On
November 20, 2018 Brazilians celebrate "Dia da Consciência Negra" to
commemorate the memory of African Brazilian freedom fighter Zumbi who was
beheaded by the Portuguese on November 20-1695. His head was publicly displayed
both as a warning to enslaved Africans and proof that Zumbi was not immortal. Zumbi
is recognized as a hero, freedom fighter and a symbol of freedom.
Murphy
Browne © Thursday, November 20, 2014
BLACK AWARENESS DAY (DIA DA CONSCIENCIA
NEGRA) IN BRAZIL
Angola,
Congo, Benguela Monjolo, Cabinda, Mina Quiloa, Rebolo
Here
where the men are
There’s
a big auction
They
say that in the auction,
There’s
a princess for sale
Who
came, together with her subjects
Chained
on an oxcart
To
one side, sugarcane
To
the other side, the coffee plantation
In
the middle, seated gentlemen
Watching
the cotton crop, so white
Being
picked by black hands
When
Zumbi arrives
What
will happen
Zumbi
is a warlord
A
lord of demands
When
Zumbi arrives, Zumbi Is the one who gives orders
Excerpt
from "Zumbi" composed and sung by African Brazilian singer Jorge Ben
Jor released in 1974 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db2_TWq7nfs)
“Black
November” is celebrated in the city of Salvador in the Brazilian state of Bahia
which has the largest number of African Brazilians. Black Awareness Day
("Dia da Consciência Negra") has been celebrated in Brazil every year
on November 20, since 1960. On November 20 the enslavement of Africans and
other injustices since the abolition of slavery are discussed and the
contributions of African Brazilians are recognized and celebrated. November 20
was chosen as Dia da Consciência Negra/Black Awareness Day to remember the
transition of Zumbi a famous Brazilian Maroon leader. Zumbi dos Palmares
(1655-1695) the last leader of the famous Palmares Quilombo was beheaded on
November 20, 1695 by the Portuguese and his head publicly displayed both as a
warning to enslaved Africans and proof that Zumbi was not immortal. In 2011
Dilma Rousseff the President of Brazil signed into law a bill that makes
November 20 a Brazilian National Holiday although many Brazilian states had
previously recognized November 20 with a public holiday.
Zumbi
who posthumously has risen to the status of National Hero to many Brazilians
and even has a Brazilian airport (Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport)
named in his honour and a postage stamp (2008) commemorating his memory was
once the bane of the Portuguese colonizers/enslavers in Brazil. Zumbi was born
a free African in the community of Palmares where Africans had established a
free Maroon community (quilombo) in 1594. Palmares was the most successful
community of quilombos established by Africans who fled enslavement in Brazil
and survived and thrived for 100 years. Combined forces of Dutch and Portuguese
attacked the Palmares community as the presence of Africans living free in a
country where White people enslaved millions was a beacon of hope to enslaved
Africans. During one of these attacks 6-year-old Zumbi was kidnapped by a group
of Portuguese who sold him to a Catholic priest. When he was 15 years old Zumbi
escaped and returned to Palmares where by the time he was in his early 20s he
was a respected military strategist and a leader in the community. In 1678, the
Portuguese governor negotiated a deal with the leader of Palmares. The deal was
a cessation of hostilities between the White inhabitants and the people of
Palmares if they would agree to move from the location they had settled since
1594 and that they would capture and return any enslaved Africans who fled to
their community seeking freedom. The leader of Palmares agreed but Zumbi wisely
refused to agree to those terms. The Portuguese proved to be deceitful and
enslaved the Africans who believed their promises and left the safety of
Palmares. Mary Karasch a White American historian wrote in her article “Zumbi
of Palmares: Challenging the Portuguese Colonial Order” published 2013 in
"In The Human Tradition in Colonial Latin America" edited by Kenneth
J. Andrien: “The Portuguese were not to be trusted, and to live in peace with
them would only lead to re-enslavement. To preserve their freedom they had to
resist and fight for their people and their own way of life.”
With
Zumbi’s refusal to leave Palmares (where Africans had lived as free people for
more than 80 years) and his supporters’ determination to defend their territory
and their freedom the Portuguese renewed their attacks on Palmares. Zumbi as
the new leader of Palmares led the fight against the Portuguese. In her 2013
published article “Zumbi of Palmares: Challenging the Portuguese Colonial
Order” Mary Karasch also wrote “What is clear from the documentation is that a
newly unified and revived Palmares under the leadership of Zumbi took the
offensive. One wonders if the particularly raided plantations where their
former comrades had been reenslaved. For a period of thirteen years (1680-1693)
Luso-Brazilian expeditions were ineffectual in stopping Palmarino attacks.”
On
January 6, 1694 Palmares suffered a surprise attack because of a careless
sentry who failed to warn Zumbi of an approaching army of Portuguese. Although
Zumbi and his followers from Palmares fought valiantly, they were surrounded
and outnumbered. The Portuguese destroyed the Palmares Quilombo, captured 510
Africans and sold them in Bahia.
Zumbi
and a few others from Palmares escaped and continued the fight. Zumbi was
eventually betrayed by one of his trusted men who bargained Zumbi’s life for
his own with the Portuguese. Zumbi was killed in the ensuing fight on November
20, 1695 and his body was delivered to the officials of the city council of
Porto Calvo. In her “Zumbi of Palmares: Challenging the Portuguese Colonial
Order” Mary Karasch writes: “An examination revealed fifteen gunshot wounds and
innumerable blows from other weapons; after his death he had been castrated and
mutilated. The last degradation by his enemies occurred in a public ceremony in
Porto Calvo, in which his head was cut off and taken to Recife, where the
governor had it displayed on a pole in a public place. His objective was to
destroy the belief that Zumbi was immortal.”
Although
Palmares was one of several quilombos established by Africans in Brazil, the
Quilombo of Palmares was the largest with a population of 30,000 and lasted
longer than any other (100 years) from 1594 to 1694. Some of Zumbi’s followers
who escaped the carnage visited upon them by the Portuguese attack on Palmares
escaped to live in other quilombos and enslaved Africans also continued to flee
until slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888. Some of the quilombos were so
well hidden that they were never discovered by the Portuguese and the
inhabitants lived in freedom and seclusion. In one case the inhabitants of a
quilombo (Remanso, Bahia) were unaware until they were discovered in the 1960s
that slavery had been abolished for more than 80 years! Since 1988, the
quilombos have received protective status under Brazil’s constitution in an
attempt to maintain the distinctive culture, history and language developed by
these communities.
During
the November 20 recognition of Zumbi’s contribution to Brazilian culture and
history many events take place at Zumbia National Park which has a monument
created in his honour. In spite of the special day to honour Zumbi and the
recognition of his place in Brazil’s history, African Brazilians continue to
experience oppression in a White supremacist culture.
In
his 1989 published book “Brazil, Mixture Or Massacre?: Essays in the Genocide
of a Black People” African Brazilian scholar and historian Abdias do Nascimento
wrote: “On the whole in this pretentious concept of ‘racial democracy,’ there
lies deliberately buried the true face of Brazilian society: only one of the
racial elements has any rights or power – whites. They control the means of
dissemination of information, educational curriculum and institutions,
conceptual definitions, aesthetic norms and all other forms of social/cultural
values.”
Nascimento
who transitioned to the ancestral realm on May 23, 2011 was a Pan-Africanist
who played a significant role in raising awareness among African Brazilians and
also wrote "Racial Democracy in Brazil, Myth or Reality?: A Dossier of
Brazilian Racism" (1977), "Race and ethnicity in Latin America – African
culture in Brazilian art" (1994), "Orixás: os deuses vivos da
Africa" (Orishas: the living gods of Africa in Brazil) (1995) and
"Africans in Brazil: a Pan-African perspective" (1997.) Recognition
of Zumbi would not be complete without recognition of Nascimento as the African
Brazilian activist scholar who has been described as a “militant
Pan-Africanist” and spent his life raising awareness of the struggle of African
Brazilians to navigate a White supremacist culture/system.
Murphy
Browne © Thursday, November 20, 2014
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