Brazil has vaccinated twice as many white people as Black people, according to study by Agência Pública
Brazil is experiencing a record week of Covid-19 deaths. The latest Coisa de Preta newsletter puts a spotlight on how Black Brazilians managing through the pandemic.
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1) Brazil has vaccinated twice as many whites as Blacks, by Agência Pública on March 15:
Agência Pública, released an in-depth article full a data that analyzed who has received Brazil’s first 8.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses. The articles concludes that there are twice as many white people than Black people immunized against Coronavirus in Brazil. This is due to several factors: 1) Black people are much younger on average than Whites, so an aged-based vaccination program won’t reach as many Black people. 2) Black people aren’t the majority in many of the professions that were vaccinated first: Doctors, firefighters 3) In some states, the support staff of hospitals, people who clean the hospitals or work as security guards were not included in the initial rounds of vaccinations.
The difference in vaccination data between whites and Blacks is even more serious due to the inequality of mortality due to covid-19 in Brazil: of the people who had the disease in the country, there are proportionally more deaths among Blacks than whites. In addition, Blacks are the absolute majority among registered cases of covid-19 in Brazil and also of deaths.
2) Covid-19 and Racism: Reflections on being an elderly Black person, by Notícia Preta, March 21:
In addition to all the life difficulties that the Black population faces throughout their lives due to structural racism, in the year 2020 they faced a new challenge to achieve longevity in age. At the end of February, Brazil identified the first contamination by the coronavirus and, in less than a month, the first death: a Black woman, a domestic worker of 63 years, hypertensive and diabetic, called Cleonice Gonçalves.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers any individual aged 60 years or older to be elderly. Information released in 2020 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) indicates that the life expectancy of Brazilians exceeds 76 years of age, but there is a difference between the life expectancy of white and Black elderly, arising from the challenges that the Black population finds it to guarantee longevity - and, in times of covid-19, Black people have once again been directly harmed.
“Blacks tend to have a shorter life expectancy compared to whites, due to the social situation that the majority of the Black population is in subordinate jobs and jobs, receiving less and not having access to quality health care, so they end up being more susceptible to diseases that reduce their life expectancy ”, explains Political Scientist Juliana Silva.
3) Unemployment, the ghost that terrifies young people, from Alma Preta:
The pandemic threatens to create a lost generation of young people: unemployment has already reached 29.8% of this significant portion of the Brazilian population, according to IBGE data on 2020. In the year that the coronavirus cornered us, we were bitter at the highest annual rate since the distant 2012. It is clear that the threat of the covid-19 has amplified the drama, but there is something very wrong with this tape.
4) A Black view on the ongoing genocide in the country, by Nexo Jornal on March 19:
In the past week, the spread of the word "genocide" has sparked a wide debate. After the denunciation of the police subpoena, based on the militaristic National Security Law, to youtuber Felipe Neto for having used the term to refer to the president, hundreds of thousands of people mobilized to defend the idea that there is a genocide underway in the country, as the social network cartographer Fábio Malini shows us.
5) With pandemic, SP registers an excess of 25% more deaths among Blacks and 11.5% among whites in 2020, by Folha de São Paulo, March 19 :
Study shows that excess of deaths reached the most vulnerable. Experts recommend modifying vaccination plant to prioritize them in vaccination.Covid-19 was much more deadly among Black people than among white people in the state of São Paulo throughout 2020, when 46,700 people died from the disease in São Paulo, shows an unprecedented study by Vital Strategies with support from Afro-Cebrap (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning).
6) Brazil has had more Covid-19 deaths than in all 54 countries in Africa, by Negrê, March 17:
Brazil has already had more deaths due to Covid-19 than in all 54 countries on the African continent. It is what shows the numbers of Our World in Data, released last Monday, 15. The country is the second nation in the world with more deaths from Coronavirus, behind only the United States.
7) Attacks against Black city councilors reported to the International Commission, by Alma Preta:
Black councilors - cis and transsexuals - are going to denounce in a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the political violence suffered by them in Brazil. The emblematic case of Carolina Iara (PSOL / SP), whose house was shot at in São Paulo, is on the agenda, as are the cases of Erika Hilton (PSOL / SP) and Ana Lúcia Martins (PT / SC), who they are also targets of threats during their terms.
8) Black women are 85% of the victims of femicide in Espírito Santo, by Notícia Preta, March 22:
The state of Espírito Santo recorded 26 femicide deaths in 2020 and, in the first three months of 2021 alone, seven women were murdered in the state. The data are ES Public Security and Social Defense (Sesp) and warn of a worrying statistic: 85% of the records are of Black and brown women. Victims such as nurse Jaciara da Silva Moura, 32 years old, Black, died last March 15, with 33 stabs, in the municipality of Serra.
The nurse was murdered on her birthday and in front of her 11-year-old daughter. Seeing her father attacking her mother, the teenager tried to stop it. Unsuccessfully, she sought help from neighbors, who already found Jaciara dead. The victim's ex-husband fled the scene and reported to the police the next day. After testifying and confessing to the crime, he was released.
9) We are worse than a year ago, says legal expert on the situation of Blacks in Brazil, by CNN Brazil, March 21:
Marcos Queiroz discusses on the International Day against Racial Discrimination how the country has treated its Black population during the pandemic.
Master of Law and professor at the Brasiliense Institute of Public Law (IDP), Marcos Queiroz has just arrived in the United States for a period of nine months at Duke University, in North Carolina, as part of his doctorate. On this International Day against Racial Discrimination, celebrated on March 21, one year after the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil and almost a year after the anti-racist demonstrations that spread around the world after the assassination of George Floyd in the USA, he spoke to CNN Brasil about some of the most urgent topics of Brazilian society in relation to the racial issue.
10) 3 Years Since Her Killing, the Legacy of Marielle Franco is Black Women on the Frontline of Change, by RioOnWatch, March 14:
Published in Portuguese on March 8, International Women’s Day, and in English today, March 14, the third anniversary of the assassination of iconic activist and City Councillor Marielle Franco, this article written by Marielle’s sister Anielle is the latest contribution to our year-long reporting project, “Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas: Deconstructing Social Narratives About Racism in Rio de Janeiro.” Follow our Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas series here.
11) A commitment against racism in the Americas, an impulse for the rights of Black women in Brazil, by Geledés:
Ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, which depends on Bolsonaro, can strengthen the protection system and boost policies that are now dispersed and weakened in the country.
The recent news of the ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance by the Federal Senate represents a light at the end of the tunnel for Black and Black social movements in Brazil and the Americas. Despite the long wait for this ratification, which now reaches status of amendment to the country's Constitution, it happens at a very opportune time.
12) PepsiCo wants up to 2025 Black leaders in 30% of positions in Brazil, from Ceará Criolo:
One of the largest Food and Beverage companies in the world, PepsiCo announced its intention to have 30% of Black people in leadership positions in Brazil by 2025. The company has already been recognized for inclusive and diverse HR practices, and says it has today racial inclusion as a fundamental pillar of strategic action worldwide.
The idea is to expand investments in incentive programs and internal policies aimed at attracting and developing Black and Black professionals in the country. “We know that we have a long way to go in favor of racial diversity, but we reinforce our commitment by tracing a journey that will continue at an accelerated pace, based on our internal programs and the partnerships we have entered into with the main entities of the sector”, explains the vice president of Human Resources at PepsiCo in Brazil, Fábio Barbagli.