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November – The Month of Black Consciousness

In November, Bahians will embark upon a month of recognition of Black history and cultural awareness. Much like Black History Month is celebrated in the month of February in the U.S., November is considered Black Consciousness Month in the state of Bahia in Brazil. November 20 is also known as Dia da Consciência Negra (Black Consciousness Day) and is celebrated as a holiday in many cities across Brazil as a reflection on the legacy of resistance to slavery and the fight for social and political justice. Activities are planned all throughout the month in order to bring awareness of Black history and the contributions of Afro-Brazilians to society as well as pride in African ancestry, identity, and heritage. Advocates of the Black Movement hope this month-long recognition will also raise awareness of the continuing struggle for Afro-Brazilians as they fight for equality in the workplace, media, education, and justice system.

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Quilombos

A quilombo (derived from the Kimbundu word kilombo) is a settlement in the inlands founded by Afro-Brazilians who escaped from slavery. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos are called quilombolas (similar to maroons and palenqueros in the English and Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America and the Caribbean) and many would later help provide shelter and homes to other minorities of marginalized Portuguese, indigenous, Jews and Arabs, or others who experienced oppression during colonization. Sometimes the term mocambo is used to describe the settlements. Quilombos are identified as one of the forms of active resistance by slaves.

Most quilombolas are Portuguese or Portuguese creole-speaking. A variety of African-influenced dialects have endured and so have the traditional African communal structures of leaders and elders.

Some estimates suggest there were up to 5,000 quilombo communities across 24 states during 17th and 18th century colonial Brazil, with many hidden in remote parts of the thick jungle to conceal them from slave masters and officials. They ranged from just a few dozen inhabitants to the biggest quilombo, Palmares in the northeast, where the population reached an estimated 20,000 people after the Dutch invasion of Brazil.

Today, these communities still exist. The government’s Brazil Quilombola Program has mapped more than 3,500 communities, and provided many with land titles with some social service support, such as bringing clean water and electricity to thousands of  quilombo homes.

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NELSON MACA: Poet, Activist, and Academic

Born in the city of Parana Telemaco Borba, 249 kilometers from Curitiba, Nelson Maca, 47, has expressed the ideas of the black movement for 13 years. At 22, he moved to Salvador in search of a black Bahia and to study at Universidade Federal da Bahia (Ufba). Today, a literature professor at Universidade Católica do Salvador (UCSAL), his work is influenced by artists ranging from rappers such as Mano Brown and Thaíde, to writers like Lima Barreto and Richard Wright. His philosophy draws on the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and the post-colonialism of Frantz Fanon. But it’s not in the academics where he is known, but in social activism.
 “I’m not a teacher who came to head the university. I am a teacher of the university as much as I am of the street.“
A member of the poesía preta (black poetry) movement and political art group Coletivo Blackitude, created 14 years ago, he shakes the black consciousness of Salvador every Wednesday at Sarau Bem Black, at Sankofa African Bar in Pelourinho. Over the past four years, the sarau has received literary names such as Cuti, alias Luiz Silva, and Conceição Evaristo, and music, such as Ellen Oléria and rappers GOG  and MC Marshal. Maca talks a lot about racism, literature, and social activism.
Source: http://atarde.uol.com.br/muito/noticias/1523077-nelson-maca-sou-um-poeta-da-literatura-negra
 

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Pelourinho

Pelourinho is perhaps the most famous neighborhood in Salvador. It is a vibrant city center where restaurants serving up delicious Bahian cuisine, artisanal products, baroque architecture, religion, cultural centers and the world-famous drummers of Olodum are all united here.

As the first capital of the Portuguese colony in America, Salvador established a ‘model’ for slave labor and erected gallows with various whipping posts in public areas of the city to expose and punish slaves. Originally installed in squares such as the Terreiro de Jesus and the current squares of Tomé de Sousa and Castro de Alves, as a symbol of the authority of justice, the gallows ended up lending their name, Pelourinho (which means ‘little post’ in English), to the area as a whole – perhaps the most integral part of the city’s historic center.

The construction of churches and manor houses in the city increased in the 17th century, a period in which the wealthy plantation owners demonstrated their aristocratic authority in the elaborate architecture of their houses. The buildings constructed by the religious and third orders and the sumptuous mansions around the Terreiro de Jesus, in the 18th century, accurately reflect the various social strata of the city. In the 19th century, business gradually took over the traditional houses of Taboão and thereafter throughout the city center. Numerous liberal professionals came to live and work in the area, and consequently the aristocrats moved to other parts of the city.

Pelourinho is also a great source of inspiration and a stage for both Brazilian and foreign artists, such as Caetano Veloso and Paul Simon; Michael Jackson once filmed scenes for a music video there. There are also some of the best restaurants and liveliest bars of the city.

The cultural richness accounts for the colorful diversity of Pelourinho. On Tuesdays, various shows are performed, such as the rehearsal of Olodum, which attracts thousands of people to the streets and squares of Pelourinho.

Pelourinho was also classified a Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO in 1985.
Source: bahia.com.br