Mayor Ricardo Nunes and the municipal secretary of International Affairs, Marta Suplicy, welcomed 26 CEOs of great companies, commerce chambers and representatives of diplomatic missions, such as Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain, France and Turkey in City Hall’s head office, Matarazzo Building, this Wednesday (13).
“We are effectively focused on the success of this event. For this to happen, we will have divulgation in all of our 14 thousand buses, em all of our 4 thousand school units and all of our 469 Basic Healthcare Units”, highlighted Mayor Ricardo Nunes to the people present.
“Expo does the necessary debate about structural racism. Black Consciousness Day is a stop to think about what structural racism is. Then, we will have an action in schools to focus on a non racist formation for the next generation. We can’t leave more than half of the Brazilian population subject to structural racism”, said the municipal secretary of International Affairs, Marta Suplicy.
“We will present the black population’s protagonism and the fights fought over time for the full emancipation and freedom”, explain the special advisor of International Affairs, Adriana Vasconcellos, who coordinates the public policy “São Paulo, Farol de Combate ao Racismo Estrutural” and is responsible for Expo’s curatorship.
The encounter presented the 1st Black Consciousness International Expo, which will occur in Anhembi Pavilion on November 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd. It is an action conceived inside the public policy São Paulo, Farol de Combate ao Racismo Estrutural, partnership of the municipal departments of International Affairs and Education to stimulate the debate and engage the population in the combat against structural racism.
In addition to supporting the event, the mayor and the municipal secretary of International Affairs seek to engage everyone in combating structural racism. Expo is the visible part of the public policy São Paulo Farol de Combate ao Racismo Estrutural.
The municipal secretary of International Affairs, Marta Suplicy, explains that “São Paulo, Farol de Combate ao Racismo Estrutural is a public policy that will focus on the formation of teachers and in the acting of city schools in a way that starts to form non-racist people. The Black Consciousness International Expo is a part of this, because it happens to give visibility to the antiracist agenda developed in São Paulo”, points out.
According to Marta Suplicy, “São Paulo must give the example to the country and other cities of the world, because being a stronghold of the antiracist fight will leave a real legacy to future generations who can live with more respect to diversity”.
Among the CEOs, were in this meeting: Graciela Kumruian Tanaka, head-executive of Relationship and Integration of Magazine Luiza; Tayara Calina, coordinator of Public Policies of Ifood; Natalia Paiva, leader of Public Policies for Latin America in Instagram, representing Facebook; Caroline Dssie, CEO of Hisnek; Theo Van Der Loo, CEO of Natuscience; Sérgio All, CEO of Conta Black; Mauricio Pestana, CEO of Revista Raça; Paulo Borges, head-creator of São Paulo Fashion Week; and Agnes Sacilotto, annalist og Governmental Relations of Itaú Unibanco.
Mayor Ricardo Nunes commented on the importance of an event like this happening in the biggest capital of Brazil and South America. “I have no doubt that this event will be so positive, so illustrative and educative, of such importance that it will be replicated by many cities of Brazil and the world”, said.
CEOs
“I thought the initiative sensational because it will offer the public lots of information and content so it can, indeed, combat racism. I think it is the first incentive, for being a event, but it will bring a lot of education, culture and entrepreneurship, that is, a lot of information precisely to start actualizing the concepts of the population”, commented Graciela Kumruian Tanaka, head-executive of Relationship and Integration of Magazine Luiza, company that gained notoriety with with its trainee program directed exclusively for black people.
Ellen Andrade, responsible for the area of diversity and inclusion of Nestle, congratulated the City Hall for the initiative and questioned the continuity policy after the event. “As important as this mark on the month of Black Consciousness, this size and magnitude like this event, is to have a plan for combating racism after. I was happy to hear of Adriana, as a teacher, this strong care of São Paulo with an antiracist education”, said.
In this sense, Carolina Dssie, CEO of Hisneck, an application that helps enterprises to identify the emotional state of the teams, pointed out the importance of combating racism for mental health. “I thought it is a very complete event, mainly for being interactive and making people feel the history and understand exactly the importance of breaking structural racism. And I was really happy, above all things, for not being an isolated event and having a lot of education involved, that children of public schools are involved”, pointed out.
Marcelo Miguel Arruda da Costa, head executive of Diversidade, emphasizes that this will be an opportunity to create strategies and annual opportunities so lack people can be valued and have racial equity. “Our startup have 20 billion of combinations, we will be there with a stand where we intend to register all entrepreneurs and be a bank of opportunities for who wants to talk to a black entrepreneur, that knows what he does, where he does, the area that he acts, in an extremely simple way and throughout technology”, said.
Consular representations and commerce chambers
The general consul of Germany in São Paulo, Thomas Schmitt, said that, in the beginning of the year, was welcomed in the City Hall by the secretary Marta Suplicy. At the occasion, they talked about the priority projects of the management, among them the proposal of instituting a public policy of combating structural racism. “It is very important this contact we are having, because we identify common values. We already supported initiatives considered relevant in the human rights agenda. An example is with an ONG: we act in the protection of transexual black women. Here I come, then, with a lot of curiosity to know how it turned out the public policy of the City Hall and to listen more about the exposition”, affirmed Schmitt.
Also, the general consul of Spain, Miguel Villén, talked about the importance of the City Hall giving more knowledge on the public policy and working on the divulgation of the 1st Black Consciousness International Expo in the contacts with the consular representations: “We can disclose the event”, commented.
Júlio Antônio Aponto, head of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Services Chamber of Guinea Bissau, highlighted the importance of the event being aimed at the history question: “Expo is aimed at the origin of some works that were actually started in Africa. I’ve seen that it is trying to rescue those histories, and in the end show that it is not just a culture caracter, but to promote the sensibilization as a question of fight in combating racism”, explained.
Service:
1st Black Consciousness International Expo
When: November 20th, 21st and 22nd for the public; on the 22nd, also, school visits.
Where: Pavilion 10 of Anhembi (Av. Olavo Fontoura, 1.209, Santana, São Paulo)