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Festa da Boa Morte

Festa de Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte (Assumption Day or the Festival of Our Lady of the Good Death) falls on the Friday closest to August 15 and lasts three days. It is a celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus) that starts off with a solemn mass and then a procession in the streets of Cachoeira in Bahia. Organized by the Irmandade da Boa Morte (Sisterhood of the Good Death)—a secret religious society of elder Afro-Bahian women and the oldest of its kind in the New World—who praise the liberation of their enslaved ancestors with dance and prayer and a mix of themes from Candomblé and Catholicism. It is the second most important examples of religious syncretism in Bahia after Lavagem do Bonfim. For these women, their faith in the ascension of Mary into heaven never meant a denial of their faith in their Nagô ancestral traditions of the orixás and voduns. The orixá Nanã Buruku, a grandmotherly deity and orixá of wetlands, swamps, and marshes and mother to orixás Exu and Obaluaye, is honored and venerated. The festival is a mix of prayer, litanies, hymns, church masses, processions, capoeira and folk dances like maculelê and samba de roda, drumming, feasts, and sacred Candomblé obligation ceremonies until dawn.
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Founding of Cortejo Afro

Cortejo Afro was formed and made its Carnival debut on July 2, 1998 in the streets of Pirajá, a community in Salvador. The Bloco is rooted in the spiritual guidance and principles of an established Candomblé house in Salvador, Ilê Axé Oyá, and Cortejo Afro’s artistic design and Afrocentric creative expression was founded by artist Alberto Pitta. Concerned about the predominance of Axé music, Cortejo Afro was formed in an attempt to reestablish the African identity of Carnival. The Bloco-Afro was one of many to reinstate pride of African heritage, culture, and standards of beauty in the local celebration of Carnival which reaffirmed the values and aspects of black culture in Bahia as a means to elevate the community.

Batala Mundo members enjoy joining and playing in Cortejo Afro‘s bloco during Carnival every year. Batala was founded by former Cortejo Afro member, Giba Gonçalves. How many Batala Mundo members can you peep in this video? (Hint: look at the drum heads)

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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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Bembê do Mercado and the Abolition of Slavery

On May 13, 1888, the Lei Áurea (Golden Law) was signed by Princess Isabela of Brazil which finally abolished slavery in Brazil, making Brazil the last nation in the western hemisphere to free its enslaved people.

In Santo Amaro, a Bahian Recôncavo town, Bembê do Mercado is a festival that commemorates this event every May 13. Candomblé rites are practiced under a barracão (a big tent) with religious icons and symbols set up in front of the town’s mercado (market). Musical shows, capoeira, samba de roda and maculelê are some of the highlights of the celebration. Nego Fugido, a reenactment of a slave escape attempt that resulted in recapture and the purchase of manumission, takes place in the streets. At the end of the celebrations, a fireworks display is followed by a ritual offering to Iemanjá at nearby Itapema Beach.

It should also be noted that many other Afro-Brazilians do not commemorate this day and have branded it as the Day of “Falsa Abolição” (False Abolition) because the law did nothing to guarantee a better life for the hundreds of thousands of slaves in Brazil, like providing education, land, or monetary grants, which effectively kept them from advancing and participating equally in Brazilian society. Afro-Brazilians fought for their freedom, and continue to fight to this day, for political, social, and economic justice.