- What is Black Awareness Day?
- History of Black Consciousness Day
- When is Black Awareness Day celebrated and why?
- What does Black Awareness Day represent?
We explain what Black Awareness Day is in Brazil, when it is celebrated and why. Also, how was its origin and history.
What is Black Awareness Day?
The Black Consciousness Day is a Brazilian event that takes place every November 20 and pays tribute to the African contribution in the formation of the culture of Brazil, in addition to commemorating the struggles that the black people had to face since the colonial era in order to conquer their freedom. It is a public holiday, which is part of the local calendar of numerous Brazilian cities in the federal states of Alagoas, Amazonas, Amapá, Mato Grosso and Rio de Janeiro.
During Black Awareness Day, reflection on the role of Afro-descendant citizens throughout the history Brazilian, including today. More than a party, it is considered a day of combat against racism and promotion of the defense of the human rights.
To this end, various groups of the Black Movement (the main one in the entire country) organize talks, celebrations and educational events aimed mainly at black children, with the aim of combating self-prejudice and teaching them to value their ethnic heritage.
History of Black Consciousness Day
Black Awareness Day has been celebrated in Brazil since 2011, the year it was instituted throughout the nation through the law. However, its creation was much earlier: in 2003 the anniversary project was created, which marked the end of an effort of almost 50 years by different black groups in Brazil.
Some of these groups met in 1971 in Porto Alegre with the purpose of questioning the legitimacy and representativeness of May 13, the day of the signing of the Golden Law that abolished the slavery, and make visible the struggle of their ancestors. This gesture would be the root of Black Consciousness Day.
Among the participating social activists were Antônio Carlos Côrtes, Oliveira Silveira, Ilmo da Silva, Vilmar Nunes, Jorge Antônio dos Santos (also known as Jorge Xangô) and Luiz Paulo Assis Santos, members of Grupo Palmares, dedicated to studies and research on Brazilian black heritage.
The first commemorative act of what later became Black Consciousness Day took place on November 20, 1971, in an act of cultural resistance at the Marcilio Dias club in Porto Alegre. There, tribute was paid to the Zumbi dos Palmares, a black fighter who opposed slavery in northeastern Brazil, the last leader of the Quilombo de los Palmares, who died on November 20.
When is Black Awareness Day celebrated and why?
Black Awareness Day takes place on November 20 of each year, in commemoration of the death of Zumbi dos Palmares (1655-1695), a North Brazilian fighter against the slave order and the last leader of the famous Quilombo dos Palmares, an independent state constituted by escaped African slaves from colonial plantations.
Los Palmares was the largest of the Quilombos that emerged in Brazil. Made up of different villages, it occupied a territory of the current União dos Palmares, in what corresponds to the current state of Alagoas, at that time Pernambuco Captaincy.Its resistance to the colonial and slave order lasted more than a century (approximately from 1580 to 1710) and in its interior a black majority cohabited with white and indigenous minorities, and there was even a certain level of of mixed race.
The Quilombos' struggle against their slave masters included military resistance, sometimes against royal army troops, but more often than not against bandeirante mercenaries (known as Capitães do Mato, “captains of the jungle”) who were hired by plantation owners to subdue insurgent slaves. This fight for freedom and human dignity It is the one that seeks to claim the commemoration of Black Consciousness Day.
What does Black Awareness Day represent?
Black Awareness Day represents the anti-racist struggle of black groups throughout the history of Brazil, a State that, like many other ancient colonies European, was founded economically from the exploitation of the workforce kidnapped slave in Africa and led to America.
Through the commemoration of this day, we seek to make visible this tragic aspect of Brazilian history and invite a review of the racist substratum that persists in Brazilian culture today.