Why are black children prevented from experiencing the fullness of their childhood? How many black people die in hospital queues? How many black women suffer obstetric violence? How many black sisters in the churches cry for their murdered children? Cycles of pain and violence are renewed daily by the perversity of racism and the way the Brazilian white elite maintains the structures of power.
These reflections were raised by popular teacher and educator Liz Guimarães and Anglican Reverend Adriano Portela during the “Roundtable Dialogue: Pathways of Faith and Justice for an ANTI-RACIST church”, run by the Bahia Ecumenical Council of Christian Churches (Conselho Ecumênico Baiano de Igrejas Cristãs: CEBIC) and the Ecumenical Coordination of Service (Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviço: CESE). The initiative is part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, coordinated in Brazil by the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (Conselho Nacional de Igrejas Cristãs do Brasil: CONIC).