Name: Juliana Renata Santos
Age: 22
Major: Public Relations
Year: 2015
Sign: Aries
Juliana is a senior looking forward to graduate. Member of the Graduating Commission and a Cásper’s enthusiastic, she is also one of the founders of AfriCásper – a Student’s Union that purposes to stimulate debate in order to minimize any racial prejudice and to empower black students.
Favorite thing about Cásper: Diversity. There are all kinds of people and they’re all up to debate those differences.
Dislikes about Cásper: Prejudice. In spite of all the diversity, there’s still a bunch of day-by-day acts of prejudice, and the only way to show this is throughout the student’s unions.
How did you and your partners have the idea of creating AfriCásper?Some journalism professors, most of them black, encouraged the students, also black, to create a Facebook group for discussing the Afro issue. After that, those same professors encouraged us to take this out of the online environment and transform it into something real.
Which are the proposals of this Union?We are still a little bit premature, it’s a recent thing. Most of all, we are learning, discussing, reading, searching, making a interchange of knowledge with different Unions everyday. We make open reunions and closed ones, in those, only black people are allowed to attend. We also organize our themes in blocks. For instance, in the first semester we made a couple of reunions related to racism and the deconstruction of it daily.
How do you feel attending to one of those reunions?I feel comfortable! It’s the only moment I really feel empowered.
And what do you try to transmit to people, concerning those issues?Today, I’m a militant of the black issues. That means I read, research, debate and study this theme. So, because of that, I feel free to point mistakes in people I know, in order to teach them how to act, because sometimes racism is expressed in words or action that are inconscient.
What is the relation between the members of AfriCásper?We are a group of action composed by eight people. Whenever we are going to post something or make a statement as a Union or individually, concerning those topics, we talk and discuss with each other, because we represent a group.
In your opinion, what’s the importance of having a Union like AfriCásper in college?In a private college, without the racial quota system and with a very reduced number of black students, such as Cásper, is essential to discuss the racial question.
Have you noticed any changes in Cásper, after the creation of AfriCásper?The fact of having a Black Union in a majorly white and elitist environment, such as Cásper, make the few black students a lot more encouraged to open themselves and even to report acts of racism. I also noticed that some people who aren’t black are having a lot more of respect with black people, trying to stop using prejudicial expressions and even asking the members of AfriCásper when they have doubts on how is the right way to act.
What’s the greatest memory you have being part of AfriCásper?Cásper has united itself. It is pretty recent, but we created a group with all the Student’s Unions: Atlética (athlete’s association), Bateria (school’s band), Centro Acadêmico (student’s association), Frente Feminista Lisandra (feminist libber), Frente LGBT+ (LGBT+ libber). One of the greatest moments was when all those unions made a awareness campaign for Pororoca (Cásper’s costume party), in the form of little texts, which highlighted the need of not making some prejudicial, offensive and oppressive acts, in the party and in life.
If you could change something in Cásper, what would it be?I’d like people to be more open to hear, both students and teachers. Despite being a member of a black Student’s Union in college, there are moments I’m not comfortable talking about this subject to some friend who allegedly are interested in it, but never attend AfriCásper’s reunions. Worst then that, it is very complicated when someone asks me something about the issue, but don’t let me explain it and make a bunch of judgments. Sometimes, I rather be silent than judge. I would also like Cásper to adopt the racial quotas system.Â