activist’s life marielle frankmurdered in 2019, and black personalities like the writers Machado of Assisi Y Carolina Maria de Jesus inspired a anti-racist children’s book collection with braille editions by a Brazilian company.
Editora Mostarda’s project, which has already published books for children and young people about more than 20 black personalities in Brazil – which also included the indigenous leaders Sónia Guajajara and Ailton Krenak and foreign personalities such as Angela Davis, Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks — stands out among the spaces of the 26th edition of the São Paulo International Book Biennial, the largest literary fair in Brazil, which this year will receive more than 600,000 people until July 10, according to the organization.
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Pedro Menezette, a businessman who heads Editora Mostarda, told Lusa that the project arose from his personal experience as a white man living on the outskirts of Campinas, a city located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, who at an early age realized account of the difference and privileges his black friends who shared the same social reality with him.
The son of a newspaper vendor who started out selling used books, a business known in Brazil by the term “sebo,” Menezette said that his entry into the publishing business led him to realize the absence of books on black personalitiesa segment that he sees as an economic niche for business and the promotion of racial equality to explore in Brazil, a country deeply marked by racial inequality and racism.
“With my experience working with books, I realized that there were some publishing houses that did not publish works with the content that Mostarda works on today, which is anti-racist content,” he said.
Andressa Maltese, editor and curator of the collection, added that the books they edit aim to address relevant social issues in the context of Brazil and the world, now also released in Braille.
“Initially we started with the theme of racism and decided to bring black personalities. We choose the personalities, this line [de livros] It was launched gradually, but today we have 20 black personalities and two indigenous people, and we will complete the line with 35 personalities by the end of this year”, explained the editor.
We understand that by bringing references to children they will be able to dream big, they will be able to understand that these people [negras retratadas nos livros] they are not immaculate people, they are not perfect people who have led a wonderful life. They had difficulties, they suffered from racism, some are from the time of slavery, but still, none of those difficulties prevented them from doing great things,” added Andressa Maltese.
Among the creators who are giving life to works about black personalities is Majori Silva, author of the children’s book “O Jardim de Marielle”, inspired by the career of Marielle Franco, a politician and activist murdered in Rio de Janeiro in 2019, who defended rights and is still present in the ideal of many men and women who work to combat violence against women and the black population in Brazil.
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The author said that the book arose from a conversation with her niece, who wanted to know who Marielle Franco was when she heard the news of her death.
Majori Silva also defended the report that “Having books about black personalities for children is forming future anti-racists.”
for the author, literature will be an effective way to “combat the racist structure [do Brasil] in a light way, in a fun way, with the children and adolescents who are building the world”.
Regarding the translation of his work into Braille, aimed at blind people and people with different levels of visual impairment, which is being presented at the São Paulo Biennial, Majori Silva praised the fact that the inclusive edition of “O Jardim de Marielle” is the result of a “reflection together with the editor on how [se poderia] broaden this group and include more people.”
“There are also people who need to understand anti-racism that they do not see”I note.
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Perla Assunção, representative of the social organization Fundação Dorina Nowill, with more than 70 years of existence and who was responsible for including braille in the books of the Mostarda publishing house, explained the characteristics of this format.
“We made this production [dos livros] in ink and braille. That is, it has Braille and an enlarged font. […] making this production with enlarged font and braille you serve the public that sees or has low vision and the blind public. Each reading on their own support, in the same book,” he noted.
“When you talk about identity, [sabemos que] there are visually impaired people who are black. They are people who are in Brazil, who are black and who will be able to get to know each other better and will have opportunities to access their support”, concluded Perla Assunção.
Source: Observadora
