Maria Alice da Cruz debuts her column on profiles of black students and employees at Unicamp
Os smart eyes of the girl Renata Cristina Augusto Cardozo x-rayed the young university campus by Barão Geraldo, where his mother, Nadir Augusto Cardoso, worked. It was the 1970s, a time when professionalization was still the privilege of few Brazilians from black families, but the girl carried her dream into her youth, until she became psychologist Renata Cardozo, in 1998. “Unicamp was the place where I could look at myself and discover that I had professional potential, because at that time, like most black families in Brazil, it was normal to believe that the only work environment for us was the 'family home'. It was the time when a large part of the black community stopped working in other people's homes to look for a professional career, through entities such as Guardinha and Patrulheiros.” With this thought, she instructed her mother to find a place at Unicamp where she could work.
Protagonist of one of the many stories hidden in the vast production of Unicamp, the psychologist from the Campus City Hall believes he made his debut in the world of work in the right place, in 1984, at the age of 14, in a space for debate and demands: the Central Student Directory (DCE). At that moment, the desire for psychology was confirmed. “There, I could look for myself and around and discover my professional potential. At DCE, I also discovered that there was already a set of guidelines for student demands, where I was able to start looking at the racial issue, and this was important in the process of building my identity”, he recalls.
At that moment, the perspective of the future psychologist was also projected towards the environment outside the university. She became involved in the black movement at a young age, where she met friends from Casa Laudelina, a women's front that carries out important social work in Campinas. Along these paths of well-being, the psychologist also joined the Promotoras Legais Populares project, run by people from various social segments united in the debate and the fight against violence against women.
Organizational psychologist, in the early 2000s, in partnership with the General Directorate of Human Resources (DGRH) at Unicamp, Renata Cardozo developed actions to reduce the physical exhaustion of a group of professionals in the operational area of the Campus City Hall, through relocations and reception. “There was a large operational contingent at the Campus City Hall, where I worked as a psychologist. Length of stay and age mean that some activities become heavy and we need to reallocate employees, but the change from one role they are used to to another has to be done in a positive way,” she states. Before arriving at Campus City Hall, she also worked in the administrative area of the Center for Psychological Studies (NEP) and the Botanical Park.
In these 33 years of dedication to the University, it is impossible not to build your own critical thinking and, in the case of Renata Cardozo, based on literature and the observation of human behavior. Currently, she juggles activities at Community Affairs Coordination (CAC) – where it operates as a loan – with participation in the Unicamp Afro-Brazilian Cultural Integration Forum (Ficafro), a space for exchange between black professionals at the University to survey initiatives, work and research that address racial issues.
One of the pertinent themes in Ficafro is the National Policy for Comprehensive Health of the Black Population, created by Ordinance No. 992, of May 13, 2009, of the Ministry of Health. According to Renata, it is a transversal policy that aims to promote the integral health of the black population, prioritizing reducing ethnic-racial inequalities, combating racism and discrimination in the institutions and services of the Unified Health System (SUS).
According to the psychologist, the results encouraged the holding of the Unicamp Black Population Pro-Health Mobilization Fair, held in October 2014 and 2015, in order to offer prevention and clarify the prevalence of some diseases in this ethnic group, including high blood pressure, diabetes, triglycerides and sickle cell anemia. “The main thing in this policy is self-declaration. This is important for prevention.”
Renata believes that Unicamp needs to establish real opportunity criteria for everyone. “The University needs to allow employees to work, develop and grow; have the opportunity, throughout their professional career, to build a career. Let racism not be a reason for a professional to be set aside.”
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Maria Alice da Cruz is a specialist in scientific journalism from Unicamp. He graduated in journalism from PUC-Campinas and studied TV and cinema production and direction at the Escola de Formação de Cinema e TV, in Sousas. He currently works at Unicamp's Communication Department and is a member of the University Pact for Education in Human Rights. She is co-author of the book “I'm Part of This History 2”. She was a reviewer, web writer and wrote chronicles for the newspaper Popular Mail, from Campinas. He was a reporter for Journal of Unicamp. This column reveals aspects of the contribution of black students and employees throughout Unicamp's history.