National Equality Inaô Award honors personalities from the black movement

Malu Dacio – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The National Equality Award Inaô Amazonas, the biggest award in recognition and honoring of blackness in Brazil, happens this Wednesday, 2nd, at 5pm, at the Amazonas State Legislative Assembly (Aleam).

Educators, freelance professionals, legislators, jurists, businessmen, journalists, news portals, and public security agents will receive the award, which has representatives from Amazonas, Maranhão, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo, Amapá, Rondônia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Goiás, and will highlight the First Quilombola Mayor Vilmar Kalunga, from the city of Cavalcante, among others.

The event is an initiative of the Instituto Nacional Afro Origem do Amazonas – Brasil (Inaô) and of the Equality Movement, whose president is the National Secretary of the Institute, the black movement activist and jurist Christian Rocha da Costa.

Christian says that the award is synonymous for all of the National Institute Afro Origin. “It is our dream come true. What dream? To recognize workers, formal, informal, self-employed, lawyers, mechanics, day laborers, and a prosecutor”, said the jurist.

“We will pay tribute in a minute’s silence to poet Tiago de Melo and the victims of Covid, where the majority are black”, recalls the event organizer.

National Level

A journalist for over 19 years, Adalberto Neto is one of the award’s honorees in the Equality category. At the beginning of the pandemic, he started producing funny videos that addressed racial themes and quickly achieved prominence. On Instagram alone, the carioca has more than 100,000 followers.

Neto said he was honored to receive the news of the award. “It shows that I am on the right path. Many times, we get discouraged, because fighting against any prejudice is not easy. There are many cons, like the hate messages I receive daily, and also the fact that dealing with certain subjects provokes triggers. But it’s actions like this that make me want to continue”, recalls the journalist.

Read more: National Equality Award honors personalities; CENARIUM is recognized in three categories

Despite the challenges, he highlights that having my name among the honorees of the Equality Award, without a doubt, besides being a great gift, is a huge incentive for him to keep on doing his work.

Adalberto won the Shell, Ubuntu, and Popular Recognition awards, all in 2020, for the script of the play “Oboró – Masculinidades negras”. He is also a writer and scriptwriter for the last season of Lázaro Ramos’ show ‘Espelho’.

Born in Pirituba-SP, Tinna Rios is a singer and digital influencer. On the social network Instagram, she already has more than 20,000 followers. The artist did not hide her satisfaction in receiving the honor.

“Being one of the honorees of the Equality Award is incredible! Because until recently I was an alienated black woman who had no knowledge of my origins and today to see that my songs and content are reaching people is very gratifying and I am very touched by this. I hope to continue awakening in people this desire to get to know African culture more and more”, said the singer.

Tinna also defends that awards like this are important to strengthen the black movement. “We have had our issues silenced for years and I also see it as a way to increase our visibility, our talents, and our search for a more just society in terms of civil and social rights”, she explained.

The sensei and judo teacher Denise Oliveira is from Rio de Janeiro, but has been living in Manaus for 13 years. She feels honored with the award. “I think this kind of award is very important, because we have to be always remembered and praised for our work. We live in a country where prejudice does exist”, she remembered.

Denise also explains that events such as the National Equality Award are of utmost importance for the recognition of black people. “And in my case, a black woman of humble origin, doing a sport of oriental origin, imagine how many paradigms I had and still have to break until today”, highlighted the carioca.

Honored

The award will have several tributes and is divided into three categories: Black Consciousness, Women in Highlight, and Equality. In the “Black Consciousness” category, personalities who worked on the theme are remembered.

The Equality category will honor organizations and personalities who have been fundamental to the debate and helped with the theme. Among the honored already announced are: OAB – in the person of the president Jean Cleuter -, Public Defender, the journalist Paula Litaiff for her articulation and work in CENARIUM MAGAZINE, and Didi Redman – President of G.R.E.S Vitória Régia.

CENARIUM

CENARIUM MAGAZINE is also among those honored by the institute for giving voice and solidarity to the black movement and social plurality in Amazonas. According to the secretary Christian Rocha, this performance is primordial to strengthen the cause.

“It is not honoring because you talk about the black cause, but because you are in solidarity with each side. Because of this, we contemplate CENARIUM. Within this reasoning, there is the respect factor, but the factor of strengthening causes without voice and turn in the Amazon is paramount”, he said.