Erica Malunguinho da Silva (born 20 November 1981 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil) is a Brazilian politician elected into the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo on 7 October 2018 after receiving around 54,400 votes.
Shortly after high school, Malunguinho moved to São Paulo and began to embrace her transgender identity through her official transition.
[3] The trans, black, Afro-Brazilian woman's mother, the only educated one in the family, worked as a nurse to support Malunguinho, her siblings, and the other members of the house.
[3] Over the next few years, Malunguinho attended the University of São Paulo, pursuing a master's degree in aesthetics and art history.
[2] In addition to setting up her studio in the neighborhood of Campos Eliseos in São Paulo, Malunguinho has also spent the last 15 years working as an activist and educator.
Quilombos today are usually rural black communities that uphold their African heritage and culture and their struggles against racism.
"[2] Malunguinho is motivated to fight racism through social tourism in the quilombos and indigenous territories as a strategy to combat discrimination and advocate for protection and visibility of minorities, as well as promote a sustainable economy.
[6] Additionally, Malunguinho plans on supporting proposals that benefit homeless people and review housing programs.
She desires to promote a compassionate reception in hospitals and police stations for survivors of sexual assault, and advocate for the guarantee of civil and tolerant care for women seeking abortions.
She understood that she had a responsibility in relation to the arts, education, LGBTQ, and black movements to focus on the intersectionalities within the framework of institutional policy.
She believed that the political process has dehumanized itself to the point that people do not realize that the person representing them is a real person—not just a machine.
She believed that quilombos should be thought of as political spaces in order to build understanding and deconstruct the popular narratives of those who have been marginalized.
Malunguinho believed that today's political representatives lack the bravery and motivation needed in order to understand the inequalities and practices of marginalization based on race, gender, and class.
She would promote the idea of pushing the limits in government in the fields of mobility, economy, health, education, culture, media, and religious freedom in order to advocate for the people who have historically, and continue to be, left out of the political discussion.
She faced a bench that is representative of the majority population, (white, heterosexual, cisgender men) along with those who have historically wielded power, and she hoped to propose a new outlook on society and a new way of doing politics.
After this most recent election in 2018, Brazil's Senate had no increase in representation in the Upper House, with black women still holding 12 out of 81 seats.