Dúdú and the Skin-Colored Pencil Have you finished painting yet? Missing the face, I don't know what color to use. Paint it pink, that's what I do.
My brother uses yellow because he says that only pigs have pink faces. But I don't care. Silence, I can hear a lot of talking there!
Dudu wants to know what color he paints The faces in the drawing. Right, Dudu? Me?
Yes! Oh, paint it with the skin-colored pencil. You know, that light one?
Guys, I need everyone to finish painting the drawings. Go! Look what mommy brought you!
Let's eat? What are you doing? Mom, is there anyone in our family who is like this?
Like this how? Like this, mom, skin-colored! Skin-colored?
What's going on, son? Did they say that at school? A colleague of yours.
. . Teacher Sonia did!
Give it to me! Let's eat? Let's.
So hold it! Mr. Marta, she's on her way.
You stay calm, I think this is all a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding of more than five hundred years, you mean. Did you call me, Mr Fábio?
Professor Sônia, please, sit down! Excuse me. Hello, Mr.
Marta, how's it going? Did something happen? Professor Sônia, Eduardo's mother came to complain about an episode.
. . Of racism!
An episode of racism. Racism? Guys, but this is very serious!
Was it any of the other kids? I am talking about you! Me?
Imagine me, a racist. I have a black friend, I have neighbors, black colleagues! Can you tell me what this is?
That? That's a pencil. But.
. . But what color does it have?
Skin color. Skin color? Whose skin?
I get it. It was an automatic thing, was the same as saying. .
. Color of the earth, color of jambo, that wall there for example, The other day they told me that it is not white, that it is ice colored. But ice has no color.
So what? Teacher, many things are in automatic. But they should not.
Don't you think this whole story of seeing racism everywhere is over? Nowadays you can't even say anything that is called racism. I see racism where it exists.
Like here! Mr Fábio, Everyone says it's a skin colored pencil. It wasn't me who invented it!
I just repeated. Am I going to be judged for this? I said what everybody says.
Everybody says. I'm not going to let such a thing go by just because it's common! Common is different from normal!
Do you know what this can do to a child's self-esteem? Do you know, principal? What this racist teacher can do to my son's psychological?
João! Can you help me here, please? Sérgio, come here at the gate, please, I need to help professor Carla.
Sérgio! Boy! Are you going to fire me because of some rubbish like this?
Rubbish? Racism is rubbish now? I want a decision to be made immediately.
Please. Let's keep calm. Please, Lady!
You have to choose! Mr Fábio, the boy ran away. What boy?
The boy, Dudu. Ran by… Dudu? Yeah!
He ran past me and ran away from school. Thank you, delegate, I'll be waiting. Done!
I already spoke to the police, stay calm, Marta. We still have two security guards who are searching. .
. I won't wait here, I'm going after my son! Please.
. . I'll go along.
Are you sure you haven't seen him? He's seven years old. Marta, isn't it best to tell your husband?
Stop! Give me the money. Give me the money!
Fast! Catch the thief, catch the thief! Rodrigues!
Stop there! Stop! Stop there!
Stop! I'm so sorry about your husband. But you can't compare me to who did that.
There are many ways to pull the trigger, teacher. Dudu is a very smart boy, he will come back soon, you'll see. Are you a mother?
You say that because you are not a mother. You know what's worse? It's not only having a seven-year-old son alone on the streets.
Is having a seven-year-old black son alone on the streets. You don't know what it's like. Sir, have you seen a boy.
. . ?
Gustavo. Soninha! She is your daughter?
Yes, my daughter. Will you stay? I'm going, one second.
Sorry, I have to go. Okay. We'll talk.
Your daughter is beautiful. Thank you. You are beautiful.
Yes, she is. See you later. Bye, Soninha.
We want to marry and have children, father. Gustavo even wants to. .
. Gustavo? Do you want to have a child?
Dad, you always wanted to be a grandfather. Look. .
. I'm not a prejudiced man, you know that. And I never cared about your adventures with this boy of color, but having a child with Gustavo.
. . That changes everything.
Imagine if this child is born black, which is very likely. What do you think they're going to say? Look at the kindly lady, taking the maid's son for a walk.
It's not that what you want for your son, is it? I did not raise you for this, incredible. Do not look at me like that, I'm just saying something that everyone says.
Do you want to have a child with Gustavo? You're right. About what?
About many things. Pretty, right? What?
The graffiti drawing is beautiful. But it's wrong. Wrong?
Why wrong? The colors are not the same. Almost.
Almost? Almost skin colored. You got close, but it's still not the same.
Skin colored. . .
But what's your name? My name is Madalena. Eduardo, but everyone calls me Dudu.
Dudu? What an interesting name, and where is your mother? She is looking for me, I think.
So I guess I have to take it back to her. No, if I go back they'll keep fighting. And they will not explain anything to me.
Explain what? Explain who has the same color of the pencil. Oh, I think I understand.
Dudu, how would you like some ice cream? After I explain to you this story of skin color, do you promise to let me take you back to your mother? This here is a work of art of an artist called Adriana Varejão.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm an art curator. I did not even know what art was sick. Dudu, it's not in a healer sense, is a curator.
. . Please, excuse me.
Thank you. How am I going to explain this to you… It's like this, I help the artists to show their works. And this one is a work of art that shows the variety of skin tones in Brazil.
She created a box of colored pencils, filled with skin-colored pencils. But instead of having only one skin color, like yours, she created several. Which one is right?
None, this was a way for her to show the diversities of the races. This pencil of yours probably only gained the name of skin-colored, Because no one thought of any other name to give it. It's like this your cream ice cream, cream ice cream can be a lot of things.
Vanilla, corn cream, don't you think? This one is melted cream. That's right, Dudu!
Dudu, have you heard of Mr. Ivone Lara? How about Zumbi dos Palmares, Gilberto Gil, Cartola?
Pelé? This one I know, it's the one who plays ball, right? That's it!
They were all part of the history and culture of our country. Do you know what they have in common? What?
They are all black, just like you. Really? You got it?
I got it! That's good! Lady!
I'm looking for this boy who's lost. Did you see him? Okay, anyway.
Marta, it's from school. From school! There's just one more thing you did not explain.
What? Why did you say Dudu is an interesting name? Wait just a little bit.
It's a bit different from your name because of the accents, but Dúdú in Yoruba means Negro. Dúdú? My name is Dúdú!
Mom, my name is Dúdú. I know, my baby. But now it's for real I do not want anyone to call me Eduardo.
It's Dúdú!
