Latest Best Partner
By Bruna Guedes Oliveira
This essay received an Honourable Mention in the Global Changemakers Essay Competition 2020.
I used to have a faithful partner. With him, I could express my vivid personality without apprehension. He had a strong ability to color my world. It was clear to anyone who saw us how much I liked being with him. Over time, though, our relationship started slowly deteriorating as I grew up because he didn’t fit me anymore. So I had to painfully donate Floral Dress to someone else. Devastated by this breakup that I never thought anyone would fit me as perfectly. Then, I met Black Suit.
Although being with someone too formal never seemed like a good idea to me, Black Suit turned out to be a crucial companion at important moments of my life — when I advocate for the causes I care about. The first time Black Suit showed me that the world was open to hearing me, I was very anxious. I trembled while standing with him at the World Affairs Council of America — the largest non-profit organization on international affairs of the United States. That day, Black Suit and I had to face our first obstacle together: my shyness to speak in public. But being with him made me feel powerful and equal to all important people that were in that room. More than that, he helped me get a message to everyone about the relevant work I had done integrating refugees in Brazil. Even communicating in my second language, English, I managed to deliver a coherent speech on how the US could take actions to assist refugees since their issues don’t simply end with a humanitarian visa acceptance. They still confront many borders that are not physical any longer, but social.
On another occasion, Black Suit allowed me to see myself through another lens: in journals. He and I looked good together. The images in the front pages of the Brazilian portal G1 pictured us firmly holding the microphone in a public hearing at Goiania City Council as we were facing an exceedingly concerning regional scandal regarding gender-based violence: harassment in schools. I was extremely angry because I had already been harassed by a teacher who whispered pornographic comments to me during a class. Nevertheless, positioning myself with Black Suit gave me an extraordinary ability to speak calmly and purposely. At that moment, I knew that if my speech was aggressive and pessimistic, I wouldn’t contribute in anything to reduce gender inequality; an impactful speech has to be constructive and balanced.
Black Suit was also crucial in turning my activism into constantly overseeing and demanding actions from the government. I realized that the Brazilian law regarding harassment called to punish only workplace harassment when there was a hierarchical relationship. This pushed me to hold that public hearing at City Council and meetings with Brazilian congress members where I elaborated on the importance of a complementary law also to punish harassment in schools. Months later, the Justice Court declared the teacher-students relationship as hierarchical; these cases now count as harassment. That moment, Black Suit, who accompanied me in all reunions, commemorated with me a significant victory to women’s rights.
Since Black Suit came into my life, I’m more confident. I’m no longer a little girl who fears speaking to audiences, nor do I question myself anymore whether people much older than me are willing to hear me. At the same time, I haven’t lost the ability to see the world in colors like I did when I was with Floral Dress. Today, I’m able to see, through activism, a more colorful world where women, refugees, and other minority groups have more rights guaranteed. With Black Suit, my latest best partner, I’m eager to live our next steps in activism.
Global Changemakers has an unshakeable mission of supporting youth to create positive change in their communities. A global pioneer in supporting youth-led development, they have trained youth from over 180 countries and provided grants to over 360 youth-led projects, which have had a combined impact on over 6,2 million people. www.global-changemakers.net
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article belong to the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or Global Changemakers.
