CLACSO in the Caminhos Amefricanos program

From August 24 to September 7, the event takes place in Peru. V American Ways Seminar, within the framework of the South-South Exchange Program Caminhos Africanos – Editions Peru, Angola and Dominican Republic, driven in collaboration with the Ministry of Racial Equality (MIR) of Brazil; The National University of San Marcoss, headquartered in Lima, capital of the Republic of Peru; the Agostinho Neto University, headquartered in Luanda, the capital of the Republic of Angola; and the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) Dominican Republic, based in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

The objective of the meeting is to stimulate and promote the socialization of knowledge, experiences and public policies that contribute to combating and overcoming racism in Brazil and in African History and Culture and the African Diaspora, with special emphasis on Education on Ethnic-Racial Relations, enabling the implementation of short-term international exchange actions.

The seminar opened with a speech by Tiago Santana, Secretary of Affirmative Action Policies, Combat and Overcoming Racism of the Ministry of Racial Equality of Brazil, who presented the progress in public policies to combat racism, one of the most prominent hallmarks of the minister's administration Anielle Franco in the government of the president Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaAlong with him, the following participated Kátia Regis, general coordinator of Racial Justice and Combating Racism at the Ministry of Racial Equality and professor at the Federal University of Maranhão; Cidinalva Câmara, also a professor at the Federal University of Maranhão and general coordinator of the implementation of Caminhos Amefricanos; and Maria de Fátima Ferreira Pinto, national manager of Afro-entrepreneurship of the Brazilian Service for Support to Micro and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE).

On behalf of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) The political scientist and Afro-Argentine activist was present Federico Pita, coordinator of the CLACSO Working Group “Civilizational crisis, reconfigurations of racism, Afro-Latin American social movements”.

In the words of the secretary Tiago Santana, “The partnership with CLACSO strengthens dialogue with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and expands the dialogues for the development of anti-racist educational proposals during exchanges”Along the same lines, the executive director of CLACSO, Pablo Vommaro, stressed that “The alliance with the Ministry of Racial Equality, the Ministry of Education, CAPES, and SEBRAE is a strategic commitment to building a much more equitable and anti-racist CLACSO, one that strengthens South-South cooperation. CLACSO’s research and training departments are fully available to participate in these projects.”.

Thus, CLACSO and the MIR advance in a strategic alliance for racial justicewith the prospect of expanding joint actions in areas such as social technologies and scientific sovereignty of the Global South, always with the aim of contributing to the construction of a more just, equal and anti-racist world.

El African American Pathways Program It was established by Interministerial Decree No. 233, dated July 31, 2023, as an initiative of the Ministry of Racial Equality in conjunction with the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), and SEBRAE. Its objective is to contribute to the fight against racism, the promotion of racial equality, and the decolonization of curricula through short-term international exchanges in African, Latin American, and Caribbean countries, strengthening both initial and continuing teacher training within the framework of Law No. 10.639/2003, which made the study of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture mandatory in Brazil.

Within this framework, 15-day exchanges are held annually between Black and Quilombola students and teachers from Brazil and institutions and social movements in African, Latin American, and Caribbean countries, which also send their representatives to Brazil. In 2024, exchanges took place in Maputo (Mozambique), Bogotá (Colombia), São Luís (Brazil), and Praia (Cape Verde), and further exchanges are planned for 2025 in Lima (Peru), Luanda (Angola), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and São Luís (Brazil). CLACSO's participation in these initiatives strengthens the production and dissemination of Afro-diasporic knowledge for overcoming racism.