vanderbilt on MLK Day, I got a text from a friend saying she had extra tickets.
(Yay for me!) It was such an eventful night that about halfway through the
interview, I wondered if I should be taking notes. So I scribbled down a few things on the front
of my program that I’ve turned into (hopefully) a three part blog series.
The
first thing that struck me enough to write down was Danny Glover saying that
90% of Brazilians are in poverty and one-half of the country is afro-descendents. That number was so striking; I wondered how
they are able to have a sustainable economy.
Everything I’d learned about Brazil so far was that they are an
immerging developing nation that has made a significant enough splash in the
oil industry to be noticed
as an oil producing country. Yet in
Brazil, a high proportion of people of color—including both Blacks and those of
mixed race—live in the mostly poor
rural northern part of the country where families tend to have large
numbers of children.
From
previous research of the country before my 2011 visit, I’d learned that the
entire education
system of Brazil is mediocre at best.
Even the highest ranked private schools only test at median levels in
comparison with other countries. Because
it is legally difficult to be fired in Brazil, schools are often ill-equipped
with nonchalant teachers and students tend to drop out before fully completing
their secondary education. Black
children, however, tend to drop out earlier than others and are more likely to
work in lower paying occupations.
This
explains the high levels of poverty in the country because, a large portion of their
citizens are subject to these conditions.
It makes me wonder how the country of Brazil plans to fervently combat
racism and discrimination. Because Mr.
Glover spoke of Dr. King’s influence on Latin America in general, I found it
fascinating that in 2010 both Bolivia and Honduras passed anti-racism laws to
aid in the struggle against discrimination and other ethnic intolerances.
Another
fascinating piece of information I picked up from the conversation at
Vanderbilt that night was the Afro Cubans participation in the abolishment
of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela at the helm of Fidel Castro. Castro sent 300,000 Cuban soldiers and 50,000
civilians and doctors to fight in Africa’s liberation wars, bringing
independence not only to Angola and Namibia but also accelerating the end of
apartheid in South Africa. This amazing
feat was done without the assistance of the US and some believe that we
actually supplied possible nuclear assistance to the resistance in South
Africa.
Dr. King along with other American civil rights
leaders helped Ghana
celebrate their independence in 1957.
While there, Dr. King was quoted
in a radio announcement as saying, “This event, the birth of this new nation,
will give impetus to oppressed peoples all over the world. I think it will have
worldwide implications and repercussions--not only for Asia and Africa, but
also for America….It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice.
And it seems to me that this is fit testimony to the fact that eventually the
forces of justice triumph in the universe, and somehow the universe itself is
on the side of freedom and justice. So that this gives new hope to me in the struggle
for freedom.” From this, I understand
that global freedom is relative and in keeping with the theme of the evening, I
implore you to “Do Justice.”