Week and Day of Black Consciousness in Brazil

31 Oct, 2013

READ IN ENGLIS H  BELOW / LEIA EM PORTUGUÊS

By Alba Cabral

In Brazil, the National Day of Black Consciousness is being celebrated on the 20th November for over the past 40 years and is a week dedicated to discuss about the inclusion of black culture in Brazilian society. The date was chosen because it coincides with the day of the death of Zumbi dos Palmares in 1695. The Day of Black Consciousness aims to be a date to remember the black resistance to slavery in general, since the first transportation of Africans to the Brazilian soil (1594).

Zumbi dos Palmares

The black leader Zumbi represented the struggle of blacks against slavery in colonial period in Brazil. He was born around 1655 and before the age of 20 Zumbi became the leader of Quilombro dos Palmares , a region of land in the Brazilian Northeast, in the state of Alagoas, where they lived in the community of former runnaway slaves from the plantations . Known for his skill and cunning in battle, Zumbi fought for freedom of worship, religion and practice of African culture in Brazil and died in a battle defending his people and his community.

Some entities that were formed after 1960, as the Black Movement (the largest of its kind in the country) organizes lectures and educational events. Other issues discussed by the black community that are gaining evidence on this day are: the inclusion of black in the labor market, university quotas, ethnic identification, fashion and beauty black, african-Brazilian dances, several photographic exhibitions Brazil-Africa.
The office of Public Policy for the Black( APPN ) approved, among other laws, the inclusion of the african-Brazilian history and culture in the educational system of primary and secondary schools. By November 2006, 225 cities have joined the holiday of the 20th November for the Black Consciousness.

To think about

Is the Black Consciousness Week and event that brings more awareness to black people or people of white origin? What social layers of Brazilian society needs to be informed that blacks are not only part of the society as they are also children of the same?

To learn more

http://www.blackhistorymonth. org.uk/
http://www.black-history- month.co.uk/

The Black History Month – UK