Black Women against the Land Grab: The Fight for Racial Justice in Brazil

6. Politics Is a Women’s Thing

139 6 POLITICS IS A WOMEN’S THING Política é coisa pra macho ouvi isso a vida inteira Politics is a man’s game I heard that all my life Benedita da Silva, in Benedita da Silva: An Afro-Brazilian Woman’s Story of Politics and Love Vamos pra Reunião! “Vamos pra reunião!” (Let’s go to the meeting!), Ana Cristina shouts. She clutches her purple notebook as she passes Rita’s house on her way to the weekly Tuesday night board meeting of the neighborhood association. Rita opens her front door and responds, “In a little while. I’m washing clothes.” Ana Cristina presses her to hurry; they have important business to discuss and it’s essential that the meeting start on time. It is 2004 and the citywide network of neighborhood activists has become influential. The Odebrecht building is under way, and the Gamboa de Baixo association has initiated negotiations with them to compensate residents for lost houses and land. These meetings have come to be known as what women do in the neighborhood. Ana Cristina walks up the steps next to Rita’s house and notices that to her left the staircase that leads to Contorno Avenue is dark. LIMPURB, the government agency responsible for collecting trash as well as replacing the hard-to-reach lightbulbs, has been promising for monthstocompletethisservicebuthasnotfollowedthrough.Whenshe reachesthestreetabove,shepausestolookintooneofthestreet’sarches where the local capoeira team practices. It is hot inside the concrete arch, and the young capoeiristas sweat profusely while they perform 140 POLITICS IS A WOMEN’S THING their complex martial arts moves. A little boy who can’t be more than five years old impresses her as he cartwheels across the slippery floor. Ana Cristina continues down another staircase that leads to the beachfront on the side of the neighborhood referred to as Gamboa. Residents have named the other side, where Rita and Ana Cristina live, the Fortress, referring to the São Paulo da Gamboa Fort. Ana Cristina comments on the excessive amounts of garbage in her path and on the overgrown embankment. “It’s absurd!” she exclaims, expressing her disgust with both the government’s neglect and the residents’ lack of care for their environment. She thinks about proposing an immediate mass cleanup because they cannot wait until LIMPURB begins trash collection and sweeping in the neighborhood. Two-thirds of the way down the hill, she reaches the one-story neighborhood association building where the meeting is to be held. The windows are closed, and the lights are off. “Where is everybody?” Ana Cristina grumbles under her breath as she opens the door. The building consists of one mainroomandasmalloffice/libraryfurnishedwithdonatedfurniture, a kitchen, and a tiny bathroom. There is a pink plastic coffee thermos on the side table in the main room, and glass cups have been rinsed and placed on a tray beside it. Two large plastic bowls of popcorn covered with paper napkins have been neatly placed next to the thermos. The prepared coffee and the tidiness of the room let us know that Adriano has already arrived but is probably waiting in his home a few steps down the hill. Ritinha arrives a few minutes later. Ana Cristina steps out onto the balcony and shouts for Maria José, who lives in a house facing the building. No one answers. She asks a small child lingering on the building ’s front steps to call Adriano. A short time later, Adriano comes up the hill and immediately states that if the meeting is not going to start on time, he can continue watching his favorite soap opera. He comes up the steps and enters the main room, saying that the building was dirty when he arrived earlier and that all the brooms were either broken or missing. He also points out that some of the glass cups have disappeared. Ritinha looks at him guiltily and promises to return his silver serving tray, which she borrowed a while back for a party. Adriano sits down across from Ana Cristina at the long black table and looks directly at her when he suggests that the association POLITICS IS A WOMEN’S THING 141 directors convene a meeting with all of the groups who use the space on a regular basis, including the local dance and capoeira groups, as well as a church organization. Lula, the only other man who actively participates in the association , arrives with...