Minister Anielle Franco chose the anthropologist from Minas Gerais Clédisson Geraldo dos Santos Junior for the Secretariat of the National System for the Promotion of Racial Equality.
He will replace Bahian activist Yuri Silva, fired by the minister, which triggered a series of criticisms from the black movement against the department.
Silva would have been exonerated due to his proximity to former minister Silvio Almeida, accused of sexual harassment by Anielle. The department, however, denies this and says it is undergoing restructuring.
The Racial Equality Promotion System (Sinapir) is the main area of the ministry.
The new secretary currently works in the office of federal deputy Dandara Tonantzin (PT-MG), and is also secretary of the Mixed Anti-Racism Parliamentary Front of the National Congress. He will leave these positions to take up the position in the ministry next week.
“Sinapir is the backbone of promoting policies to promote racial equality in Brazilian cities and states and Clédisson has the necessary experience for the mission of implementing inter-federative articulation and the collaborative adherence of states and municipalities to the equality agenda”, he stated. minister Anielle Franco, in a statement sent to CNN.
The new secretary is a researcher at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and has already joined significant groups for black communication, such as the National Council for the Promotion of Racial Equality and the National Collective of Black Youth (Enegrecer).
“I feel honored by the invitation to join the Ministry of Racial Equality, at the head of Senapir, fully adhering to the commitment to ensure that policies for equality reach cities and states and become a reality in the lives of the population”, highlights Clédisson dos Santos .
The announcement comes amid harsh criticism from the black movement. Terreiros and black entities sent a letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), this week, in which they accuse the minister of
“total neglect”, “ill will”, “lack of dialogue” and specifically cite the dismissal of Yuri Silva as an example of this.
“Silva, a celebrated member of the national black movement, is a young black Candomblé man, widely known for his work on the issues of religious freedom and black youth, having been responsible for the political and technical elaboration of the Plano Juventude Negra Viva and exchange programs government with African, Latin American and Caribbean countries”, states the letter.
When referring to Anielle, the movement says that she “never visited these sacred spaces and canceled meetings after ready events, on at least two occasions”
The document, widely disseminated by the entities, states that the terreiros are “faithful allies of President Lula in all governments”. The movement asks for a conversation with Lula.
“We requested a negotiation table with President Lula to talk about policy paths for terreiros”, they say.
The ministry did not comment on the criticism.
