The project Quilombo Aéreo delivers training, capacity building and more employability for black people within the area
A shared unrest that turned into a fight. That’s how the project of Kênia Aquino and Laiara Amorim began, both flight attendants and coordinators of Quilombo Aéreo, founded after observing racism and the low presence of Black individuals in aviation. The project, established in 2019, grew and other Black flight attendants joined the duo, such as Fernanda and Jirvalos, in 2021. The group started as a collective of aeronauts, gathering through a messaging app group to pursue racial and gender equity. Other agendas began to be raised, bringing visibility to the struggles of Black individuals in Brazilian civil aviation and making public the agendas of Black crew members. A survey conducted by the social project in 2022 revealed that there were 3,283 female pilots trained, of which only 992 were active in airlines, representing 2.3% of the workforce. This means that over 97% of pilot positions are occupied by men, and only 2% are Black. Regarding flight attendants, around 5% of professionals are Black individuals, and over 66% are women.
Today, Quilombo Aéreo is an institution that offers vocational courses, develops affirmative actions for employment and professional reintegration for Black individuals, as well as providing specialised consultancy on racial issues within aviation, along with Afro-centered psychological and legal support.
Purpose of the Quilombo Aéreo
The main objective of the project is to combat racism and the low presence of black people in aviation by delivering training, capacity building and employability.
The Voo Negro (‘Black Flight’) profile, conceived by Kenia Aquino, appeared on social networks at the same time as the black crew members messaging app group. Together with the profile Voe Como Uma Garota Negra (‘Fly like a black girl’), conceived by Laiara Amorim, it promotes visibility and praises the presence of black people in Brazilian aviation, since both perceived little evidence of photos with the theme of blackness on pages focused on the theme.
The first one turned into the Voo Negro project, carried out through the Marielle Franco Program for the Acceleration and Development of Black Women’s Leadership, an initiative of the Baobá Fund that seeks to expand and consolidate the participation of Black women in positions of power and influence through investment in their development plans, political and technical training, and strengthening of organisations, groups, and collectives led by them. The project offered scholarships for flight attendant training and all necessary support for professionalization, with the idea of strengthening the presence of Black individuals in the field. Eleven students were selected for in-person training in Porto Alegre. Subsequently, Quilombo Aéreo also applied for the Enfrente Call (open from 2019 to 2023) with the ‘Pretos que Voam 2’ project, which was approved. The Call was carried out through collective financing from the Enfrente Matchfunding, by Benfeitoria, a platform for mobilising resources for projects with social, economic, and other impacts.
Project impact
Claudio Renan, son of civil servants, native of Rio Grande do Sul and active in supporting the demands of organisation, agenda and technology, talks about the challenges, victories and impacts already caused by Quilombo Aéreo.
“The challenges of addressing structural racism within aviation are many, and this is exacerbated when people have to give up privileges. We can say that aviation is still far from ideal in terms of equity and there is a lot of work ahead. Regarding achievements, today, we have five black women hired and flying the skies of Brazil and the world. But we know we can do much more. We are committed to it. After all, training classes of flight attendants is only part of it, because, to complete this work, one of this project’s main objectives is employability. The project has already impacted 11 scholarship holders, in addition to nine favela communities in the city of Porto Alegre and the region”, he concludes.
Claudio Renan also says that these students are a concrete example that changing realities is possible and that some of these scholarship holders have young children, which ends up being a model of socio-financial ascension for growing individuals. It is necessary to introduce them to different perspectives of life.
Did you like the project ?
Follow Quilombo Aéreo/Voo Negro on social media here or find them through the website.
Follow Voe Com Uma Garota Negra here.
