The Battle of Durban

Abstract

This article assesses the main initiatives taken by the black movement organization in preparation for the III World Conference Against Racism. Particular attention is given to the Articulação das Mulheres Negras Brasileiras Pro-Durban, whose meaningful participation in the process resulted in important gains concerning the final documents drawn, respectively, at the Conference of the Americas (December 2000) and at the Durban Conference (August-September 2001). The author, drawing from her experience as a participant in the Articulação das Mulheres Negras, discusses some of the conflicts and contradictions that emerged among the countries present at the Conference and which were revealing of their ties with racism, colonialism and Western economic expansion. She also analyzes the political gains brought about by the Conference to women and men of the black diaspora, more specifically the Latin American black diaspora, as well as the challenges that the overcoming of the chasm between whites and blacks in Brazil poses today.