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Day of the Baiana

Although any female from Bahia is Baiana (Bahian), the character of the Baiana has become a historical and cultural symbol of Bahia, Afro-Brazil, and the Black Woman. Typically, Baianas are women that dress in the traditional white blouse, skirt, head wrap, and colorful beads that represent the orixás of Candomblé. On the streets of Salvador, Baianas cook and sell their quitutes (tasty Afro-Bahian treats) such as acarajé, a fritter made of black-eye peas deep fried in dendê oil.

On November 25, the symbolic character of the Baiana is celebrated as part of the Mês da Consciência Negra (Black Consciousness Month). Celebrations take place with a mass at the church Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos (Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks), in Pelourinho, followed by a dance of samba de roda, and typical Bahian food.

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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 

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Gilberto Gil

Born Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira in Salvador, Bahia, Gilberto Gil began playing music professionally as a teenager when he joined his first band. Although he grew up listening to the forró music of his native northeast region, he started out making music in the Bossa Nova music genre. He later became a pioneer in the Tropicália and Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) musical movements that emerged in the 1960s when he started to focus the lyrics of his songs on politics and social awareness. While exiled to London by Brazil’s military government in 1969, Gil became exposed to Jamaican reggae. Upon returning back to Salvador in 1972, Afro-Bahian afoxé groups and the samba-reggae sounds were emerging and Gil joined the Filhos de Gandhi afoxé. He later worked with Jamaican reggae artist, Jimmy Cliff, who he had encountered earlier in London, to recreate the classic Bob Marley song, “No Woman No Cry,” which introduced reggae to Brazil. He is a classic timeless, musician who has had a long career, perhaps, because he is well-known for his musical adaptability and diversity with his ability to blend music styles.

While maintaining a full-time music career, Gilberto Gil was also actively working the political scene to advocating for environmental protection. In 2003, under the Lula da Silva administration, he was appointed Brazil’s Minister of Culture, becoming only the second black person to serve in the nation’s cabinet.