Vagalumes is formed as a network of volunteers, with the aim of paying tribute to the dead and solidarity with the families of indigenous peoples affected by Covid-19 in Brazil and neighboring countries. Access here.
Each of the deaths in the Covid-19 pandemic has caused untold suffering for those who went, as well as their family and friends. People who fell ill and survived also experienced personal suffering, often enormous. But the pandemic also caused collective trauma, social suffering accentuated by the difficulty of performing traditional mourning rites imposed by restrictions on gatherings. The collective suffering was also intensified by the denial by some governments and sectors of society of the seriousness of the pandemic and the disease itself, by the lack of public recognition of the enormous pain that society was going through, as well as by the lack of political and institutional response to a health and economic crisis that could have been smaller. This page was created to record the way that Brazilian civil society has been responding to the social suffering caused by the pandemic through actions that defend the right to mourning, memory and accountability of governments and institutions for avoidable suffering, individual and collective.
Resocie professor Rebecca Abers participates in this debate in a recent article in Nexo Jornal, in collaboration with colleagues from the Brazilian Network of Women Scientists .
Vagalumes is formed as a network of volunteers, with the aim of paying tribute to the dead and solidarity with the families of indigenous peoples affected by Covid-19 in Brazil and neighboring countries. Access here.
In memory of those killed by the pandemic, activists placed a thousand crosses on the lawns of Esplanada dos Ministérios (Brasília), on Sunday, June 28, 2020.
The NGO Rio de Paz had already held a similar protest on June 11, at Copacabana Beach.
On Teacher's Day, October 15, 2021, the Association of Victims and Families of COVID 19 (AVICO), with support from the University of Brasília Teachers' Association, the Federal District Teachers Union (SINPRO-DF), Inesc and other civil society organizations, organized an act on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in front of the National Congress. Three thousand flags were installed representing the 600 thousand dead, with the names of Covid victims. See information here , and a report here .
Campaign led by the collective, O Candeeiro , A OAB Federal; the Movimento 342 Artes e Grupo Prerogativas; and the Association of Victims and Relatives of Victims of Covid-19 (AVICO) filed a request with the Attorney General's Office requesting a complaint to the Federal Supreme Court of crimes by the President of the Republic against Covid-19. The group understands that the president's actions represent a serious danger to society but that the impeachment process is too long and unlikely to be approved in Congress. Meanwhile, the PGR has the legal power to denounce to the Supreme Court various acts of the President of the Republic that could be judged criminal by the Supreme Court. If the Chamber of Deputies authorized the STF to open a criminal case against Bolsonaro, he would be immediately removed for a period of 180 days.
In August 2021, the Respira Brasil collective launched a campaign that seeks to give visibility to the situation of the more than 130 thousand orphans and orphans of Covid-19. The proposal is to carry out reflection activities as well as the promotion of public policies, based on a critique of the idea that the right represents the “family”. Check out the interreligious act on August 20 on the Respira Brasil facebook page.
On Monday, June 21, 2021, the Respira Brasil movement held acts in several cities in the country in honor of the 500,000 lives lost to Covid-19. In each act, 500 candles were lit, each representing a thousand dead. The use of candles in place of the crosses seen in previous acts was intended to emphasize the interreligious character of the act, using a symbol accepted by various religions and even by non-religious people. The act was held in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Natal, Maceió, Campinas, Diadema, Vitoria, among other cities. The campaign uses #LutoPorMeioMilhão.
Social movements in Vitória (ES) held an event at Camburi Beach on June 27, 2021 in honor of the 500,000 deaths caused by Covid-19. Check out the report here .
On May 1, 2021, a group of nurses held an act in honor of the more than 400,000 deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil and in defense of the category's labor rights. The act took place a year after a protest held by the sector also in front of the Planalto in which protesters were harassed by pro-Jair Bolsonaro militants. The image of a nurse being assaulted was widely disseminated on social media as a representation of the political polarization surrounding the pandemic. Check out the report here. Acts like these were overshadowed by the wave of pro-government demonstrations that took place on the same day.
Created on April 30, 2021, the Life and Justice Association in Support and Defense of the Rights of Victims of COVID-19 seeks to create a national network of support and solidarity for living victims and families of fatal victims of Covid-19. “Associação Vida e Justiça is a space for human solidarity, for the defense and promotion of life, for the articulation of public policies to support and repair victims and works to hold negligent public managers accountable for the Covid19 pandemic.”
The association is organized by 13 themes, each with national coordination, as well as sections in the States and the Federal District, currently under creation. The activities range from organizing dialogues with society through a large network of social leaders to the elaboration of public policy and legislation proposals aimed at memory, justice, reparation and institutional accountability for the impacts of Covid-19 on the future of society. country.
This facebook page is one of the initiatives of the Support Network for Families of Fatal Victims of Covid-19 in Brazil, an emergency network formed by several volunteers, professionals and people in solidarity with the families of victims in the country, in his honor. You can find tribute posts to victims of Covid-19.
The Association of Victims and Families of Victims of Covid-19 – AVICO Brasil was founded on April 8, 2021 in the city of Porto Alegre/RS, from the indignation of two human rights defenders, Gustavo Bernardes and Paola Falceta, with the inefficiency and negligence of the State in the face of the multiple consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in the lives of Brazilians. The collective is made up of survivors and family members of voluntary victims and has as a priority objective to represent the general and individual interests of its members (and non-associates) related to the victims of COVID-19. The association has also been creating therapeutic encounter groups with bereaved people. In June 2021, it filed with the Attorney General's Office (PGR) a criminal representation against President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party) for negligence in relation to the pandemic. In August, he filed a request for the president's impeachment.
On March 28, 2021, National Solidarity Day, CONIC, together with #RespiraBrasil , brought together different religious traditions, organizations and movements, in carrying out an inter-religious act “One Million Candles for LIFE”. Watch the video here.
In an event held on March 25, 2021, organized by the National Health Council, the Federal District Nurses Union, the Dentists Union, the DF Health Council, and the DF OAB, a symbolic funeral procession was held in honor of the 300,000 people who lost their lives to Covid-19. Wearing black t-shirts, protesters marched towards the center of the square, carrying a coffin with a map of Brazil, symbolizing the deaths that occurred across the country. Then, each of the participants placed a rose on top of the funeral urn. See report here .
Articulation created in February 2021 by religious leaders of a diversity of faiths, linked to CESEEP (Ecumenical Center for Services to Evangelization and Popular Education). The starting point of the movement was the launch of the Manifesto Respira Brasil , which defends vaccine for all, the SUS, the expansion of Emergency Aid and the impeachment of Bolsonaro. A central axis of the network is the fight for the right to mourn and funeral rituals, and for public recognition of the suffering of deaths caused by Covid-19. See the group's Facebook page here .
On August 8, 2020, the NGO Rio da Paz once again held an act on Copacabana Beach, installing crosses and red balloons to honor the 100,000 Brazilian dead due to Covid-19. Check out a video of the act here.
On August 7, 2020, eleven trade union centrals in partnership with various social movements organized symbolic acts in São Paulo, Recife, Salvador, Porto Alegre, and several other cities in honor of the 100,000 dead by Covid-19 and in defense of life, of employment and calling the population to contribute in solidarity actions. Check the report here and here .
On June 28, 2020, protesters in several cities across the country made installations of crosses in honor of the milestone of 50,000 deaths. On the Esplanada dos Ministérios in Brasília, a banner fixed on the spot stated: “+ 50,000 dead. Bolsonaro, stop denying it.” See the report here .
On June 11, 2020, members of the NGO Rio da Paz dug 100 symbolic graves on Copacabana beach, in protest at the way the Brazilian government has dealt with the pandemic in the country. The objective was to remember the more than 40 thousand people who died due to Covid-19 in Brazil. The action gained national attention when pro-government observers began digging up the crosses and a man passing in front of the installation was filmed inserting them again as he expressed his outrage at the lack of empathy for those who had lost family members. See the video here.
Created in April 2020, the Support Network for Families and Friends of Fatal Victims of Covid-19 in Brazil aims to promote the reception of the bereaved free of charge, offering materials and addresses of mental health institutions and psychosocial care. The group is organized into seven Working Groups on the following topics: a) psychosocial support; b) deployment and management of platforms; c) Administration and maintenance of memorial pages for honoring and welcoming the bereaved; d) Documentation and archive; e) Content curation and repositories of music, poetry, videos and other arts; Ecumenical religious support and spiritual support for the bereaved and g) Elaboration of projects and actions to raise funds or support for the sustainability of the Network. Check out the report on the creation of the entity here .
THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS UNDER COVID-19 ORphanage is an articulation of civil society organizations, social movements, researchers, legal operators and social activists that has been mobilizing since 2021 for the recognition, visibility and rights of children and teenagers orphaned and orphaned as a result of the COVID-19 syndemic .
Created in the second half of 2021, the Coalition seeks to draw attention to the seriousness of the orphanhood problem created by the Covid-19 pandemic, advance in understanding the dimension of the phenomenon and build a model of action and incidence for an issue that still has no political framework. consolidated. To this end, a survey was carried out to map the state of the art of public policies for orphans. A set of webinars was also held, bringing together specialists and activists around the theme to advance understanding of the problem and the construction of an approach to action.
The first Webinar of December 6, 2021 can be watched here .
The second Webinar, dated February 7, 2022, can be watched here .
And learn about Coalition's position
The Popular Memory of the Pandemic is a project for recording and disseminating reports on popular experiences in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The website was developed by Plataforma Dhesca Brasil and there it is possible to navigate through the memories of individuals and groups, who narrate their experiences and strategies for coping with the pandemic.
In addition to browsing through the memories available on the website, you can also participate in the Popular Memory of the Pandemic us your report . Sharing your experience can be a way to safeguard heritage, strengthen resistance in the present and build the foundations for the future.
