Religious freedom act is Macaé's first public agenda as minister

The Walk in Defense of Religious Freedom, held annually in Rio de Janeiro, was the first public event of the Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Macaé Evaristo. Appointed last week, she attended the 17th edition of the event, which took place this Sunday (15). Religious freedom act is Macaé's first public agenda as minister

As is traditional during the third weekend of September, people from different religions walked together along the shore of Copacabana Beach, in the southern part of the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The aim of the protest is to call for peace and denounce cases of intolerance and racism.

“The biggest challenge in our country today is reducing inequality. For me, it is very important to be present on this journey because, in addition to the right to religious freedom, all these people are also fighting for many things: against hunger, for decent work and for a policy of care, which is perhaps the main issue in our communities. Caring for children, who are often involved in child labor. Caring for the rights of the elderly population. Caring for those who care. And, most of the time, the ones who care are women,” said Macaé Evaristo.

The new minister is a state deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais and was appointed to replace Silvio Almeida. Until then head of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, he was dismissed at the beginning of the month amid allegations of sexual harassment. Investigations were opened to investigate the facts and he will have the right to a full defense.

Macaé spoke about her career path that qualified her to take on the role. “I am a public school teacher. I worked for 20 years in schools in the most vulnerable communities in Belo Horizonte. I started in the territory with the lowest HDI [Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano] from Belo Horizonte. Then I went to Aglomerado da Serra, in the 1990s, at a time when the community had its highest homicide rate. I believe we have a lot of work to do. We need to connect agendas, build very clear objectives and goals, so that it is possible, in this short space of two years, to make a difference for each and every one in the communities”, he said.

The Walk in Defense of Religious Freedom is organized annually by two organizations. One of them is the Center for the Articulation of Marginalized Populations (Ceap), which has been working since 1989 to promote black culture as a way to combat racism and religious intolerance. The other is the Commission to Combat Religious Intolerance of Rio de Janeiro (CCIR), founded in 2008 initially by Umbanda and Candomblé followers, but which currently includes representatives of the most varied beliefs.

“Intolerance is growing based on racism, homophobia, misogyny, and anti-Semitism. We have to put an end to this. And having the minister in her first week reaffirms the path we want, the dialogue we want. In the past, she came to the march as a citizen and activist. She came by bus with the people of Minas Gerais. And today she is in the position of minister. She received the invitation and confirmed it before being appointed minister,” said babalawo Ivanir dos Santos, spokesperson for the CCIR.

According to him, since the first edition, the march has had as its motto the defense of democracy, religious freedom with equity, diversity, the secular state and human rights. “Faith unites. That which divides is not faith. It is something else. And faith is based on respect, freedom and equity. Freedom cannot be just for one group, freedom has to be for everyone. What does equity mean? It means precisely that my freedom must be guaranteed and that of others too. Equity is protecting those who are most persecuted, those who do not have these rights respected by society”, he added.

Tributes

Participants began gathering at 10 am at Post 5 in Copacabana and, at around 1 pm, began the walk along the seafront. There were tributes to Professor Darci da Penha, a member of the Black Pastoral Agents (APNs), an organization with roots in the Catholic Church. She died in May of this year. Posthumous tributes to religious leaders who have engaged in the fight for peace are something that occurs at every edition. Last year, for example, there was a tribute to the quilombola leader. Mother Bernadette: it was simultaneously a matter of rescuing her legacy and demanding justice, since she had been murdered a month earlier, at the age of 72.

Despite the presence of practitioners of different faiths, the majority of participants were linked to religions of African origin. In the sound car, diversity was the guiding principle of the program: there were presentations by cultural groups from Umbanda, Candomblé, Catholics, Evangelicals, among others.

Caravans from other states also contributed to increasing the number of protesters. The event was also attended by representatives of faiths that are less prevalent in the country, although many of them have long traditions in the world, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Wicca.

Evangelical Andressa Oliveira said that the walk is a lesson in harmony, respect and coexistence. A leader of the Evangelical Black Movement, she explains the origins of the organization. “Through knowledge, we broaden our vision and learn to combat racism from the perspective of evangelicals. In Brazil, we know that religious intolerance is very strong against practitioners of religions of African origin. And we have a connection with them, after all, we are black.”

She believes that the Bible was “whitewashed” during the colonial period. “The biblical story is the story of an oppressed African people and a God who rises up to help them. This story has always been with us and was denied to us by colonization. So, we seek to strengthen the blackness of Christianity and the relevance of this message for those who fight against racism.”

See photo gallery of the Walk in Defense of Religious Freedom

Source link