Fight for social equality topic of Black Literature Festival in São Paulo

The fight for social equality is going to be one of the main topics of the 5th Festival of Black Knowledge, Literature, and Culture (FlinkSampa), to be held from November 16 to 18, in São Paulo. The event, whose schedule was unveiled Tuesday (Sep. 12), is promoted by Zumbi dos Palmares College and by the NGO Afro-Brazilian Society for Socio-cultural Development (Afrobras). In addition to talks with writers from Brazil and across the world, the festival will feature story-telling sessions, short films, and a stage dedicated to samba.

Another highlight at the festival will be the visit of writers from Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. “I think it is high time we should stress the need for us to be read there, for them to get to know our writers and vice-versa, the need for more profitable exchange, and an expansion of this identity beyond national borders—a real community of Portuguese-speaking countries,” said curator Guiomar de Grammont. Among the guests is essayist Francisco Noa, from Mozambique, and writer Filinto Elíseo, from Cape Verde.

Bringing current topics like urban violence and social inequality, De Grammont says, means spreading these debates in society. “Flink provides society with a wakeup call, raises issues that cast light on the consciousness in search of a more egalitarian Brazil, with the return of a crucial agenda for black people, who make up the majority of the population, but a minority in terms of access,” De Grammont argued, after referring to the motto of the festival: “I want freedom.”

Flink's honorees this year are actress Zezé motta, who played Xica da Silva on the big screen, and novelist and screenwriter Paulo Lins, who wrote City of God, which became a motion picture.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira

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