{"id":1094,"date":"2020-08-27T09:59:17","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T09:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/din.today\/?p=1094"},"modified":"2020-09-05T07:40:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T07:40:33","slug":"letter-in-support-of-mamadou-ba-and-political-antiracism-in-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/din.today\/?p=1094","title":{"rendered":"Letter in Support of Mamadou Ba and political antiracism in Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the last weeks, political tensions in Portugal have arisen following public demonstrations of extreme right organizations that have also threatened anti-racist activists. On August 11, black antiracist activist Mamadou Ba and other nine persons (antiracist, antifascist and LGBT rights activists, MPs and trade union leaders) received an e-mail sent by a neo-Nazi movement that threatened them and their families if they did not leave the country in the next 48 hours. In July the headquarters of the movement SOS Racismo in Lisbon was vandalized \u2013 \u201cWar against the enemies of my land\u201d was written on the facade \u2013 and in August, three days before the aforementioned e-mail was sent, several neo-Nazis gathered in protest in front of the building, performing a KKK-marching-style with torches and white masks.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many activists and academics across the world have signed a letter in support of Mamadou Ba and antiracists organizations in Portugal. This is the letter.<\/em><\/p>\n

Letter in support of Mamadou Ba and political antiracism in Portugal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The denial of structural racism is the rule in Europe, and Portugal is not an exception. Portuguese institutions and civil society have not come to terms with the history and legacies of colonialism and racial enslavement. Complaints of racial discrimination and racist crimes are rarely prosecuted, and the number of condemnations is very low. The strengthening of antiracist organizations and, in particular, of the black movement, has unsettled mainstream political approaches towards institutionalized racism, racist violence and racial harassment for the last five years.<\/p>\n

In this context, the countering of the critique and public denunciation of police brutality and extreme right discourses made by antiracist activists has escalated in the last months. On August 11, black antiracist activist Mamadou Ba and other nine persons (antiracist, antifascist and LGBT rights activists, MPs and trade union leaders) received an e-mail sent by the neo-Nazi movement designated as Nova Ordem de Avis<\/em> \u2013 National<\/em> Resistance<\/em> that threatened them and their families if they did not leave the country in the next 48 hours. In July the headquarters of the movement SOS Racismo<\/em> in Lisbon was vandalized \u2013 \u201cWar against the enemies of my land\u201d (\u201cGuerra aos inimigos da minha terra\u201d) <\/em>was written on the facade \u2013 and in August, three days before the aforementioned e-mail was sent, several neo-Nazis gathered in protest in front of the building, performing a KKK-marching-style with torches and white masks.<\/p>\n

Mamadou Ba has been a militant of immigrant associations and member of SOS Racismo<\/em> Portugal<\/em> since the end of the 1990s. He has received threats from extreme right and neo-Nazi organizations since 2012 and has been in the spotlight since January 2019 after he made a public comment in social networks about police brutality and the reaction of certain left-wing militants to the public protest carried out mostly by young black people from the periphery in Lisbon against police violence, after a video of police officers beating the members of a black family went viral in social media. Ba referred to the police as \u201cthe fucking cops\u201d (\u201ca bosta da bofia\u201d)<\/em> and in the following weeks, members of extreme right organizations stalked and harassed him on the street. Two police unions (Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Sindical dos Profissionais da Pol\u00edcia<\/em> and Sindicato Vertical de Carreiras da Pol\u00edcia<\/em>) filed criminal complaints against Mamadou Ba, charging him of defamation.<\/p>\n

There has been a normalization of extreme right discourses in parliamentary debates and the media in Portugal; for instance, some members of neo-Nazi organizations have been invited to participate on tv programs. Hate speech and harassment in social networks against black antiracist activists have become commonplace. Some police union leaders are also members of Chega!<\/em>, an extreme right political party with one elected MP, Andr\u00e9 Ventura, since the national elections held in October 2019.\u00a0 Ventura was a former member of the PSD (Social Democratic Party), a liberal-conservative political party. The election of three black women with different political trajectories, but engaged with the antiracist struggle has made structural racism more explicit in the country.<\/p>\n

In the last months, Ventura has organized two demonstrations in Lisbon (June 22; August 2) under the political banner of anti-antiracist politics and support for police forces \u2013 \u201cPortugal is not a racist country\u201d (\u201cPortugal n\u00e3o \u00e9 racista\u201d)<\/em> has been the political slogan. Ventura has recently commented on the murder of black actor Bruno Cand\u00e9, of Guinean origin, saying that in Portugal \u201cracism has become an excuse for everything\u201d and stated that \u201cminorities have rights, but also duties\u201d. Cand\u00e9 was shot in broad day light in Lisbon by Evaristo Marinho, a veteran of the so called \u201cColonial War\u201d against the National Liberation Movements in the African contexts colonized by the Portuguese Empire-State. Witnesses stated that the alleged murderer used racist slurs and threatened Cand\u00e9 days before the murder, as well as on the day he shot him, making comments about his participation in the war.<\/p>\n

We want to express our support of Mamadou Ba and his family, and our solidarity with the black movement in Portugal.<\/p>\n

We support the protests and collective mobilization happening in Portugal by the antiracist movements and organizations.<\/p>\n

We join their call against silence and denial.<\/p>\n

We join their call for accountability and concrete change to transform the reality of structural racism and its manifestation in police brutality, racist violence and racial harassment in Portugal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Abel Djassi, Simmons University, USA<\/p>\n

Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa\/Duke University, USA.<\/p>\n

Aderivaldo Ramos de Santana, Universit\u00e9 Bordeaux-Montaigne, France<\/p>\n

Alexandre Rocha da Silva, Instituto Esporte & Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Brasil<\/p>\n

\u00c1lvaro Pereira do Nascimento, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Brasil<\/p>\n

Alyosha Goldstein, University of New Mexico, USA<\/p>\n

Amal Bentounsi, Urgence notre police assassin, France<\/p>\n

Amanj Aziz, Nyans:Muslim, Sweden<\/p>\n

Amber Kelsie, Wake Forest University, USA<\/p>\n

Am\u00edlcar Packer, Oficina de Imagina\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica, Brasil<\/p>\n

Am\u00edlcar Pereira, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brasil<\/p>\n

Amzat Boukari-Yabara, Ligue Panafricaine – UMOJA<\/p>\n

Ana Fl\u00e1via Magalh\u00e3es Pinto, Universidade de Bras\u00edlia (UnB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Ana L\u00facia Ara\u00fajo, Howard University, USA<\/p>\n

Anderson Ribeiro Oliva, N\u00facleo de Estudos Afro-Brasileiros-Universidade de Bras\u00edlia (Neab-UnB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 de Godoy Bueno, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), Brasil<\/p>\n

Anna Klobucka, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, USA<\/p>\n

Atef S. Said, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA<\/p>\n

Babacar Faye, Universit\u00e9 Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, S\u00e9n\u00e9gal<\/p>\n

Bado Ndoye, Universit\u00e9 Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar, S\u00e9n\u00e9gal<\/p>\n

B\u00e1rbara Oliveira, Irmandade Pretas Candangas, Brasil<\/p>\n

Cayetano Fern\u00e1ndez, Kale Amenge – Roma anti-racist movement<\/p>\n

C\u00e9sar Augusto Baldi, funcion\u00e1rio p\u00fablico federal, Brasil<\/p>\n

Cornel West, Harvard University, USA<\/p>\n

Daniel Mandur Thomaz, King\u2019s College London, UK<\/p>\n

Deborah Santos, NEAB-Universidade de Bras\u00edlia, Brasil<\/p>\n

Delphine Abadie, chercheure associ\u00e9e au LLCP, Universit\u00e9 Paris 8, France<\/p>\n

Dr. Hilla Dayan, Amsterdam University College, The Netherlands<\/p>\n

Dr. Noa K. Ha, Das Deutsche Zentrum f\u00fcr Integrations- und Migrationsforschung (DeZIM), Deutschland<\/p>\n

Dr. Ylva Habel, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Stockholm, Sweden<\/p>\n

Edinelia Souza, Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Elsa Roland, Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique<\/p>\n

Emanuelle Santos, Universidade de Birmingham, UK<\/p>\n

Euza Raquel de Sousa, Instituto Federal Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil<\/p>\n

Evelyn Melo Silva, Advogada brasileira, Brasil<\/p>\n

Fabiano Silva dos Santos, advogado, professor universit\u00e1rio UNIP, Brasil<\/p>\n

Fatima El-Tayeb, Professor – University of California, USA<\/p>\n

Felwine Sarr, Duke University, USA<\/p>\n

Fernanda N. Crespo, GEPEAR, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brasil<\/p>\n

Fl\u00e1vio Gomes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brasil<\/p>\n

Franck Ribard, Universidade Federal do Cear\u00e1 (UFC), Brasil<\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7oise Verg\u00e8s, Politologue, f\u00e9ministe d\u00e9coloniale, colletiff D\u00e9coloniser les arts, France<\/p>\n

Fred Moten, New York University (NYU), USA<\/p>\n

Gabrielle Oliveira de Abreu, Movimento Mulheres Negras Decidem, Brasil<\/p>\n

Georges Franco, artiste peintre, France<\/p>\n

Giovanni Picker, University of Glasgow, UK<\/p>\n

Gisele Cittadino, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brasil<\/p>\n

Gustave Massiah, Centre International de Culture Populaire CEDETIM, France<\/p>\n

Houria Bouteldja, Parti des Indig\u00e8nes de la R\u00e9publique (PIR), France<\/p>\n

Ibtissem Benarabe, Parti des Indig\u00e8nes de la R\u00e9publique (PIR), France<\/p>\n

Ines Cordeiro Dias, Assistant Professor, Spelman College, USA<\/p>\n

Iva Maria Cabral, Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Am\u00edlcar Cabral, Cabo Verde<\/p>\n

Janete Santos Ribeiro, Escola T\u00e9cnica Estadual Adolpho Bloch (FAETEC\/ETEAB) & N\u00facleo de Estudos Afro-brasileiros-Sankofa, Brasil<\/p>\n

Jeferson De, Buda filmes, Brasil<\/p>\n

Jo\u00e3o Gabriel, Ligue Panafricaine-Umoja<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Augusto Rodrigues Jr. Advogado, Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brasil<\/p>\n

Jovita Pinto, Bla*Sh – Black Feminist Network, Switzerland<\/p>\n

Juliana Souza, Grupo Prerrogativas, Brasil<\/p>\n

Laura Harris, New York University (NYU)<\/p>\n

Lourival dos Santos, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Brasil<\/p>\n

Luciana Boiteux, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil<\/p>\n

Luciene Lacerda, Instituto B\u00fazios, F\u00f3rum de Mulheres Negras Rio de Janeiro, Brasil<\/p>\n

Lucilene Reginaldo, Professora da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brasil<\/p>\n

Luis Carlos Moro, American Association of Jurists, USA<\/p>\n

Luk Vervaet, Prisons and solitary confinement in Europe (supermax.be), Belgique<\/p>\n

Maboula Soumahoro, Black History Month, France<\/p>\n

Malick Gueye, Sindicato Manteros de Madrid, Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Mall\u00e9 Kass\u00e9, Universit\u00e9 Cheikh Anta Diop de Daka (UCAD), S\u00e9n\u00e9gal<\/p>\n

Marcelo Marques de Almeida Filho, Universidade de Bras\u00edlia (UnB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Marcus Camara, Utah State University, USA<\/p>\n

Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Brasil<\/p>\n

Maria Paula Fernandes Adinolfi, Instituto do Patrim\u00f4nio Hist\u00f3rico e Art\u00edstico Nacional (IPHAN), Brasil<\/p>\n

Mariana Wiecko Volkmer de Castilho, Universidade de Bras\u00edlia, Brasil<\/p>\n

Marie-No\u00eblle Ryan, Universit\u00e9 de Moncton, Canada<\/p>\n

Mark JL Sabine, School of Cultures, Languages & Area Studies, University of Nottingham, UK<\/p>\n

Maur\u00edcio Brasil, Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Ju\u00edzes para a Democracia e Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Brasileira de Juristas pela Democracia (ABJD), Brasil<\/p>\n

Mayara Souza, Universidade de Bras\u00edlia (UnB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Miguel de Barros, Centro de Estudos Sociais Am\u00edlcar Cabral, Guin\u00e9 Bissau<\/p>\n

Moha Gerehou, elDiario.es, Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Mouhad Reghif, Bruxelles Panth\u00e8res, Belgique<\/p>\n

Nacira GU\u00c9NIF, University Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis, France<\/p>\n

Nat\u00e1lia Barbosa, GEPEAR\/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil<\/p>\n

Natalia Gavazzo, CONICET- Universidad Nacional de San Mart\u00edn (UNSAM), Argentina<\/p>\n

Natasa Petresin-Bachelez, interdependent curator, France\/Slovenia<\/p>\n

Nengumbi Sukama, Instituto Argentino para la Igualdad, Diversidad e Integraci\u00f3n (IARPIDI), Argentina<\/p>\n

Nicholas Mirzoeff, New York University (NYU), USA<\/p>\n

Nicholas Smith, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden<\/p>\n

Nordine Saidi, militant D\u00e9colonial et membre de Bruxelles Panth\u00e8res, Belgique<\/p>\n

Paola Bacchetta, University of California, Berkeley, USA<\/p>\n

Patricia Schor, Amsterdam University College and Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands<\/p>\n

Pedro Schacht Pereira, The Ohio State University, USA<\/p>\n

Piedade Lino Videira, NEAB-Universidade Federal do Amap\u00e1, Brasil<\/p>\n

Priscilla Marques Campos, GEPEAR-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro\/UNIFESP, Brasil<\/p>\n

Prof. Paul Goodwin, TrAIN, University of the Arts London, UK<\/p>\n

Ren\u00edsia Cristina Garcia Filice, Universidade de Bras\u00edlia (UnB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Rokhaya Diallo, journaliste et r\u00e9alisatrice, France<\/p>\n

Roland DOR, Ligue Panafricaine \u2013 Umoja (LP-U)<\/p>\n

Rosa Pires, PhD student in Sociology, Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Montreal, Canada<\/p>\n

Sama Abdoulaye, Ligue Panafricaine (LP-U)<\/p>\n

S\u00e2mia Bomfim, l\u00edder do Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL) na C\u00e2mara, Brasil<\/p>\n

Sara Martins, Golsmiths College, UK<\/p>\n

Sarah Babiker, periodista de El Salto, Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Sarah Shamash, Emily Carr University, Canada<\/p>\n

Sebijan Fejzula, Kale Amenge – Roma anti-racist movement<\/p>\n

S\u00edlvio Almeida, advogado, professor e Presidente do Instituto Luiz Gama, Brasil<\/p>\n

S\u00f3nia Vaz Borges, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany<\/p>\n

Soraya El Kahlaoui, Ghent University, Belgique<\/p>\n

Stefan Kipfer, York University, Toronto, Canada<\/p>\n

Sueli Carneiro – Coordenadora Executiva do Geled\u00e9s Instituto da Mulher Negra – S\u00e3o Paulo, Brasil<\/p>\n

Suzana Lopes Salgado Ribeiro, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil<\/p>\n

T\u00e2nia Mara Pereira Vasconcelos, Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Thayara Cristine Silva de Lima, GEPEAR-Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brasil<\/p>\n

Thula Pires, Pontif\u00edcia Universidade Cat\u00f3lica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) & Movimento de Mulheres Negras no Brasil, Brasil<\/p>\n

Ugo Palheta, Universit\u00e9 de Lille, France<\/p>\n

V\u00e2nia Gala, Kingston University, UK<\/p>\n

Yannick Nagau, Ligue Panafricaine Umoja (LP-U)<\/p>\n

Youssef M. Ouled, Periodista y activista antirracista, Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Yuderkys Espinosa, Grupo Latinoamericano de Estudio, Formaci\u00f3n y Acci\u00f3n Feminista (GLEFAS), Rep\u00fablica Dominicana<\/p>\n

Yuri Madalosso, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Brasil<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Collectives and Organizations <\/strong><\/p>\n

Afroindigenas LGBT<\/p>\n

Bruxelles Panth\u00e8res, Belgique<\/p>\n

Coletivo Antirracista Acotirene, Brasil<\/p>\n

Coletivo Marginal (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil<\/p>\n

Coletivo Nuvem Negra, Brasil<\/p>\n

Collectif de D\u00e9fense des jeunes du Mantois, France<\/p>\n

Comit\u00e9 de Vigilance pour la D\u00e9mocratie en Tunisie, Belgique<\/p>\n

Conselho Municipal de Promo\u00e7\u00e3o da Igualdade Racial de Guarulhos, Brasil<\/p>\n

DefarAskan, S\u00e9n\u00e9gal)<\/p>\n

Decolonial International Network (DIN Foundation)<\/p>\n

Front D\u00e9mocratique (FD)<\/p>\n

Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisa em Pol\u00edticas, Ensino de Hist\u00f3ria, Ra\u00e7a e G\u00eanero (GEPPHERG) \u2013<\/p>\n

Universidade de Bras\u00edlia, Brasil<\/p>\n

Grupo Prerrogativas, Brasil<\/p>\n

International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) – Team Spain, Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Instituto Cigano do Brasil (ICB), Brasil<\/p>\n

Instituto de Defesa da Popula\u00e7\u00e3o Negra, Brasil<\/p>\n

Instituto Luiz Gama, Brasil<\/p>\n

Islamophobia Studies Center, University of California – Berkeley, USA<\/p>\n

Ligue Panafricaine Umoja (LP-U)<\/p>\n

Mulheres Negras Decidem, Brasil<\/p>\n

Parti des Indig\u00e8nes de la R\u00e9publique (PIR), France<\/p>\n

Rede Antirracista Quilomba\u00e7\u00e3o, Brasil<\/p>\n

Sindicato Manteros de Madrid, Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

Transnational Decolonial QTPOC (Queer & Trans People of Color)<\/p>\n

Uneafro Brasil, Brasil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last weeks, political tensions in Portugal have arisen following public demonstrations of extreme right organizations that have also threatened anti-racist activists. On August 11, black antiracist activist Mamadou Ba and other nine persons (antiracist, antifascist and LGBT rights activists, MPs and trade union leaders) received an e-mail sent by a neo-Nazi movement that … Continue reading Letter in Support of Mamadou Ba and political antiracism in Portugal<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1094"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1101,"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions\/1101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/din.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}