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Understanding Afro-Brazilian Feminism

With regard to feminism, the following brief articles offer some insight on the Afro-Brasileira experience:

{Racial divides in Brazilian feminism can be traced to a foundational chasm in relationship to work. “We speak of the issue of the ditch,” dos Santos explained, “we realize the feminist movement is by white middle-class women and that these white women are demanding their right to go to work, while the poor black women, have been in the market ever since.”}

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July 2 (Dois de Julho) – Bahian Independence Day

On July 2, 1823, Bahian fighters drove the Portuguese out of Brazil and definitively secured Brazil’s independence. Outnumbered by Portuguese soldiers, Bahians of mostly African and Native descent came together and still managed to fight towards victory. Today, Bahians celebrate in the streets with music and parade the image of the Caboclo, a symbol of the Brazilian people and representing the indigenous roots within the racial mix of Brazilians. Bahians also commemorate the bravery of independence heroes and heroines such as Maria Quitéria, who disguised herself as a man and valiantly fought as one of the best on the battlefield; and Maria Felipa de Oliveira, an Afro-Bahian woman who led a squadron of 40 armed women on the island of Itaparica and set fire to fleets of Portuguese ships.

Parabéns, Bahia!

Maria Felipa

(Maria Felipa)

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YEMANJÁ: Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil

The film Yemanjá: Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil discusses Candomblé as a nature-based religion and examines its political nature as a religion of resistance against racism and religious discrimination.  Yemanjá also voices concerns about ecological and environmental issues that Candomblé practitioners face with regard to access to and the preservation of sacred natural spaces, and problematizes Bahia’s world famous annual Yemanjá festival. Ile Oxumare (shown in the film) and others have been vocal about offerings being biodegradable and encouraging more awareness of waste. The film also illustrates the role of a terreiro in the community and how the women that operate them serve as spiritual and community leaders.

(photo by Gerald Lee Hoffman)

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Mãe Stella de Oxóssi

Born on May 2, 1925, in Salvador, Bahia, Maria Stella de Azevedo Santos (also known as Mãe Stella de Oxóssi or Mãe Stella) is the first black woman and first iyalorixá (orixá priestess) to be inducted into the Bahia Academy of Letters. Though a retired nurse, she has written many books on African culture and widely promotes and advocates for the acceptance of Candomblé as a religion and of African-based culture across Brazil.

On March 19, 1976, she was chosen to be the 5th iyalorixá of the Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá, one of the more well-known terreiros in Salvador. In the late 70s, Mãe Stella personally appealed to the governor of Bahia to no longer require a terreiro to obtain the government’s permission to operate. Since then, terreiros have sprung up all over Salvador.

As a champion against religious intolerance and racial prejudice, Mãe Stella also sounded the call for a break with Christian syncretism and the removal of all Catholic saints from the temple’s altars. Preferring the Yorubá title iyalorixá, as opposed to the Portuguese mãe de santo, she encouraged the use of Yorubá in liturgy in naming practices, Candomblé education, and depiction of icons in order to restore Candomblé back to its African roots.  It was Mãe Stella who, quite successfully, sought public recognition of Candomblé as a full fledged, legitimate religion, rather than a “cult”, “sect”, or “folklore”.