Ribeir\u00e3o Preto witnessed a historic evening on Saturday, August 16. During a lecture on the stage of Theatro Pedro II, at the opening of the 24th edition of the International Book Fair (FIL), Professor Djamila Ribeiro was awarded honorary citizenship of the city. Honored as one of the central figures of this year\u2019s edition, Djamila was given a standing ovation by a packed audience.<\/p>\n
The honor was proposed by councilwoman Duda Hidalgo (PT). \u201cYou chose not to keep knowledge confined to academia. You are also a popular educator, because you decided to spread this knowledge and turn your words into struggle, immortalizing them in books.”<\/p>\n
In her speech, Djamila recalled the silencing she faced throughout her academic journey. \u201cWhen I questioned my professors about the absence of female voices, about the absence of Black voices, I was told that this was not philosophy,\u201d said the Brazilian philosopher, currently a visiting scholar at MIT<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Her statement opened space for a reflection on the erasure of Black thought in university curricula. \u201cI’m not saying we shouldn’t read the Global North. Quite the opposite. I’m saying we need to stop placing Europe or the United States at the center,” she affirmed, emphasizing the importance of collective work to amplify historically marginalized perspectives. \u201cLugar de Fala<\/em> (Place of Speech), my first book, published in 2017, was born within a collection. Because it didn\u2019t make sense to come alone. Since then, there have been 14 titles in the Feminismos Plurais<\/em> collection and, counting all titles under the Sueli Carneiro publishing label, 27 books have been released \u2014 all written by Black authors. This is the commitment we need to make, to our own production,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\nTribute in series<\/strong><\/h3>\n