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Hey guys, I'm Faheedah, and today
we're going to be talking about
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the African diaspora in Brazil.
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♪ Freedom is... ♪
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♪ ...mine ♪
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Did you know that Brazil has the biggest
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African Diaspora Community
outside of Africa?
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The 2010 census in Brazil
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showed that for the first time,
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the majority of the Brazilian population
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identified as afro-descendant.
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50.7% of Brazilians.
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the equivalent of over
a hundred million people
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self-identified as black or mixed-race.
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The statistics I'm about to give you
are truly staggering.
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The trans-Atlantic
slave trade as we know it
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began when the Portugese
completed the first
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trans-Atlantic
slave voyage to Brazil in 1526.
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From 1501 to 1866,
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an estimated 4.9 million enslaved Africans
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were trafficked to Brazil.
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That's nearly 40% of all slave traded
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in the trans-Atlantic slave trade,
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and at least four times
the number of slaves
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that were trafficked to the United States.
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Brazil was last country
in the Western Hemisphere
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to abolish slavery in 1888.
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Slave labour was the driving force
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behind several key industries in Brazil,
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including sugar production,
gold and diamond mining,
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cofee production and agriculture.
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As was the case across Latin America,
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enslaved Africans in Brazil escaped
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and formed maroon settlements
called Quilombos.
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The most famous of which
was Quilombos dos Palmares,
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which existed for most
of the 17th century.
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It was a relatively large Quilombo,
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with a population of several
thousand escaped slaves
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and indigenous people,
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who formed a complex
and structured society.
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At its height, it had
a population of 30,000 people
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and spanned over eleven villages,
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occupying a landmass the size of Portugal.
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The most famous Afro-Brazilian
slave resistance leader was Zumbi,
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the last king of Palmares,
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who led the fierce counter-attack
against the Portuguese
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forces trying to seize the Quilombo.
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Although the settlement
was captured in 1695
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and Zumbi was decapitated,
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today he is a powerful
symbol of resistance
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against slavery in Brazil
and Portuguese colonial rule.
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To this day,
the descendants of Afro-Brazilians
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living in Quilombo settlements
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fight for the right
to their ancestral land.
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In 2018, for the first time,
a quilombo community
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was given land titles,
when the Cachoeira Porteiraa community,
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of 500 people, was formally granted
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220,000 hectares of Amazonian rainforest.
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A key turning point
was the Haitian Revolution,
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which ended in 1804,
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whereby the Afro-descendant
population of Haiti
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rebelled against the white French elites
and claimed their independence,
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both from French colonial rule
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and their European slave masters.
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This sent shockwaves across Latin America,
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which were felt as far as Brazil.
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Some Afro-Brazilians even wore
portraits of Haitian revolutionary leader
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Jean Jacques Dessalines
in pendants around their necks.
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However, after the collapse
of the sugar industry in Haiti,
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it was Brazil that catered
to the increased demand for sugar.
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Enslaved Africans continued to be imported
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in large numbers to the region of Byir.
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From the Haitian Revolution onwards,
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slave rebellions became
more frequent and more brutal.
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The largest rebellion
occurred in 1835 in Salvador,
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and was known as The Malê Uprising.
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It was orchestrated
by African-born Muslim slaves
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who intended to free
all of the slaves in Bahia.
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However, the rebellion was crushed
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and many participants
were arrested, executed,
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flogged or deported.
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Relations were tense
between enslaved Africans
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who had recently been imported
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and the enslaved Afrio-Brazilians
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who had been born
into slavery on Brazilian soil.
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The Afro-Brazilians were comprised
of blacks and mulattoes
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who were mixed with the European ancestry
of their slave masters.
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They were treated better,
were more likely to be emancipated,
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often because they were
the slave master´s children
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and had great opportunity
for social mobility
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once they had been freed.
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In fact, it was not uncommon
for wealthy free blacks
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and mulattoes in Brazil
to have slaves of their own.
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It was arguably these internal divisions
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that held the enslaved population back
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from staging a successful revolt.
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Although Brazil gained
its independence from Portugal in 1822,
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slavery wasn't formally
abolished until 1888,
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when Princess Isabel of Brazil
passed the Lei Áurea,
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The Golden Act.
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This made Brazil the last country
in the Western Hemisphere
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to abolish slavery.
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The sheer amount of slaves
that had been trafficked to Brazil
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during the slavery era
meant that the Brazilian population
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was now majority
black and afro-descendant.
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At a time when
scientific racism was gaining popularity,
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the Brazilian government tried
to whiten the country´s racial profile.
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It implemented a tactical whitening,
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whereby from the late 1800s
to the early 1900s,
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Brazil encouraged and even subsidized
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the mass influx of white
European immigrants to Brazil.
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The countries with the
highest numbers settling in Brazil
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were Italians, Portuguese ans Spanish.
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Although this didn't eradicate
blackness from Brazil,
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it reinforced the trope that whiteness
should be aspired to
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and that marrying someone
whiter was an instrument of
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social mobility.
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In the 20th century,
the black movement in Brazil
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gained momentum.
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A defining moment was in 1931,
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when the Frente Negra Brasileira
was formed.
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the first black political party in Brazil,
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organized by Arlindo Vega dos Santos.
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The party put forward candidates
for political office,
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run literacy classes,
health clinics and legal services
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for black communities across Brazil.
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They also published a newspaper called
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A Voz da Raça, which circulated news about
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black communities both
in Brazil and overseas.
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The party was short-lived,
however, when in 1937
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the Brazilian dictator,
Getúllio Vargas dissolved all
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political parties
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From the 1950s onwards,
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there were a number
of black social movements in Brazil
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that lobbied for black rights.
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One of the most famous
was the Unified Black Movement,
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also known as the MNU,
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founded in 1978,
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which is arguably the most influential
black organization in Brazil
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in the second half of the 20th century.
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Among things, the organization spoke out
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against police brutality,
the oppression of black women
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and discrimination against
the LGBTQ community.
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In 1995, the MNU helped organize
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the march for Zumbi
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in the capital of Brasilia.
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The event protested racism
in Brazil and also celebrated
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the anniversary
of the death of Zumbi,
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the slave resistance leader
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who was the last king of the
Quilombo dos Palmares.
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With a turnout of over
40,000 people,
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it was the largest national
black demonstration in Brazil.
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In recent years,
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social media has played a pivotal role
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in black political activism in Brazil,
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particularly amongst
afro-brazilian millennials.
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Social media platforms such as
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YouTube Instagram
and Facebook have allowed
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afro-brazilians to connect
and mobilize online.
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Social media provides a forum
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to discuss the collective struggle,
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but crucially, it has also allowed
the dissemination
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of photos and video footage
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showing police brutality
against Afro-Brazilians.
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One such example is the murder
of Cláudia da Silva Ferreira,
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who passed away in 2014,
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after a police van dragged her
down the road
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for over a thousand feet.
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The grisly incident was captured on camera
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and circulated on social media,
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sparking national outrage.
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The Black Lives Matter
movement, in particular,
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gained traction
with afro-brazilian youths,
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who coined the #vidasnegrasimportam.
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In fact, an unprecedented number of people
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self-identified as black and mixed-race
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in the 2010 Brazilian census
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shows that Brazilians
are prouder and more willing
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to claim their African heritage
than ever before.
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However, the census also brought to light
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the grave disparities between
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the distribution of wealth
amongst white
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and afro-descendant Brazilians.
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The socio-economic gap
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between white
and black Brazilians persists.
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The 2010 census found
that, in major cities,
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white Brazilians earn
2 to 3 times more than
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their black counterparts.
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The wealthiest strata
of Brazilian society remains 82%
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white and the poorest rata is 76% black.
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Afro-Brazilians have far less
access to quality education,
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health care or fair wages,
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and they are underrepresented
in the government.
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The most prominent
African derive religions in Brazil
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are candomblé and umbanda.
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Umbanda centers on the belief in spirits,
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both good and evil.
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Candomblé is derived from
the belief systems
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of a number of African ethnic groups,
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particularly, the Yorubá-Fun and Bantu,
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similar to the Orishas of Santeria
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practiced in Cuba and other regions.
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The deities of candomblé
are called "Arishas".
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Over time, they have become
syncretized with Roman Catholic saints.
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This dates back to when enslaved Africans
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were forbidden
by the European masters
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for practicing their African religions.
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And they had to do so in secret,
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under the guise of praying
to Catholic saints,
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because of the historical ties
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between candomblé and catholicism.
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Catholicism is also widely practiced
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amongst afro-brazilians.
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One afro-descendants Saint
venerated in Brazil
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is Escrava Anastásia,
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a slave woman of African
descent who is depicted
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wearing a metal facemask.
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The story goes that her
master's wife accused her
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of flirting with her husband,
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and as a punishment forced
her to wear an iron mask
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over her face for
the rest of her life,
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until she died from tetanus from
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the rusty metal.
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The biggest afro-brazilian festival
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is the Festival of Iemanjá,
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celebrated every February 2nd
in Rio Vermelho.
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The festival brings toghether
members of several religions,
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including Catholics and practitioners
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of the afro-brazilian religions,
candomblé and umbanda.
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Iemanjá is the Arisha of the sea
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and loosely corresponds
to the Cuban Arisha, Iamanha.
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It is custom to lay offerings for
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the goddess, of flowers jewelry and food.
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And of course, Brasil is famous
for its Carnaval around the world.
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There are celebrations across the country,
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but the most famous
is hosted in Rio de Janeiro,
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where over 5 million people participate in
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the street parties.
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One key element of the Carnaval
is the Samba music and dance,
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a clear vestige of African
influence in Brazilian culture.
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The fast footwork
of Samba dancing originated in
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the dancers practiced
by the enslaved Africans
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trafficked to Brazil.
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And the singing style derives from
the traditional call-and-response style
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the Africans would use to evoke their
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Arishas during religious ceremonies.
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Another afro-brazilian style of dance is
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capoeira, which combines martial arts
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moves with elements of dance and
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acrobatics to create graceful and
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flowing sequences.
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It's originated amongst enslaved Africans
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in Brazil who sought to hone their combat
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skills without arousing the suspicions
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of their masters.
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In 2014, it was declared
an expression of intangible cultural
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heritage by UNESCO.
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The Afro-Brazilian Museum,
located in São Paulo,
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is home to over 6,000 works
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pertaining to a afro-brazilian history,
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culture and heritage.
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It seeks to celebrate
the arts and accomplishments
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of Africans and Afro-Brazilians,
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and it´s the largest collection
of artifacts of Afrcian descent
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in Latin America.
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Black Awareness Day has been celebrated
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annually in Brazil since the year 1960.
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It's held on November 20th
to honor the live
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of afro-brazilian slave
resistance fighter, Zumbi.
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Famous afro-brazilians
include the footballers
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Pelé and Ronaldinho,
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the scholar and politician,
Abdias do Nascimento,
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actress Suzanna Mota,
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and the politician Benedita de Silva,
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who became the first black woman
in the Brazilian Senate.
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That brings me to the
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end of our video
on the African Diaspora in Brazil.
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For more videos,
don't forget to subscribe
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and follow me on instagram,
at freedom is mine official.
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I'll see you in the next video.
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[Music]