May 31, 2022

12:05

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine 

VILHENA (RO) – Txai Suruí, an indigenous leader and activist from Rondônia, the first of her people, the Paiter Suruí, to attend law school, continues breaking old stereotypes and occupying spaces still rarely frequented by the majority of the members of native peoples in the country. The 25-year-old received another important trophy this past weekend, being chosen as the highlight in ‘Influence and Digital Representativeness’, of the ‘Yes to Racial Equality 2022’ Award. 

“I am very, very, very happy to be the highlight of this year,” reacted the environmentalist on the big screen of the ceremony broadcast last Saturday, 28, by the Multishow channel, on TV, and on YouTube of the Identities of Brazil Institute (ID BR), the organization that created it. “It is very special and I feel very honored,” Txai Suruí continued.

In her view, the event serves to promote an important – and necessary – debate to the nation. “I would like to thank ID BR for the award, and also for taking the anti-racism agenda to this Brazil, which still does not value and denies its origins, which still says ‘racism does not exist’,” she added.

From the Amazon to the world

It was this unique personality, a calm way of speaking about such delicate and urgent issues, as well as enough patience to teach the millennial wisdom of an entire Amazon people, that made leaders from all over the globe silent, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, last year.

Speaking in English, it was the young indigenous woman from Rondônia who represented Brazil, when the president of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, did not. From there, Txai rose in environmental activism, became outspoken and, indeed, heard, worldwide. 

“Through our struggle, we can build and achieve a world without social inequalities, with gender equality, without racism and without oppression,” is how she herself describes her trajectory of struggle and resistance, which has already earned her two awards.

It is with this approach that Txai stands out in the social networks. She denounces irregularities, with the invasion of ranchers and deforesters in Indigenous Lands (ITs); she demands justice for murders of environmentalists, such as the death of her childhood friend Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, two years ago without response. Through the networks, he also writes about structural racism and environmental racism.

For these and other factors, the Yes to Racial Equality Award is not a surprise. Txai had already been announced, well before, on May 18, as a member of the group of finalists.

Daughter of the great leader Almir Surui, Txai is the coordinator of the Association for the Ethnoenvironmental Defense Kanindé, an institution presided over by her mother, Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo. The young leader is also the creator of an important organization to promote activism, the Indigenous Youth Movement of Rondonia, created in 2021.

Racial Equality

Planned and promoted by the ID BR Institute, the trophy is the biggest award that recognizes and maps initiatives, people and companies that work for racial equality in Brazil. In the last four years alone, the award has received more than 40 nominations and highlighted 190 finalists.

This year, in addition to a statuette with the work “Mad World”, by artist Vik Muniz, the winners of 8 categories received a sum of money to support their projects. 

In addition to Txai Suruí, two other Indigenous activists were recognized in 2022: federal lawmaker Joênia Wapichana (Rede/RR), in the ‘Inspiration’ category, and entrepreneur Watatakalu Yawalapiti, in ‘Trajectory and Entrepreneurship’.

Read also: Against invasions, illegal mining and deforestation, see how Txai Surui uses the internet to defend indigenous peoples