WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.949
Hey guys, I'm Faheedah and today

00:00:01.949 --> 00:00:03.526
we're going to be talking about

00:00:03.526 --> 00:00:05.610
the African diaspora in Brazil

00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:09.840
[Humming] Freedom is...

00:00:11.327 --> 00:00:14.427
mine.

00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:18.201
Did you know that Brazil has the biggest

00:00:18.201 --> 00:00:20.670
African Diaspora Community
outside of Africa?

00:00:20.959 --> 00:00:23.789
The 2010 census in Brazil

00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:25.320
shows that for the first time,

00:00:25.450 --> 00:00:27.640
the majority of the Brazilian population

00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:29.720
identified as afro-descendant.

00:00:30.126 --> 00:00:32.399
50.7% of Brazilians.

00:00:32.532 --> 00:00:35.660
the equivalent of over
a hundred million people

00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:38.709
self-identified as black or mixed-race.

00:00:38.754 --> 00:00:41.912
The statistics I'm about to give you
are truly staggering.

00:00:41.930 --> 00:00:44.490
The trans-atlantic
slave trade as we know it

00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:46.990
began when the Portugese
completed the first

00:00:46.990 --> 00:00:50.640
trans-atlantic voyage to Brazil in 1526.

00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:53.160
From 1501 to 1866,

00:00:53.315 --> 00:00:56.586
an estimated 4.9 million enslaved Africans

00:00:56.586 --> 00:00:57.875
were trafficked to Brazil.

00:00:58.145 --> 00:01:00.960
That's nearly 40% of all slave traded

00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:02.790
in the trans-atlantic slave trade,

00:01:03.034 --> 00:01:05.184
and at least four times
the number of slaves

00:01:05.184 --> 00:01:07.163
that were trafficked
to the United States.

00:01:07.163 --> 00:01:09.903
Brazil was last country
in the Western Hemisphere

00:01:09.903 --> 00:01:12.683
to abolish slaver in 1888.

00:01:12.771 --> 00:01:14.661
Slave labour was the driving force

00:01:14.661 --> 00:01:16.936
behind several key industries in Brazil,

00:01:17.077 --> 00:01:18.687
including sugar production,

00:01:18.687 --> 00:01:20.187
golden diamond mining,

00:01:20.288 --> 00:01:22.318
cofee production and agriculture.

00:01:22.523 --> 00:01:25.023
As was the case across Latin-America,

00:01:25.346 --> 00:01:27.546
enslaved Africans in Brazil escaped

00:01:27.546 --> 00:01:30.036
and formed maroon settlements
called "Quilombos".

00:01:30.317 --> 00:01:33.107
The most famous of which was 
Quilombos dos Palmares,

00:01:33.283 --> 00:01:35.973
which existed for most of 
the 17th century.

00:01:36.306 --> 00:01:38.356
It was a relatively large Quilombo,

00:01:38.422 --> 00:01:41.289
with a population of several
thousands escaped slaves

00:01:41.289 --> 00:01:42.489
and indigenous people,

00:01:42.669 --> 00:01:45.110
who formed a complex
and structured society.

00:01:45.603 --> 00:01:49.010
At its height, it had
a population of 30,000 people

00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.260
and spanned over eleven villages,

00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:54.160
occupying a landmass the size of Portugal.

00:01:54.490 --> 00:01:56.239
The most famous afro-brazilian

00:01:56.279 --> 00:01:58.379
slave resistance leader was Zumbi,

00:01:58.539 --> 00:02:00.139
the last king of palmares,

00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:03.207
who led the fierce
counter-attack against the Portuguese

00:02:03.207 --> 00:02:05.340
forces trying to seize the Quilombo.

00:02:05.630 --> 00:02:08.760
Although the settlement
was captured in 1695

00:02:08.760 --> 00:02:10.649
and Zumbi was decapitated,

00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:13.259
today he is a powerful
symbol of resistance

00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:16.499
against slavery in Brazil
and Portuguese colonial rule.

00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:17.842
To this day,

00:02:17.842 --> 00:02:19.829
the descendants of Afro-Brazilians

00:02:19.829 --> 00:02:21.519
living in Quilombo settlements

00:02:21.789 --> 00:02:24.030
fight for the right
to their ancestral land.

00:02:24.460 --> 00:02:28.020
In 2018, for the first time,
a Quilombo community

00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:29.490
was given land titles,

00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:32.560
when a community of 500 people

00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:34.373
was formally granted

00:02:34.373 --> 00:02:37.030
220,000 hectares

00:02:37.030 --> 00:02:38.789
of Amazonian rainforest.

00:02:38.789 --> 00:02:41.310
A key turning point
was the Haitian Revolution,

00:02:41.310 --> 00:02:43.210
which ended in 1804.

00:02:43.388 --> 00:02:46.030
Whereby the afro-descendant
population of Haiti

00:02:46.030 --> 00:02:48.099
rebelled against the white French elites

00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:49.759
and claimed their independence,

00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:51.658
both from French colonial rule

00:02:51.658 --> 00:02:53.920
and their European slave masters.

00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:56.759
This sent shockwaves across Latin America,

00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:58.659
which were felt as far as Brazil.

00:02:59.114 --> 00:03:00.849
Some Afro-Brazilians even wore

00:03:00.849 --> 00:03:03.299
portraits of Haitian revolutionary leader,

00:03:03.299 --> 00:03:04.660
Jean Jacques Dessalines

00:03:04.660 --> 00:03:06.450
in pendants around their necks.

00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:10.150
However, after the collapse
of the sugar industry in Haiti,

00:03:10.470 --> 00:03:13.810
it was Brazil that catered
to the increased demand for sugar.

00:03:14.273 --> 00:03:16.886
Enslaved Africans continued to be imported

00:03:16.886 --> 00:03:19.069
in large numbers to the region of by air

00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:21.310
from the Haitian Revolution onwards

00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:23.680
slave rebellions became more frequent

00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.199
and more brutal the largest rebellion

00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:29.109
occurred in 1835 in salvador and was

00:03:29.109 --> 00:03:31.389
known as the male uprising it was

00:03:31.389 --> 00:03:33.549
orchestrated by African born Muslim

00:03:33.549 --> 00:03:35.530
slaves who intended to free all of the

00:03:35.530 --> 00:03:36.759
slaves in Bahia

00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:39.040
however the rebellion was crushed and

00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:41.650
many participants were arrested executed

00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:44.650
flogged or deported relations were tense

00:03:44.650 --> 00:03:46.569
between enslaved Africans who had

00:03:46.569 --> 00:03:49.030
recently been imported and the enslaved

00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:51.159
Africa's ilion's who had been born into

00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:53.290
slavery on Brazilian soil the

00:03:53.290 --> 00:03:55.239
afro-brazilians were comprised of blacks

00:03:55.239 --> 00:03:57.099
and mulattoes who were mixed with the

00:03:57.099 --> 00:03:59.259
European ancestry of their slave masters

00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:01.479
they were treated better were more

00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:03.790
likely to be emancipated often because

00:04:03.790 --> 00:04:05.709
they were the slave masters children and

00:04:05.709 --> 00:04:07.540
had great opportunity for social

00:04:07.540 --> 00:04:09.519
mobility once they had been freed in

00:04:09.519 --> 00:04:12.189
fact it was not uncommon for wealthy

00:04:12.189 --> 00:04:14.139
free blacks and mulattoes in Brazil to

00:04:14.139 --> 00:04:16.389
have slaves of their own it was arguably

00:04:16.389 --> 00:04:18.668
these internal divisions that held the

00:04:18.668 --> 00:04:21.070
enslaved population back from staging a

00:04:21.070 --> 00:04:23.529
successful revolt although Brazil gained

00:04:23.529 --> 00:04:25.450
its independence from Portugal in 80

00:04:25.450 --> 00:04:28.090
22 slavery wasn't formally abolished

00:04:28.090 --> 00:04:31.210
until 1888 when Princess Isabel of

00:04:31.210 --> 00:04:33.700
Brazil passed the lay area the golden

00:04:33.700 --> 00:04:34.240
act

00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:36.520
this made Brazil the last country in the

00:04:36.520 --> 00:04:38.320
Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery

00:04:38.320 --> 00:04:40.900
the sheer amount of slaves that had been

00:04:40.900 --> 00:04:42.700
trafficked to Brazil during the slavery

00:04:42.700 --> 00:04:44.830
era meant that the Brazilian population

00:04:44.830 --> 00:04:46.750
was now majority black and

00:04:46.750 --> 00:04:48.880
afro-descendant at a time when

00:04:48.880 --> 00:04:51.030
scientific racism was gaining popularity

00:04:51.030 --> 00:04:53.500
the Brazilian government sought to

00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:55.690
whiten the racial profile of the country

00:04:55.690 --> 00:04:58.180
it implemented a tactical whitening

00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:01.000
whereby from the late 1800s to the early

00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:03.820
1900s Brazil encouraged and even

00:05:03.820 --> 00:05:05.980
subsidized the mass influx of white

00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:08.320
European immigrants to Brazil the

00:05:08.320 --> 00:05:09.910
countries with the highest numbers

00:05:09.910 --> 00:05:11.920
settling in Brazil were Italians

00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.590
Portuguese and Spanish although this

00:05:14.590 --> 00:05:16.630
didn't eradicate blackness from Brazil

00:05:16.630 --> 00:05:18.970
it reinforced the trope that whiteness

00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:21.040
should be aspired to and that marrying

00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:22.960
someone whiter was an instrument of

00:05:22.960 --> 00:05:26.050
social mobility in the 20th century the

00:05:26.050 --> 00:05:28.000
black movement in Brazil gained momentum

00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.600
a defining moment was in 1931 when the

00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:34.300
French ii- Brazil ADA was formed the

00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.240
first black political party in Brazil

00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.280
organized by our Linda Vega dos Santos

00:05:39.280 --> 00:05:41.620
the party put forward candidates for

00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:43.900
political office run literacy classes

00:05:43.900 --> 00:05:46.420
health clinics and legal services for

00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:48.670
black communities across Brazil they

00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:50.920
also published a newspaper called avoid

00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.410
ste Haase which circulated news about

00:05:53.410 --> 00:05:55.450
black communities both in Brazil and

00:05:55.450 --> 00:05:57.700
overseas the party was short-lived

00:05:57.700 --> 00:06:00.790
however when in 1937 the Brazilian

00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:03.520
dictator J Tulio Vargas dissolved all

00:06:03.520 --> 00:06:06.580
political parties from the 1950s onwards

00:06:06.580 --> 00:06:08.500
there were a number of black social

00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:10.300
movements in Brazil they lobbied for

00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.030
black rights one of the most famous was

00:06:13.030 --> 00:06:15.370
the unified black movement also known as

00:06:15.370 --> 00:06:18.820
the M nu founded in 1978 which is

00:06:18.820 --> 00:06:20.770
arguably the most influential black

00:06:20.770 --> 00:06:22.780
organization in Brazil in the second

00:06:22.780 --> 00:06:25.270
half of the 20th century among things

00:06:25.270 --> 00:06:27.340
the organization spoke out against

00:06:27.340 --> 00:06:29.620
police brutality the oppression of black

00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:31.830
women and discrimination against the

00:06:31.830 --> 00:06:36.400
LGBTQ community in 1995 the M nu helped

00:06:36.400 --> 00:06:38.060
organize the march for zombie

00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:40.400
in the capital of Brasilia the event

00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:42.770
protested racism in Brazil and also

00:06:42.770 --> 00:06:44.840
celebrated the anniversary of the death

00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:47.090
of zombie the slave resistance leader

00:06:47.090 --> 00:06:48.980
who was the last king of the Colombo dos

00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:52.310
palmares with a turnout of over 40,000

00:06:52.310 --> 00:06:54.650
people it was the largest national black

00:06:54.650 --> 00:06:57.410
demonstration in Brazil in recent years

00:06:57.410 --> 00:06:59.540
social media has played a pivotal role

00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:01.820
in black political activism in Brazil

00:07:01.820 --> 00:07:04.070
particularly amongst afro-brazilian

00:07:04.070 --> 00:07:06.470
Millennials social media platforms such

00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:09.110
as YouTube Instagram and Facebook have

00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:11.150
allowed afro-brazilians to connect and

00:07:11.150 --> 00:07:13.940
mobilize online social media provides a

00:07:13.940 --> 00:07:15.740
forum to discuss the collective struggle

00:07:15.740 --> 00:07:18.139
but crucially it has also allowed the

00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:20.030
dissemination of photos and video

00:07:20.030 --> 00:07:22.550
footage showing police brutality against

00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:23.540
afro-brazilians

00:07:23.540 --> 00:07:25.729
one such example is the murder of

00:07:25.729 --> 00:07:28.430
Claudia the Silva fajita who passed away

00:07:28.430 --> 00:07:31.880
in 2014 after a police van dragged her

00:07:31.880 --> 00:07:33.860
down the road for over a thousand feet

00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:36.169
the grisly incident was captured on

00:07:36.169 --> 00:07:38.389
camera and circulated on social media

00:07:38.389 --> 00:07:41.360
sparking national outrage the black

00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.039
lives matter movement in particular

00:07:43.039 --> 00:07:45.110
gained traction with afro-brazilian

00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:47.510
youths who coined the hashtag vidas

00:07:47.510 --> 00:07:49.669
import them the fact an

00:07:49.669 --> 00:07:51.620
unprecedented number of people

00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:53.930
self-identified as black and mixed-race

00:07:53.930 --> 00:07:57.350
in the 2010 Brazilian census shows that

00:07:57.350 --> 00:07:59.510
Brazilians are prouder and more willing

00:07:59.510 --> 00:08:01.250
to claim their African heritage than

00:08:01.250 --> 00:08:02.270
ever before

00:08:02.270 --> 00:08:04.640
however the census also brought to light

00:08:04.640 --> 00:08:06.470
the grave disparities between the

00:08:06.470 --> 00:08:08.600
distribution of wealth amongst white and

00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:10.760
afro-descendant Brazilians the

00:08:10.760 --> 00:08:12.830
socio-economic gap between white and

00:08:12.830 --> 00:08:16.070
black Brazilians persists the 2010

00:08:16.070 --> 00:08:18.740
census found that in major cities white

00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:21.139
Brazilians earn 2 to 3 times more than

00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:23.479
their black counterparts the wealthiest

00:08:23.479 --> 00:08:26.570
strata of Brazilian society remains 82%

00:08:26.570 --> 00:08:30.139
white and the poorest rata is 76 percent

00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:32.659
black afro Brazilians have far less

00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:35.208
access to quality education health care

00:08:35.208 --> 00:08:37.190
or fair wages and they are

00:08:37.190 --> 00:08:39.409
underrepresented in the government the

00:08:39.409 --> 00:08:41.630
most prominent African derive religions

00:08:41.630 --> 00:08:44.000
in Brazil are candomble a and Amanda

00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.670
Amanda centers on the belief in spirits

00:08:46.670 --> 00:08:49.670
both good and evil can delay is derived

00:08:49.670 --> 00:08:50.370
from the belief

00:08:50.370 --> 00:08:52.320
systems of a number of African ethnic

00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.310
groups particularly Yoruba fun and Bantu

00:08:55.310 --> 00:08:57.660
similar to the arisia of Santeria

00:08:57.660 --> 00:08:59.820
practiced in Cuba and other regions the

00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:01.980
deities of candomble a are called the

00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:04.140
Orisha over time they have become

00:09:04.140 --> 00:09:06.330
syncretized with Roman Catholic saints

00:09:06.330 --> 00:09:08.339
this dates back to when enslaved

00:09:08.339 --> 00:09:10.440
Africans were forbidden by the European

00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:12.360
masters for practicing their African

00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:14.790
religions and so had to do so in secret

00:09:14.790 --> 00:09:17.010
under the guise of praying to Catholic

00:09:17.010 --> 00:09:19.230
saints because of the historical ties

00:09:19.230 --> 00:09:21.570
between kin Bombay and Catholicism

00:09:21.570 --> 00:09:24.029
Catholicism is also widely practiced

00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:25.470
amongst afro-brazilians

00:09:25.470 --> 00:09:28.290
one afro-descendants Saint venerated in

00:09:28.290 --> 00:09:31.020
Brazil is ask Rafa and Aspasia a slave

00:09:31.020 --> 00:09:33.150
woman of African descent who is depicted

00:09:33.150 --> 00:09:35.550
wearing a metal facemask the story goes

00:09:35.550 --> 00:09:37.500
that her master's wife accused her of

00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.600
flirting with her husband and as a

00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.610
punishment force her to wear an iron

00:09:41.610 --> 00:09:43.410
mask over her face for the rest of her

00:09:43.410 --> 00:09:45.900
life until she died from tetanus from

00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:47.850
the rusty metal the biggest

00:09:47.850 --> 00:09:50.100
afro-brazilian festival is the festival

00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:53.400
of Yemanja celebrated every february 2nd

00:09:53.400 --> 00:09:55.920
in heal Vermeil the festival brings

00:09:55.920 --> 00:09:57.660
together members of several religions

00:09:57.660 --> 00:10:00.209
including Catholics and practitioners of

00:10:00.209 --> 00:10:02.070
the afro-brazilian religions can Don

00:10:02.070 --> 00:10:04.290
Blake and Amanda Yemanja

00:10:04.290 --> 00:10:06.540
is the arisia of the sieve and loosely

00:10:06.540 --> 00:10:08.250
corresponds to the Cuban or Isha

00:10:08.250 --> 00:10:11.010
Yemaya it is custom to lay offerings for

00:10:11.010 --> 00:10:13.470
the goddess of flowers jewelry and food

00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:16.440
and of course resin is famous for its

00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:18.540
carnival around Mardi Gras there are

00:10:18.540 --> 00:10:20.730
celebrations across the country but the

00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:22.980
most famous is hosted in Rio de Janeiro

00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:25.800
for over 5 million people participate in

00:10:25.800 --> 00:10:28.470
the street parties one key element of

00:10:28.470 --> 00:10:30.390
the Carnival is the Samba music and

00:10:30.390 --> 00:10:32.640
dance a clear vestige of African

00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:35.130
influence in Brazilian culture the fast

00:10:35.130 --> 00:10:37.500
footwork of Samba dancing originated in

00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.240
the dancers practiced by the enslaved

00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:41.130
Africans who were trafficked to Brazil

00:10:41.130 --> 00:10:43.290
and the singing style is derived from

00:10:43.290 --> 00:10:45.000
the traditional call-and-response style

00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:46.800
the Africans would use to evoke the

00:10:46.800 --> 00:10:48.740
orishas during religious ceremonies

00:10:48.740 --> 00:10:51.600
another afro-brazilian style of dance is

00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:54.060
capoeira which combines martial arts

00:10:54.060 --> 00:10:55.740
moves with elements of dance and

00:10:55.740 --> 00:10:57.930
acrobatics to create graceful and

00:10:57.930 --> 00:11:00.329
flowing sequences it's originated

00:11:00.329 --> 00:11:01.740
amongst enslaved Africans

00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:03.600
Raziel who sought to hone their combat

00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.520
skills without arousing the suspicions

00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:08.820
of their masters in 2014 it was declared

00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:10.140
an expression of intangible cultural

00:11:10.140 --> 00:11:12.030
heritage by UNESCO

00:11:12.030 --> 00:11:14.670
the afro-brazilian Museum located in San

00:11:14.670 --> 00:11:17.370
Paolo is home to over 6,000 works

00:11:17.370 --> 00:11:19.620
pertaining to a per bazillion history

00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:22.020
culture and heritage it seeks to

00:11:22.020 --> 00:11:24.000
celebrate the arts and accomplishments

00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.430
of Africans and Africa's ilion's and is

00:11:26.430 --> 00:11:28.320
the largest collection of artifacts of

00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.230
African descent in Latin America black

00:11:31.230 --> 00:11:33.060
Awareness Day has been celebrated

00:11:33.060 --> 00:11:35.610
annually in Brazil since the Year 1960

00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:38.340
it's held on November 20th to honor the

00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:40.200
life of our Brazilian slave resistance

00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.440
fighter zombie famous afro-brazilians

00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.300
include the footballers Pele and

00:11:45.300 --> 00:11:48.090
Ronaldinho the scholar and politician of

00:11:48.090 --> 00:11:51.480
gs the Nascimento actresses aermotor and

00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:54.270
the politician benedita de silva he

00:11:54.270 --> 00:11:55.800
became the first black woman in the

00:11:55.800 --> 00:11:58.020
Brazilian center that brings me to the

00:11:58.020 --> 00:12:00.120
end of our video on the African Diaspora

00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.490
in Brazil for more videos don't forget

00:12:02.490 --> 00:12:04.710
to subscribe and follow me on instagram

00:12:04.710 --> 00:12:06.990
at freedom is mine official I'll see you

00:12:06.990 --> 00:12:10.040
in the next video

00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:19.980
[Music]