Tereza de Benguela's Day and the Black Woman

The 25th of July is the day of black Latin American and Caribbean women and the African Diaspora. The date originated from the 1st Meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Black Women that took place between July 19 and 25 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The event brought together black women from different countries in order to analyze the effects of racism and sexism in the region, in addition to articulating actions and honoring black women.

In Brazil, the day was instituted only in 2014 by the Federal Law 12.987, named as tTereza de Benguela and the Black Woman[1].

Advocates, activists, defenders of women's human rights, articulate the occupation of public positions and also in decision-making spaces, pressing the State to create concrete public policies.

The United Nations declared 2015-2024 the decade of African descent as a way to expand the dialogue on race in addition to promoting diversity policies with the greater aim of racial and gender equity.

These actions involve combating poverty, guaranteeing inclusive and quality education, gender equality and the empowerment of black women and the promotion of sustainable economic growth, as this population is massively affected by these social pillars in an intersectional way between race, gender and class.

Angela Davis provides us with economic, political and ideological elements in her book entitled Women, Race and Class which aims to present an emancipatory and abolitionist worldview through the means of production established by enslavement and capitalism.

[1] Tereza de Benguela, known as a black queen and heroine, lived in the 18th century and became the leader of the Quilombo do Quariterê located in Mato Grosso, a quilombo of blacks and indigenous people who resisted from 1730 to the end of the century, articulated in its economic structure and politics, they also produced cotton, corn, beans, cassava and commercialized fabric in the region.