Would I have had the courage to fight like they fought?

(originally published in Major Card)

When I was around 13 or 14 years old, I started to become aware of everything my father and mother had done during the dictatorship.

They gave up family, friends, comfort, stability, and went underground, fleeing, facing fear, imprisonment, and torture because they never doubted for a minute which side they were on: the side fighting for freedom for all. Although it was clear to me that they had fought for something undoubtedly very important, a question always came to mind: if I had lived in that time, would I have had the courage to do all that? Would I have had that strength? Would I?

Today I realize that at certain moments in life we ​​have no choice but to make this or that decision, when everything we believe in is at risk, whether it was, as back then, freedom, or, as now, justice for an honest person, like my beloved father, José Genoino Neto. Throughout more than eight years of martyrdom and suffering, there were many situations of despair, anguish, and much, much loneliness.

And so, when we suddenly perceive small spaces of light and strength opening up and being built through the generous actions of so many people, relief and emotion are feelings that completely occupy everything we think about and see happening on this difficult path we have been traveling lately.

I would like to mention a great friend who, on November 15th, took my children out for a walk, giving her time to help us deal with all the harassment we were suffering in our home, which was besieged by the media.

With his small gesture, he spared two children, aged 7 and 5, from witnessing the moment their grandfather left home to be unjustly arrested.

That gesture, of giving affection and comfort to my children, when I could only be a daughter and not a mother, will always mark my life and my heart, because it shows that even amidst so much misfortune, there is always the side of pure, kind, generous humanity, capable of truly welcoming.

This small, individual gesture can be compared to what we are experiencing now, with the fine imposed on my father as a result of his unjust conviction.

In the initial moment of desperation, due to the amount requested being so far beyond our means, a first website emerged, aiming to unite many people and thus begin an initial fundraising effort for my father. And even though that website didn't continue due to technical issues, I deeply believe that it was an action that gave us the strength to prepare the second website, which made it possible to raise the total amount of the fine.

There were many donations, so many. People who dedicated part of their time to send us R$10, R$20, R$50, R$100, sometimes more, R$1.000, R$5.000... and messages, many messages, of affection and solidarity.

Retirees, the unemployed, teachers, lawyers, secretaries, journalists, dentists, seamstresses—many people—wanted, in some way, to show that they are with us, that they know that only in this way could we pay this enormous fine, because José Genoino never accumulated material wealth, never, even though some have had the courage to condemn him for corruption.

Their wealth consists only of ideas, dreams, hope, truth, and justice – which one day, somehow, we believe will arrive.

This campaign was created by José Genoino's wife and children.

We ourselves drafted and wrote every single word that appears on the website. We ourselves sent emails to friends and family telling them about the beginning of this request for help. We ourselves sought to understand and organize all the necessary bureaucracy to make such fundraising a success.

And with the help of dear friends, whom we will never cease to thank, we read the emails one by one, registering each person, responding to each message, even though, due to the familiar way of working, it is happening at a speed not always understood by a world always filled with large groups effectively managing large departments and situations. Our response is not automatic, but manual, and was made by so many other special people who also dedicated their time and soul to allow the campaign to work.

We raised the amount of the fine in ten days of family campaigning. This is a victory that has enormous significance in our tireless fight for true justice for José Genoino.

On his behalf, since he is unable to speak publicly, we need to express our deepest gratitude to all those people who made this moment of victory possible.

To you, who contributed. To you who promoted the website. To you who answered the emails. To you who informed us. To you who wrote honestly about us. To all of you, our gratitude for never doubting that, when times get tough, you are one of those people who have the courage to fight for something that is true and in which they truly believe.

Thank you, always.

Miruna Genoino, on behalf of the Genoino family, Brasília, January 19, 2014