The homage will occur at the Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Defensorías de Las Audiencias (First Latin-American Congress of Public Defenders’ Offices of the Audiences, in Buenos Aires, which starts today (15), with a debate on women’s Latin-American image in the media.

Organized by Argentina’s Public Defenders’ Office for the Audience, founded through the so-called Law of Media, which aims to ensure the exercise of human rights in the means of communication in that country, the meeting gathers ombudsmen and representatives from communication companies from several nations.

In Buenos Aires, they are expected to sign a letter of commitments in an attempt to bolster gender equality and fight violence against women.

The date for both the gathering and the tributes was chosen deliberately, as one of Viva Maria’s anniversaries in the 1990’s inspired the creation of the Latin-American Day for the Image of Women in the Media, also celebrated on September 14.

Today, the date is part of the official calendar of UN Women, an organization connected with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

At the congress, Mara Régia will deliver the opening lecture by talking about the history of women’s struggle. Surprised by the tribute, she revealed that she will address the topic “how you can change society and build a culture asserting our rights through the voice of women in the means of communication”.

The announcer declares that the years in which Viva Maria was produced showed how communication and the defense of rights are closely related. Originally created as a result of the indignation “over the way the media approached women, who are victims,” the radio program contributed to making their rights better known, and, on top of that, it tried to urge women to act together, especially in the regions covered by the Rádio Nacional da Amazônia.

Today, apart from the radios connected with the Brazil Communication Company (EBC), the program is aired by nearly 1,500 radio stations.

In Argentina, EBC is expected to sign the letter of commitments of the congress, which suggests, among other things, the development of joint efforts in a bid to raise people’s awareness, and promote gender equality and the debate about the use in the media of a language that is non-sexist, inclusive and respectful.

Amazon

Since the beginning of this year, a branch of Caixa Econômica Federal (Brazil’s federal savings bank) mounted to a riverboat on the Marajó island, state of Pará (at the mouth of the Amazon river) has been providing counseling on women’s rights, protection laws, and related legal resources (special courts, public defense offices, prosecution services, courts of justice, special police stations), in addition to its regular banking services.

A cooperation agreement was signed in Belém, the capital of Pará state, by the presidency’s secretary for Women’s Policies, Eleonora Menicucci, and Caixa CEO Jorge Hereda.

The cooperation is designed to expand the range of services provided under a federal government initiative called “Mulher, Viver sem Violência” (“Women – Living Without Violence”) created to improve assistance available to victims of violence against women.

ABr

She had celebrated her 82nd birthday September 4 and the party was held in part to also commemorate the fact that she was again in good health and spirits after a fall in which he hit her head. She had been kept in the hospital for close to a month, after the accident.

Emí­lia Pavana da Silva Borba was born in the Mangueira neighborhood, in Rio, and stayed always  connected to the escola de samba (samba club)  that gave name to that area. Her career started in the Urca’s Casino, thanks to Carmen Miranda.

Legend has it that an aunt of Emilinha, who worked as Carmen’s chambermaid, told the singer that her niece used to imitate her in musical auditorium shows. Touched by the revelation, Carmen asked the Casino owner, Mário Rolla, to give Emilinha a chance.  

"I always stayed backstage because I was under age," she told an interviewer. It was there that American filmmaker Orson Welles saw her and fell in love, when he went to Brazil. The Citizen Kane’s director wanted to take her to Hollywood, but she didn’t like the idea. "He didn’t mean a thing to me. I was so young that I had no eyes for him."

In the 1950s she became the "Navy’s Favorite" and released such hits as "Aqueles olhos verdes", "Catito", "Chiquita Bacana", "Baião de dois" and "Se queres saber". And every year she recorded a new Carnaval march that went on to become a hit: "Pó de mico", "Se a canoa não virar", "Mulata bossa nova," etc

The singer was at home with  her secretary, Zaira Peçanha, and her niece Elizabeth, when she felt ill, dying a short while later.  Both had moved to Borba’s Copacabana apartment, after her fall.  

Friend and Foe Marlene

"Emilinha was almost recovered and she was looking forward to seeing Marí­lia Pera playing Carmen Miranda this week", said the president of her fan-club, Mário Lima. "Last Wednesday she went to a dinner celebrating the 70 years of Tupi radio and was raring to go back to her normal activities."

Ailing singer Marlene, her main rival during her successful years at Rádio Nacional and somebody who became a lasting and close friend wasn’t told about her death. "She just came out from the ITU (Intensive Therapy Unit) and wouldn’t be able to handle the news that Emilinha died," said her secretary Almerinda Manoela da Silva. "They are very close friends. They talked on the phone yesterday and today she already mentioned her."

Emilinha Borba recorded 89 LPs (records with six songs in each side), 71 compact disks and 117 disks of 78 rpm, that are in the WEA’s collection, which has the copyrights of the old Continental recording company. Her older recordings are hard to find.

The singer never completely lost her popularity. Every year, in September, her fans have been putting together a Emilinha Borba festival, with dinner, show and presentation of her old favorite songs. No other singer, with the possible exception of her rival/friend Marlene, has ever got this kind of popular acclaim.

When the recording companies did not want her anymore, Emilinha decided to embark into a home production and financed the disk herself with the help of singer Luiz Henrique, who also produced the album.

She included her old hits and recent songs like "ECT", from the Cassia Eller repertoire and "Entre tapas e beijos", from country duo Leandro and Leonardo and she sold well.

She wasn’t shy to go out herself to the streets and squares to offer directly to the public her music. She said at the time, "I love this contact with the people and I never sell less than a hundred disks, because I charge half the store price."

Always enthusiastic, she always preferred to talk about the present and the future instead of the past. "This thing about past is with my fan-club. They watch me, they register everything I do in my career because I don’t keep anything. I keep walking ahead."

Friends Talk

Singer Cauby Peixoto: "I’ve never seen, in any country, an idol be so beloved, be so popular as Emilinha Borba. She is an icon, and will never be replaced. She leaves a huge emptiness. I stayed always close to her to win fame, to appear in the magazines. To be close to Emilinha was to be with success. I was a great friend, she liked me a lot and trusted me. I used to take good care of her."

Actress Marí­lia Pera: "I have a very joyful, very dear memory of her, from the radio era. I recall her very well with that little birth sign in the chin, in some movies. I didn’t know she was that sick. Another day someone went to see me on stage and told me that she would be coming to my show. In 1989, when I was playing ‘Elas por ela’, in which I imitated her, she went up once on stage. Hopefully Emilinha’s happiness, her naivete, and her kindness will last for ever. I believe that she leaves a legion of fans. I am one of them."

Writer and journalist Sérgio Cabral: "She really was a very important character. Emilinha was the person who better defines the golden phase of radio. It is impossible to talk about this era and about Rádio Nacional without mentioning her name. I was surprised by the news of her death because I had met her recently, in the party for the 70 years of Radio Tupi, and she looked fine."