Black Race Trophy awarded to women who fight racism

In its 20th edition, the Black Race Trophy awarded on Monday night (Nov. 21), in a ceremony in São Paulo, 22 women who have contributed to the inclusion of Afro-descendants in Brazil and in the rest of the world. Among the honorees was Graça Machel, a Mozambican politician and human rights activist. She is the widow of Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

“I humbly would like to dedicate this trophy to all of us women of our time. Assuming hand in hand. We will all fight so that these girls grow up in a country of equals, that nobody hurts them, discriminates against them, gives them a lower salary, treats them with contempt, simply because they are women,” she said upon receiving the trophy.

Former president Dilma Rousseff, composer Leci Brandão, and congresswomen Simone Tebet, Marta Suplicy, Marina Silva and Benedita da Silva also received the trophy.

“This is a historic night. We are paying tribute to our ancestors’ past, building a nation of equals, may no one be distinguished by their race or the color of their skin. May our children have a country in which they can enter, stay, and remain anywhere, may they be whatever they want to, and develop any of their abilities,” said José Vicente, rector of the Zumbi dos Palmares University, organizer of the event.