Election years remind us of the importance of female leadership in bringing about change. Being a woman in a society historically written by men's narratives demands, as Elza Soares sings, strength to be and to persevere. And what about being a woman in the countryside? We sought out family farmers, agro-extractivists, and representatives of traditional peoples and communities to understand who these women are who are rewriting history, impacting their communities through political dynamics, and inspiring us through their relationship with the Cerrado. After all, the narrative sustained by gender inequality also confronts the struggle and song of women who go to the ends of the earth.
Listen to the song "A Mulher do fim do mundo" by Elza Soares.
Maria Lúcia de Oliveira, a family farmer, agro-extractive worker, and native of the Cerrado region, lives in the Água Boa community in Rio Pardo de Minas (MG). As one of our interviewees, she tells us that "if we didn't fight to defend the Cerrado, we would end up in rural exodus. We wouldn't be able to survive." Family farmer Ginercina Silva shares the same idea. A key player in the care of agroforestry systems in the Lagoa Seca community, in the municipality of Santa Rita do Novo Destino (GO), she tells us that, in the face of climate change, "women suffer the most, because we are the ones who manage the water at home, for the family, for the animals. Our work doubles." Thus, she reinforces the importance of women's role in keeping the Cerrado standing and productive in order to face the changes in its surroundings.
And in the Cerrado, women also need security and guaranteed rights to continue defending this biome. Lourdes Cardozo Laureano, a traditional healer and agronomist from the Chupa Osso community in Goiás Velho (GO), describes the policies needed for her and all her female companions: “We need to improve policies against femicide and domestic violence, with the creation of rural women's police stations, the expansion of protective measures, rights regarding alimony, and attention to women's health services. It is necessary that we are consulted in the development and implementation of policies, because we are never heard regarding our specific gender needs.”
Finally, from the Quilombola community of Cedro, in Mineiros (GO), Lucely Moraes Pio puts so much love for the Cerrado into her words that it overflows with poetry. "The Cerrado means everything to me: strength, learning, culture, and health."
Check out the interview we did with these four fighting women who came here to teach us about how singing becomes resistance.