Djamila Ribeiro is a Brazilian Black feminist philosopher and journalist. She writes about female empowerment, intersectionality, racial quota policies, and the origins of black feminism in Brazil and the United States. Ribeiro is the author of the books “Place of Speech” (Jandaíra / Plural Feminisms), “Who’s Afraid of Black Feminism?”, “Short Anti-racist Guide” and “Letters to my Grandmother” (Companhia das Letras). Her books have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian and German.
Ribeiro holds a master’s degree in political philosophy from the Federal University of São Paulo and is the coordinator of Plural Feminisms Institute, which publishes books written by Black authors in Brazil. She is a visiting professor at the journalism department of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and a guest researcher at the University of Mainz in Germany. Ribeiro was named an immortal occupant of chair number 28 of the Academy of Literature of São Paulo, a position previously occupied by academic Lygia Fagundes Telles, one of the Brazil’s most prolific national writers of the 20th century.
Ribeiro is considered by the BBC as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in the World. In 2019, she was laureate of the Prince Claus Prize, awarded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2021, she became the first Brazilian in history to be honored by the BET Awards, granted by the American Black community. In 2024, Yale University Press will publish “Where We Stand,” her first book translated into English.
Ribeiro will be awarded the Gender Equality and Racial Inclusion Award at the VIII Leadership for the Americas Awards Gala in 2023.