AGORA SOMOS TODXS NEGRXS?

The Haitian independence process took place from 1791 to 1804, in a struggle against Napolean’s troops (while rapidly expanding his Empire). Because of its rebelliousness and threat to colonial and slave rule, Haiti was politically and economically isolated. Until just decades ago, it was still paying off its debts to France for its independence. Subjugated to US military power, the island, in the USA’s “backyard”, was targeted by the Marines several times during the 20th century. A country virtually excluded from financial capitalism, but within the geopolitical game of military control. Today, the United States, Brazil, France, Canada, Spain and the European Union, through the UN peacekeeping mission, occupy Haiti militarily, “guaranteeing its political stability”. Brazil made Haiti into its laboratory for favela military occupation, using these control techniques in the Complexo do Alemão in Rio de Janeiro.

Article 14 of the Haitian Constitution of 1805: an enlightened vision that in the present times holds the possibility for unifying the fractional struggles of all minorities, constantly and systematically excluded from the white, colonial, hegemonic world. In a world where most people are subjected to life’s insecurities, let us unite: woman, mixed race, black, northeastern, indigenous, transgender, unite! Unite, cabecitas negras! We are all black now!

But the exhibition’s title, as a question mark, also opens up a denial: “No, we aren’t all black”. Have institutions now understood that the traumas of colonization exist? Have they now understood the fallacy of the discourse of racial democracy? We aren’t all black! We blacks continue to live as targets of violence, silencing and exclusion. No, not all of us. This is a struggle for survival.

Todxs Negrxs! It’s impossible to think about the issue of race without considering the issue of gender. And the transgender issue. Because, after all, racism shows its most wicked side to these “marginalized minorities”. It’s impossible to think about this alliance and this idea of resistance against a patriarchal, white, Eurocentric world, without considering the female perspective and the non-binary perspective, without considering this broadening of the identity system. Here the “x” enters as a tool for updating this question. A way of updating this question for the present time, which resounds within the very use of the transformation of colonized and colonizing language.

We Brazilians had the largest system of slavery on the planet. We are a country that for the first time, in the last decade, has recognized itself as majority black and mixed-race. A majority that recognizes itself as Afro-Brazilian. Therefore, this exhibition offers a look at the mechanisms of power through which we experience the structural racism of our society first-hand. And we have created a counter-attack of micro-political inventions against these systems. Denunciations and announcements. Visions of the world that only a tapestry of black artists can offer.

Daniel Lima, curator of AGORA SOMOS TODXS NEGRXS? is an artist, researcher and editor. Since 2001 he has created interventions and interferences in urban spaces. A frequent collaborator on group projects, he conducts research on the media, racial issues and educational processes. Founding member of the collectives A Revolução Não Será Televisionada, Politica do Impossível and Frente 3 de Fevereiro, he is director of production and publishing house Invisíveis Produções.

Translated from Portuguese by Zoë Perry.