Joacine Elysees Katar Tavares Moreira (born 27 July 1982) is a Bissau-Guinean-born Portuguese academic, activist and politician.

Joacine Katar Moreira
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
In office
25 October 2019 – 29 March 2022
ConstituencyLisbon
Personal details
Born
Joacine Elysees Katar Tavares Moreira

(1982-07-27) 27 July 1982 (age 42)
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Nationality
Political partyIndependent (since 2020)
Other political
affiliations
LIVRE (until 2020)
Occupation
  • Researcher
  • activist
  • politician
Billboard promoting Moreira in Lisbon — "more equality, more diversity, more justice and representativeness; Intersectional Portugal!"

She was elected to the Assembly of the Republic as a member of the Livre party in 2019. However, in early 2020 the party removed its political confidence in her, making her a non-attached member (deputada não-inscrita) until the end of the legislature in 2022.

Early life and education

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Born on 27 July 1982 in Guinea-Bissau,[1] Katar Moreira has lived in Portugal since she was eight years old.[2]

She acquired Portuguese citizenship through naturalization in 2003.[1]

Katar Moreira earned a university degree in Modern and Contemporary History. She later obtained a master's degree in development studies and a PhD in African Studies.[2] Founder of the Institute of Black Women in Portugal (INMUNE),[3] she was the first black woman to head a party list in a Portuguese legislative election, namely Livre's electoral list for the 2019 election in Lisbon.

Political career

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In 2019, Katar Moreira was elected member of the Assembly of the Republic, and her party thus earned its first seat at the Portuguese parliament since its creation in 2014.[4] At the same time, she was one of three black members of parliament. Since joining the parliament, she has presented various policy proposals on tackling racism and colonial legacies in Portugal.[5] Among other initiatives, she proposed in 2020 that items in Portuguese museums obtained from former colonies should be returned to their countries of origin.[5] Because of this André Ventura leader of Chega provoked an outcry in Parliament by saying that Katar Moreira, should be "sent back to her country of origin. It would be a lot better for everyone".[6]

Livre removed its political confidence from Katar Moreira after a party caucus in January 2020, citing communication and coordination issues with its deputy and accusing Katar Moreira of separating herself from the party "immediately after the election".[7] This made Joacine the only deputy without a party (Deputada não inscrita)[8] until Cristina Rodrigues decided to leave People-Animals-Nature in late June 2020.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Aviso n.o 11 795/2003 (2.a série)". Diário da República n.º 257/2003, Série II de 6 de noviembre de 2003: 16684.
  2. ^ a b Caetano, Maria João (11 August 2019). "Joacine Katar Moreira: "Eu gaguejo. Isso não me impede de rigorosamente nada"". Diário de Notícias.
  3. ^ Baptista, Sofia Correia (4 October 2019). "Joacine Katar Moreira: uma activista negra a caminho do Parlamento". Público.
  4. ^ "Livre elege Joacine Katar Moreira para o Parlamento". Jornal de Negócios. 7 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b Victoria Waldersee (29 January 2020), Portugal minister condemns far-right MP's attack on black colleague Reuters.
  6. ^ "Portugal far-right deputy calls for black MP to be "sent back"". France 24. January 29, 2020.
  7. ^ "Livre retira a confiança política a Joacine Katar Moreira. "Hoje não é um dia feliz para o partido"" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  8. ^ "Official website of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic - Joacine Katar Moreira" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  9. ^ "Cristina Rodrigues deixa PAN e mantém-se como deputada não inscrita" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-10-28.