Aloá Renata Oliveira
A generation of discovery and adventure, the youth of today want more. Not content with merely illustrations in the pages of newspapers with lurid statistics. To the contrary, much has changed in the esteem of black Brazilian youth from the past to now
by Célia R. da Silva and André Rezende
“Being able to give one’s self entirely without fear of doing something wrong, dreaming, believing and being convinced that anything is possible. A moment of discovery and discovery of mistakes without fault. Of discovering and understanding who we are, why we are and what we are doing here.” That’s how Aloá Renata Oliveira, 23, defines as the best of her generation.
Possessing a degree in Financial Management, she is currently a victim of unemployment and lives with her mother on the west side of São Paulo. She’s a fan of books, news programs and television debates, Renata represents well her generation on the question of modernity. She spends up to three hours a day surfing the internet. In Brazil there are about 11.5 million young people between 18 and 24 years of age, which represents 6.6% of the population, according to the IBGE
In search of education
Taluana Brisa
Taluana Brisa is 18 and wants to major in Letters. She loves informative news magazines and educational programming channels. “The content of the other networks need to be rethought”, says the young administrative assistant who works for a telemarketing company. Taluana sees many problems in Brazil, but points to corruption as the most serious.
“Because other causes, good or bad, there are already people that look for it, but fraud policies requires an entire population, which makes the mission almost impossible, since most are illiterate or are functionally illiterate”, she says.
The figures show the discrepant face of reality that, despite the positive changes in recent years, still divides the country. For example, the illiteracy rate among black youth is 5.8%, while for white youth falls to a 1.9%. On average, young blacks have two years less education than whites of similar age: 7.5 years and 9.4 years respectively. Economic growth coupled with the educational investment of its population is one of the greatest challenges of our society in order to make it less unequal.
Veiled racism
Ana Paula Silva
For high school student Ana Paula Silva, 17, of the state of Minas Gerais, young people want and know that they can do many things can. “Young people are participating much more than before, they want to be heard and now they are demanding their rights.”
Unlike many, Ana Paula says she has never suffered any act of prejudice, but nonetheless believes that racism has decreased in Brazil. “We all know that with the rights of blacks achieved in recent years, many people are afraid to express what they feel, moreover, many people in the higher social classes do not admit the fact that the blacks want to win their place in society, but they prefer to remain silent because of current laws.”
“Prejudice does exist and it must be defeated”, explains the student, but without the loss of self-esteem and racial pride. “It’s an immense pleasure to know that Brazil was constructed almost entirely upon the sweat of our ancestors. This leaves me free to say that Brazil is BLACK.”
Source: Raça Brasil
Source: Raça Brasil
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