Black bench is neither right nor left, says coordinator

The black bench of the Chamber of Deputies defined this Monday (30) the name of the coordinators who will represent the 122 federal deputies who declared themselves black or mixed race in the last election.

The general coordinator will be deputy Damião Feliciano União-PB), and the vice-coordinators will be Talíria Petrone (Psol-RJ), deputy Benedita da Silva (PT-RJ) and Silvia Cristina (PL-RO).

The black bench was officially created at the beginning of November, after approval of Project Resolution (PRC) 116/23, proposed by Damião Feliciano and Talíria Petrone.

The new resolution guarantees the black bench the right to vote at the leaders’ meeting in which the president of the Chamber defines the House’s voting agenda. The text also allows the bench to speak in Plenary weekly, for five minutes, to express the members’ position.

After the launch of the bench, this Monday, deputy Damião told journalists that the new group “is neither from the left nor from the right”. “The black bench goes from PT to PL. There is exactly the portrait of the Brazilian people within this black bench. It represents the segments of society”, said the parliamentarian from Paraíba.

One of the bench’s priorities will be to transform Black Awareness Day, celebrated on November 20th, into a national holiday. The bench intends to put the project to a vote in the plenary this week.

“Black parliamentarians will have an institutional space to organize the struggles and demands of the black population, with a voice and vote in the college of leaders, influencing the matters that will be voted on in this Parliament. This is historic”, said deputy Talíria Petrone.