Declaration for the Day of the Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Woman

The socioeconomic vulnerability of racialized populations is one of the most serious issues on the social justice agenda. Meanwhile, some subgroups suffer discrimination particularly acutely, such as Afro-descendant women.

International Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women's Day is more a day of struggle and a day to denounce the conditions they face. We fight for recognition of their important presence, leadership, and exemplary conduct in the various processes of collective resistance. The precarious conditions are becoming more apparent with the ongoing health crisis across the globe, and for this reason, rather than simply paying tribute, the CLACSO Working Group on Afro-descendants and Counter-Hegemonic Proposals, the Carioca Network of Black Ethno-educators (Brazil), the Nelson Mandela Chair (Cuba), the Afro-Latin American Studies Collective (Uruguay), the Xangó Group (Argentina), Casa Madiba (Cuba), the AfroStética Project (Cuba), the El Cimarrón Project (Cuba), the Casa de África Museum (Cuba), the Petra Morga Afro-Mexican Museum (Mexico), the Afro-Latin American Women's Gathering – TEMA (Argentina), the Afro-descendant Institute for Study, Research and Development (Costa Rica), the Association of Colombian Afro-descendant Women – AMUAFRO (Colombia), and the Association of Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Researchers – AINALC, are committed to remaining vigilant. And repudiating the acts of violence that reflect the perspective of eliminating Afro-descendant families and leaders in our region. In a period marked by increased domestic violence, social isolation, and a rise in femicide, the escalation of Black feminist mobilizations and resistance worldwide is expanding as part of countless reactions. The beginning of the 21st century presents a different organizational dynamic, and the large gatherings of Black leaders reflect the technologies developed through their strategies of collective Afro-existence. They have adopted paths that have strengthened the debate and opened inspiring avenues. It was Afro-descendant women, with their networks, who presented platforms and proposals for reparations and change. They have influenced the formation of international human rights legislation with the demands they present.

Furthermore, 2020 arrived with a new geopolitical landscape, and the challenges they face during the Covid-19 pandemic are numerous. Afro-descendant women continue to face conditions in which the virus can spread, precisely because of their presence in essential care and service sectors.

In addition to the various blows already recognized, over the last few decades, for Afro-Latinas and Afro-Caribbeans, the pandemic affected, in an unbearable way, the lives of community project managers, the lives of women responsible for family projects, who depend on their creativity and daily reinvention.

The risk scenarios for female leaders, educators, nurses, doctors, heads of households, domestic workers, women in the informal market, and so many others who earn their income in different ways, have expanded with the genocidal perspective of public management in different countries.

Women of African descent are the biggest victims in countries where the
The loss of social rights has expanded, as is the case in Colombia and Brazil. Therefore, we declare our commitment to rescuing the memory of these women workers' resilience and to their socio-political agenda, in the face of strategies that perpetuate exclusion, invisibility, and the exploitation of their labor. We remain in constant dialogue, unlearning and relearning within the networks involved in the processes of collective insurgency that demand, among many other things, greater representation for Afro-Latinas, Afro-Caribbeans, and women of the diaspora. We take into account the other movements led by women leaders active in palenques, favelas, and peripheral areas, where they continue to reinvent technologies to create vital spaces, seeking air and the right to community life.

Signatories:

July 25, 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Afro-descendants and Counter-hegemonic Proposals of

Nelson Mandela Chair (Cuba)
Carioca Network of Black Ethnoeducators (Brazil)
Afro-Latin American Studies Collective (Uruguay)
Xangó Group (Argentina)
Madiba House (Cuba)
AfroStética Project (Cuba)
The Cimarron Project (Cuba)
House of Africa Museum (Cuba)
Afro-Mexican Museum Petra Morga (Mexico)
Afro-Latin American Women's Gathering – TEMA (Argentina)
Afro-descendant Institute for Study, Research and Development (Costa Rica)
Association of Afro-Colombian Women – AMUAFRO (Colombia)
Association of Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Researchers – AINALC

This statement expresses the position of the CLACSO Working Group on Afro-descendants and Counter-hegemonic Proposals and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.