Sinho, as he is known, is a Portuguese Afro-descendant familiar with the outskirts and the creator of the initiative Noz Stória (our history, in Creole), which conducts guided tours of emblematic spaces showcasing the presence of the African community in Greater Lisbon.
The vice-president of the Associação Cavaleiros de São Brás, located in Casal da Boba, Amadora, notes that little has changed since the death of Cape Verdean citizen Odair Moniz on October 21 of last year in Cova da Moura, killed by a police officer who is set to stand trial on Wednesday.
“Based on the accounts I gather here in Lisbon’s peripheral communities, police violence remains strong, and these interventions continue to involve physical and verbal abuse. I don’t think anything has changed,” he says in an interview.
He believes several factors contribute to the current situation.
“We are 50 years past the April 25 revolution, and public policies haven’t kept up with these communities in various aspects. If we look at who has been most present, it’s the police forces,” he observes.
He continues: “Instead of the State directing other departments like education, health, housing to these areas, there was a State absence, and I’m not seeing public policies being created to assist these communities.”
For Sinho, this absence leaves a working class vulnerable to exploitation, violence, and various factors entrenched in daily life.
When asked about any changes following Odair Moniz’s death and the subsequent violence, he recalls “initial meetings with associations that amounted to nothing.”
“Communities and social movements that have worked for decades were not consulted, even if acknowledged and decorated, their work is not valued,” he laments.
He asserts, “Until the State reaches out to these associations and movements and listens to the community, I don’t see anything good coming.”
Regarding this, he points out that outer communities are not on the current political agenda, nor do today’s political candidates have programs for these areas.
“I don’t feel they are concerned about the issues occurring in these communities,” he says.
Sinho advocates for laws that effectively combat racism, which is a crime in Portugal, and the creation of “operative public policies.”
“We had a decade dedicated to Afro-descendants, yet nothing was addressed. United Nations organizations come, analyze, denounce, but we don’t see substantial changes because we are not in decision-making positions. Everything is resolved by those with privilege,” he states.
Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old Cape Verdean resident in Bairro do Zambujal, died in Cova da Moura on October 21, 2024, from two gunshots fired by a PSP officer charged with homicide. His trial is set to begin Wednesday in the Sintra court.
