Brazil’s Black Awareness Day celebrated with tribute to Zumbi
This Tuesday (Nov. 20), activists, cultural and religious groups are celebrating Black Awareness Day in Brazil with a number of activities near the statue of Zumbi dos Palmares, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The most prominent resistance leader against slavery, Zumbi headed a community of runaway slaves—a quilombo—in Alagoas state in the 17th century, and died on November 20, 1695.
Early this morning, performances were staged by capoeira artists and Afoxé Filhos de Gandhi—a religious group of black dancers who traditionally parade during Carnival. “The state was never fully prepared for the emancipation of slaves, which took place 130 years ago and was never brought to completion, with blacks being left to their own devices. Social apartheid set in, when the labor force of slaves was replaced with the labor force of Europeans. This took black people from slave quarters straight to favelas and prisons,” said Cláudia Vitalino of the Union of Black Men and Women for Racial Equality and the State Council for Black People’s Rights.
In the opinion of Fátima Malaquias, of the Municipal Defense Council of the Rights of the Black Person, major strides have been seen among the black population, though much is yet to be achieved, especially with regards to violence and access to health care.
“Our people are dying. If you walk into any hospital, there are a lot of people dying, and most of them are black, but the main warning goes for violence—there’s a cruel genocide targeting our young people,” Malaquias argued.
In the morning, a procession was held as a tribute to Tia Ciata, or Ant Ciata, a well-known leader in Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion, and a samba icon. A group of people left Tia Ciata’s former house and headed for the nearby Zumbi statute.
“If Tia Ciata was alive today, she would surely be standing for the people of African descent, and against the genocide of the black population and violence against women. She was always the one who embraced [the causes],” said Gleicy Mari Moreira, Tia Ciata’s great-granddaugter.
