An Evening With Danny Glover: Part 1

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.”