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In recognition of the importance of respecting lived experience, the following text is by Carla, a Black female entrepreneur who is part of Rede Asta with Africanize.
For the girl
I undo the girl's braids
and my fingers tremble
fears in the paths
parted in her hair.
I wash the girl's body
and my hands stumble
pains in the memory-scars
of a treacherous whip.
I dress the girl
and to my eyes
the color of her garment
persists and blends
with the blood that flows
from the body-soil of a people.
I dream of the girl's days
and life emerges grateful
unbraiding her hair
and the garment appears abundant
fitting and defined
and the blood stops flowing
wandering peacefully
in the veins of new paths,
hope.
– Conceição Evaristo, from the book “Poemas da recordação e outros movimentos”. Belo Horizonte: Nandyala, 2008
Throughout Brazil, Black Consciousness Month is celebrated in November. It is marked by November 20th, the date associated with the death of Zumbi dos Palmares, leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares, located between Alagoas and Pernambuco.
The Quilombo dos Palmares was a symbol of struggle and resistance against slavery and a reference for the freedom and autonomy of a people who, for over three centuries, had been brutalized, forcibly torn from their homeland, Africa, and brought to another continent to serve and produce in the nascent colonial Brazil. It was in this hostile context that our country was born. Therefore, everything that was generated, produced, and built is owed to the Black hands of Africans and their descendants.
In the mid-17th century, the Quilombo was a benchmark for productivity, sustainability, and abundance. Its economy was based on agriculture. They produced for internal consumption and generated surpluses for trade with farms in the region. During this period, sugarcane monoculture caused misery and food shortages. That is why the population of Palmares was a symbol of prosperity and social organization. This led to clashes with the economic system of the time, and the Quilombo was destroyed and its population brutally decimated.
The Quilombo dos Palmares was a republic in the midst of the colonial and slave-holding period! Its population of about 20,000 inhabitants worked collectively. Its annihilation, however, did not kill the memory of those who created it. Hence the importance of November 20th in our society today. Just like the Quilombo of the 16th and 17th centuries, we are trying today to build new paths.
We still suffer from the strong remnants of a society built on subservience and economic exploitation, and as Darcy Ribeiro aptly put it: slaves yesterday, underpaid workers today. That is why, when we become entrepreneurs, we are saying no to exploitative jobs.
How many of us are entrepreneurs rooted in our Black heritage? How many of us are Afro-Brazilian and Afro-entrepreneurs? How important is it for us to recognize and highlight our origins?
Like the Quilombo dos Palmares, we are a symbol of resistance and a reference point for this majority of the population that needs to recognize and value its heritage and our culture. November 20th is an important milestone for reflecting on our legacy and truly understanding our origins and identity.
Zumbi lives. Long live Zumbi!