behavior
April 9, 2024
Minutes To Read: 4

Inspiring Women: Marielle Franco

Much has been heard of Marielle Franco in recent days. Murdered in cold blood with four gunshots to the head, his voice was silent. But what many did not expect was that her voice would echo with the indignation of all who defend and believe in the same ideals that she had been fighting for.

A woman, mother, black, slum dweller and minority defender, Marielle struggled for a fairer society with less inequality. And what sets your murder apart from so many that happen daily? Every death, even more violent, is a grief, but the death of Marielle means much more, along with a body and a story, also died the voice of a resistance that fought for so many other voices.

Marielle Franco's trajectory

Marielle was born in 1979, in Rio de Janeiro, and was raised in the Maré favela, a community where she began her political participation in human rights activism.

In 2002, he joined the undergraduate degree in Social Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Marielle was also a master in Public Administration from the Fluminense Federal University.

Her career in politics began in 2006, when she was appointed parliamentary advisor to Deputy Marcelo Freixo. She later took over the coordination of the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights and Citizenship of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly. After 10 years, she was elected city councilor in the city of Rio de Janeiro and joined the committee that closely followed the Military Intervention in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Bills

As a councilwoman, Marielle has created and participated in several bills. The most prominent are the Childbirth Law, which would promote more dignity, safety and comfort for residents of low HDI city areas; The Owl Space, which aims to welcome children at night, while their guardians are away from home to work or study; and also the project that aims to raise awareness about abortion, already legalized in cases of rape, risk of death of the pregnant woman or anencephaly of the baby, but which is still poorly regarded and is the subject of numerous cases of complaints about obstetric violence.

Marielle also struggled to include days to strengthen specific causes in the city's calendar, such as the day against homophobia, the day of lesbian visibility, and the day against the incarceration of black youth.

Feminism in practice

Feminism in theory often does not reach those who need it most. In one of her interviews, Marielle says that the three pillars of her campaign were gender debate, race debate and the struggle for improvements in the city as a whole. The gender debate she refers to is not just in her studies and conversations with the academic community and intellectual elite, talking about specific terms that are unlikely to be accessible to residents of poor communities suffering from domestic violence, for example. Marielle proposed to talk about childcare places, the place these women occupy in the favela, and the vulnerability to which they are exposed. She believed that, before discussing more sensitive issues, these women needed to be empowered and made aware of their rights and the weight they have within such an unequal and violent society.

? Surviving is our greatest stamina?

It is with these words that Marielle sums up her whole struggle. In a video released on her YouTube channel in 2016, she talks about the role of women living in underserved communities: "Our often silenced voice will have to be heard." Marielle's voice was quiet and is it not by chance that she said? Wow? voice. Marielle resisted until outside forces ceased her voice, that was when she could no longer survive. Still in this video, she claims to be strength because we all are, as a fight is stronger when more people believe her.

What you can learn from Marielle Franco

1. Fight for your rights

We live in a state that, as it may not seem, is democratic. We have the right to come and go and also to express our opinions. Marielle died fighting for her rights and ours, but that should not scare us.

2. Fighting for human rights is not synonymous with? Defending bandit?

Propagating that one should be killed is not opinion, it is hate speech. Marielle advocated that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be put into practice. Defending human rights does not mean going hand in hand with criminals, but it means fighting so that they can pay for their crimes under less precarious conditions.It is fighting for all citizens to have equal rights, and that includes criminals as well.

3. Black youth needs to be heard

According to the 2015 Map of Violence, the number of black women murdered between 2003 and 2013 increased by 54%, while the number of executions of white women fell 10%. We all know this is not a coincidence. We cannot judge a reality that we do not live, but we can give voice to those who witness this daily life of exclusion and violence.

Another shocking fact is the percentage of blacks corresponding to the murders in Brazil. Out of every 100 people killed by violence, 71 are black. This is a part of forgotten society and the death of these individuals is increasingly trivialized. Marielle struggled for equality and fairer conditions for these people who suffer every day from the neglect of public policy and a society that still views blacks with prejudiced eyes.

4. The commotion is all of us

We always cry and are moved by the death of our own. Our friends, our family members? And do you know why the commotion of Marielle's death belongs to all of us? Because she was our voice. Maybe you didn't even know who Marielle was before the news of her execution spread everywhere. But with a little research? and open-minded - you can tell that Marielle died bravely defending everything we talked at the bar table with friends or chatting on WhatsApp and then resuming our normal life. Marielle breathed this struggle, her claims were what guided her every day and that is why the commotion was and should even be widespread. We need more people like Marielle, we need to elect more Marielles, create Marielles, be more like Marielle.