November 21, 2003

BRASILIA - The Dombali Cultural Society, that groups together Black people and Afro-descendents, convened the International Democracy and Communication - the Imperative of Inclusion Seminar, which will take place November 25-27 in Brasilia.

Dombali questions the process of radio and television concessions carried out by the government. According to the movement it grants special privileges to the conglomerates that are in the hands of 12 families. This concentration, it states, makes democracy vulnerable in Brazil.

Moreover, it states that the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva government has recognized groups linked to Evangelical Churches and the Catholic Church. The concession process will allow the Catholic to create a National Television Network.

However, the process excludes the terreiros, worship places for Candomble and are based on political and economic criteria that do not allow any minority access.

In a seminar held in Porto Alegre on November 14 the president of the Dombali Cultural Society Regina dos Santos denounced what she said was intolerance toward African religions.

The mentioned television programs with an Evangelical tendency that tend to anathematize African religions. This persecution of Evangelical Churches, she said, harms the self-esteem of young Black people and young Afro-descendants.

The working document for the seminar states that the Black population is not reflected in a positive manner in the media and that when it appears, its image has features constructed by racial prejudice, that strengthen the distorted and stereotypical images of the reality.

Dombali affirms that, in the face of the racism and discrimination in Brazilian media, in particular television, the radio and televisions concessions should change. Communication media in Brazil needs to be allied with the promotion of democracy and human rights, it said.

Dombali, said Dos Santos, means one who does, in the Bambara tradition from the Congo. The Seminar has the support of the Canadian International Development Agency, the National Communication Forum Against Racism (FONACOR) and TV-Affirmation, Black People in TV.

With the conclusions of the seminar, Dombali aims to present legal bills that seem to democratize and ensure cultural and ethnical equality in the communication and in the media. A representative from the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) in London has been invited to the event in Brasilia.

ALC News (Agencia Latinoamericana y Caribeqa de Comunicacisn)