|
Radio Internacional Feminista - FIRE
|
|
X Encuentro Feminista Latinoamericano y del Caribe São Paulo, Brasil, Octubre 2005
Sao
Paulo, Brazil, October 10, 2005. Together at last
It was 5 pm and they continued arriving. Spanish, mixed with English, Quechua, Portuguese and other languages, started to reverberate in the mountainous atmosphere of Serra Negra. It was like an ensemble of sounds, cadence and music, slowly weaving a common language to be spoken out loud: feminism. One by one, group by group, country by country, women from all over kept arriving, specially from Latin America and the Caribbean, until they were all together at last. They greeted each other at the 10th Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter. These encounters constitute the space of face to face gathering where women from different organizations and as individuals, debate their concerns and their priorities, analyze their challenges, and craft and create joint strategies of action. On this occasion, women from diverse countries, social movements, sexual orientations, social classes, races, ethnics, ages and experiences will put all their willfulness in rethinking the critical link between Feminism and Democracy. It pretends to be a revitalizing space for dialogue. This interaction will happen around the main subject, Feminism and Democracy, in the sense of a permanent search of alternative proposals to overcome the social and political inequalities at all levels and dimensions. The presence of youth A black poster saying the word “Mulher” (woman in Portuguese) in big capital letters welcomed all. Colorfull banners with names of feminist Brazilian organizations covered the walls, and a chair awaited for each one the the “mulheres” at the auditorum - white, enormous and simple - where the Encounter was officially inaugurated. A projection on the wall forced its way through the pandemonium. The history of the First Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter cut through in the form of light, sound and color. Some of the women present today had been there in 1981 in Colombia when the Encuentros started. Today such gatherings and the women who were there are exactly 24 years older, more mature women with a significant trajectory in the movement. The rest, almost half the participants, are young women, some even younger than the Encuentros themselves. ”These encounters should always have at least 50 percent of young women so
as to reinforce the debates with our vision; in this 10th Encounter we have
surpassed the record. We are almost half of the participants” said Lia
Lopes Almeira, a young Lia lives in Sao Paulo, where she works with 3 social organizations and studies Law. She shows a certain stamina when speaking, re-affirming that she is a feminist with great determination. “In the old times, being so young, you could not say you were a feminist because it was associated with the number of years you had been in the movement, with a certain amount of experience and sometimes even with academic titles. Today, we know that feminism is a way of seeing life and of working to change it, so that all can live in equality, with the same opportunities and rights. This is inclusive and due to the inclusiveness, there are more young feminists, although in this sense many more challenges lie ahead.” Priority: Democracy The issue
of democracy as a main theme stems out of a the common concern that all
regional social movements have. Globalization and the escalation of a
neoliberalism, both of which are dehumanizing, exclusive and mercantilist, on
one hand, and the transitions and peace Passions are agitated. For many, the political and governmental corruption in agreement with the hierarchs of the Catholic Church, have provoked a backslash in the achievements for women regarding legal and social rights. In the face of that, with much wisdom, Sonia Leite, a black woman member of the organizing commission, urged all to debate the theme “with serenity, in order to achieve a new consensus and thus be able to change or reinforce positions and strategies.” The lights started to turn off and the women left in a splat, full of energy, heading to the room where the group of seven black “Amulheradas”, under 25 years, were waiting to start the welcome party. Among Afro-Latin rhythms, they repeated together in choir: “Woman, warrior, defending life. Woman you are a warrior, a wild animal defending life.” Again the language of music made us one. __________________________________________________ For
more information go to www.puntos.org.ni
|
