{"id":6533,"date":"2026-10-01T11:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.djamilaribeiro.com.br\/setembro-foi-mes-de-despedida-de-duas-personalidades-marcantes-na-trajetoria-de-djamila-ribeiro\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T08:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:35:20","slug":"zelia-amador-de-deus-and-amelinha-teles-farewell-djamila-ribeiro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.djamilaribeiro.com.br\/en\/zelia-amador-de-deus-and-amelinha-teles-farewell-djamila-ribeiro\/","title":{"rendered":"September Marked Farewells to Two Influential Figures in Djamila Ribeiro’s Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Z\u00e9lia Amador de Deus and Amelinha Teles were mentors, role models, and sources of affection in the philosopher’s development<\/em><\/p>\n

September marked the loss of two influential figures in Djamila Ribeiro’s life: Z\u00e9lia Amador de Deus, a professor and Black rights activist, and Amelinha Teles, a writer and human rights activist.<\/p>\n

On September 8, Djamila announced Z\u00e9lia’s death on Instagram. Z\u00e9lia was a professor emerita at the Federal University of Par\u00e1 (UFPA) and a founder of the Center for the Study and Defense of Black People of Par\u00e1 (Cedenpa). Djamila wrote, using the term Orun for the spiritual realm in Candombl\u00e9 and other Yoruba-based religions:<\/p>\n

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“Today, our beloved Z\u00e9lia Amador de Deus went to Orun, a source of pride for Par\u00e1 and Brazil. Professor Emerita at UFPA, founder of Cedenpa, and responsible for implementing essential public policies for Black, Indigenous, and quilombola [maroon-descended] populations. An indispensable reference.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On September 15, she paid tribute to Amelinha, a founder of the Uni\u00e3o de Mulheres de S\u00e3o Paulo (S\u00e3o Paulo Women’s Union):<\/p>\n

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“When I learned of her passing today, I was on a flight and could not hold back my tears. Amelinha Teles, who stood up to the military dictatorship, a leading feminist, founder of Uni\u00e3o de Mulheres. A woman of struggle, she created the essential project ‘Promotoras Legais Populares’ and dedicated her life to defending women and democracy.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Z\u00e9lia Amador de Deus and the Paths Opened by Exu<\/h5>\n

Z\u00e9lia was born in the quilombola territory of Mangueiras, on Maraj\u00f3 Island, and made the university a site of struggle. She was the first Black faculty member to receive the title of professor emerita at UFPA, where she also served as vice president, and she helped found Cedenpa, a leading organization defending Black people and quilombola communities in Par\u00e1. An actor, theater director, and writer, she credited her grandmother, who raised her, with shaping her political consciousness.<\/p>\n

Djamila shared details of a 2019 encounter with Z\u00e9lia at the Pan-Amazonian Book Fair, where the professor was the honoree. Z\u00e9lia invoked Exu, an orisha (deity) of Candombl\u00e9 and other Afro-Brazilian religions:<\/p>\n

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“She came to meet me, we talked, and she told me: ‘Djamila, Exu is the lord of the paths. With his aggressiveness, he opened trails across the diaspora. We need to remain insurgent bodies, bodies that unsettle and open up spaces. We cannot bow our heads. Be as aggressive as Exu and open your paths.'”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Djamila said those words were important to her own path:<\/p>\n

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“She saw me, truly saw me, welcomed me, and gave me direction.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She also recalled writing two columns in Folha de S.Paulo<\/em>, a major Brazilian daily, in Z\u00e9lia’s honor: one in 2019 and another on the day of their last meeting, two weeks before Z\u00e9lia’s death. She said she was glad to have honored her while she was alive:<\/p>\n

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“I was with her two weeks ago. We had breakfast together, we talked, I brought flowers in the color of Nan\u00e3, her orisha, and received her blessing. Without knowing it, that was our goodbye.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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“[…] Today, despite the sadness, I celebrate her life and existence, whose legacy will remain forever. Long live Z\u00e9lia, our heir to Ananse [a spider figure of West African folklore], who returns to the primordial clay of her mother, Nan\u00e3,” Djamila concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Amelinha Teles and the Political Education of Generations of Women<\/h5>\n

Amelinha Teles embodied the connection between defending democracy and fighting for women’s rights. She was arrested in 1972 with her husband, C\u00e9sar Teles, and her sister, who was pregnant, and taken to the Opera\u00e7\u00e3o Bandeirante (Oban), a repression unit of the military dictatorship in S\u00e3o Paulo. Decades later, a lawsuit filed by the Teles family led a court to recognize Army Colonel Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra as a torturer. Djamila and Amelinha’s relationship spanned training sessions at the Uni\u00e3o de Mulheres, feminist gatherings, and key moments in the academic career of the author of Lugar de Fala<\/em> (Place of Speech<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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“How much I learned from you, Amelinha. You saw me as a ‘girl,’ taught me so much, helped me grow, and taught me to face the world. From meetings with your beloved C\u00e9sar Teles, to training sessions at Uni\u00e3o de Mulheres, to feminist gatherings, to your presence at my master’s qualifying exam and your support when a professor on the committee treated me with disrespect: you asked to speak and said, ‘Djamila, the activists liked it!'” the philosopher wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the feminist movement, Amelinha worked with the newspaper Brasil Mulher<\/em> (Brazil Woman<\/em>), took part in the movement for daycare centers, and joined the Lobby do Batom<\/em> (“Lipstick Lobby”), a nonpartisan campaign by women during the 1987\u20131988 National Constituent Assembly. She was also a key figure in creating the Promotoras Legais Populares<\/em> (Community Legal Advocates), an initiative that trains women, mainly from low-income communities, on their rights and on access to justice. Her book Breve hist\u00f3ria do feminismo no Brasil<\/em> (A Brief History of Feminism in Brazil<\/em>) is also among the works Djamila cites in her own writing.<\/p>\n

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“There is a framed piece of yours at Espa\u00e7o Feminismos Plurais, with the phrase that taught us so much: ‘Being a feminist means taking an uncomfortable stance.’ For you, we will keep making people uncomfortable. We owe you so much. And we will love you forever!” Djamila posted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The legacies of Z\u00e9lia and Amelinha are already taking concrete form. In the northern state of Par\u00e1, a bill introduced by state legislator L\u00edvia Duarte of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) proposes recognizing Z\u00e9lia’s literary work as part of the state’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Meanwhile, the Auto do C\u00edrio, a street pageant in Bel\u00e9m that precedes the C\u00edrio de Nazar\u00e9 religious festival and an outreach program of UFPA that Z\u00e9lia helped found, paid tribute to her at the launch of its 32nd edition on September 13. The pageant will take place on October 9 in Bel\u00e9m’s Cidade Velha neighborhood.<\/p>\n

In Franco da Rocha, in Greater S\u00e3o Paulo, the fifth class of Community Legal Advocates in the Juquery Basin region graduated on September 29. It had 21 women, the largest in the region, and the ceremony included a tribute to Amelinha.<\/p>\n

Translated by AI<\/em><\/p>\n

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Um post compartilhado por Djamila Ribeiro (@djamilaribeiro1)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n