Nov. 20 celebrates the
life of the Afro-Brazilian resistance leader while reaffirming Brazil’s
position as the first place of freedom of Blacks in the Americas.
Today is the National
Day of Zumbi and Black Consciousness in Brazil. The celebration is the result
of over 40 years of struggle of the renewed Brazilian Black movement.
Celebrated on the 20th
of November, the holiday was established officially by Law No. 12,519 on
November 10, 2011, and sanctioned by President Dilma Rousseff. This affirmed
the history of Black people in Brazil, while commemorating the life of one of
their most brilliant military leaders,
Zumbi dos Palmares, who died on Nov. 20, 1695.
Zumbi: Black Brazil’s
Legendary History of Resistance
Zumbi dos Palmares was
the leader of the independent settlement, Quilombo of Palmares - located
between the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil, which was
founded by early Brazilian Africans as a resistance to European colonizers and
slavers.
The Quilombo Of
Palmares can therefore be considered one of the the first places, in the
Americas, where Black people, who were brought to the New World enslaved, found
freedom. Here they bravely fought against enslavement for almost a hundred
years as the Portuguese attempted to colonize Brazil.
The Quilombo emerged in
the late sixteenth century and peaked in the second half of the seventeenth
century. During this time, resistance to the current slave order was only
possible because of adept organizational, military and architectural skills:
the Quilombo was surrounded by a high fence made of clay, and palm trees. It
had three entrances protected by at least two hundred warriors, who possessed
weapons and ammunition, and managed to defeat the expeditions of the colonial
government several times, which sought to destroy the Republic of Palmares and
the freedom it embodied.
Zumbi, born in the
Quilombo in 1655, was kidnapped as a child by soldiers and given to a priest by
the name of Father Antonio Melo. He was baptized with the name Francisco and
taught Portuguese and Latin. In the year 1670, at only fifteen years old, he
resisted the white settlers who he lived among, fleeing from the parish to
return to his original home in the Quilombo.
After the death of the
powerful leader Ganga Zumba, Zumbi became the absolute leader and military
strategist in the fight against slavery. It was said that he held great
spiritual power and that African ancestors of Brazilians protected him.
He defied several
European settler military expeditions, ultimately prompting the king of
Portugal at the time to write Zumbi a letter urging him to agree to surrender
and live under the Portuguese laws. But Zumbi was no assimilationist. Refusing
to accept life under the yoke of the Portuguese crown, and wanting full freedom
for his people to the end Zumbi was killed in battle on November 20, 1695,
after resisting, and fighting military expeditions.
An Awakening of
Consciousness
For the
African-Brazilian, November 20th is now celebrates the life of a hero who died
fighting for freedom. It is a radical action that affirms the history of Black
struggle against colonialism with its own national holiday and is a symbol of
progress for Brazil.
On the National Day of
Zumbi and Black Consciousness and throughout November marches take place
throughout Brazil, though depending on the region, the actual activities of the
day may differ. Recently the common theme of the marches is about stopping the
genocide against Black youth and empowerment for Black Women.
Brazilians in front of
statue of the fugitive slave resistance leader Zumbi dos Palmares, in Rio de
Janeiro, who led a rebellion against the European colonizers slavery system
during the colonial period. Zumbi's death is commemorated today in Brazil as
the Day of Black Consciousness. EFE/Marcelo Sayão
Earlier this month, on
Nov. 7 was the March of Natural Hair Empowerment in the city of Salvador,
Bahia. The march gathered a large crowd, mostly women, whose aim was to promote
the affirmation of the Black beauty, especially kinky, and curly hair which is
a political and cultural expression of ancestry. However, in Brazil this
expression hasn’t always been accepted. Historically it has been stifled
through the use of chemical straighteners and straightening combs. But, this
march was a space for Afro-Brazilians to come together and affirm each other's
beauty in the fight against racism in Brazil.
On November 18th there
was the National March of Black Women in Brasilia. 20,000 women of all states
and regions of the country marched for freedom, a fair and democratic country
and a stronger sense of safety as some reports say that almost every two hours
a Black Woman in Brazil dies from causes other than natural death.
Now, during the month
of November, especially after the implementation of the law 10,639 in 2003,
which made the teaching of history and African and Afro-Brazilian culture in
elementary schools and high school compulsory, many events related to
appreciating Blackness happen.
The Republic of
Palmares, is very important for the African-Brazilian, and especially for any
Black person in the Americas, because it was the place where freedom for the
enslaved African was won, even before the Haitian Revolution.
In a way the Quilombo
of Palmares, is where Africa had reinvented itself for nearly a century.
Palmares is a spirit, the fire that burns in the chest in search of justice.
This memory is revived during the National Day of Zumbi and Black Consciousness
in Brazil, and advances the struggle for socio-racial equality, for full
freedom, which is longed for constantly by Blacks throughout the world, from
Africa to its diaspora in the Americas.
By: Davi Nunes
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