Abolition and the legacy of enslavement in Brazil
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
May 13th marked the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, in 1888.
The Golden Law, issued by Princess Imperial Isabel on May 13, 1888, officially ended slavery in Brazil. Its abolition came without a bloody civil war as in the United States (1861-1865) or a slave rebellion as in Haiti (1794). When England prohibited Brazil's transatlantic slave trade by passing the Aberdeen Act in 1845, Brazilian plantations were faced with a labor shortage. That shortage was compensated with European immigrants, who did not have to fight for their freedom as slaves often did. Brazil did not end slavery until the economic system it was based upon could no longer be maintained. It was the last country in the Americas to do so. The legacy of 350 years was staggering: Half of all slaves that crossed the Atlantic landed in Brazil; two million of them in Rio alone, another 5.8 million along the coast.
Brazilian plantations exhibited a ravenous hunger for human flesh throughout the era of slavery. It is estimated that 1 in 10 Africans died during the transatlantic crossing. When ships arrived, families were split up. The men were sent to work the fields of the country's most remote regions, while the women, raped by their white masters, brought forth generation after generation of new Brazilians. It seems the white masters were not content to exploit nature and man — they dominated their servants literally down to their flesh and bones.
Despite that, the belief that slavery in Brazil was more humane than elsewhere still persists today. Images and reports from that time — which rarely if ever gave witness to the gruesome reality of the situation — helped create the myth. When Brazil's slaves were finally set free in 1888, they faced economic catastrophe rather than experiencing the officially proclaimed jubilation of freedom. They were simply left to their individual fates — without land, without money and without an education. And that is largely where their descendants still stand today. Millions of Afro-Brazilians today live in the same precarious circumstances that their forebears faced 130 years ago. The impoverished favela shacks that populate the outskirts of Brazil's major cities are not unlike those of the 19th century. Millions of Brazilians have yet to become a welcome part of society. Young blacks make up two-thirds of Brazil's 60,000 victims of violent crime each year. They also make up two-thirds of the country's prison population
The struggle for abolition was a long and bloody one, with uprisings, and resistance. Runaway slaves (maroons) formed quilombos, the most famous was Palmares (read Dopper’s history piece)
“On May 13, when the day of the abolition of slavery is celebrated, learn the history of 6 Brazilians who fought for the end of slavery, but who were not as well known as Princess Isabel”
When I first started teaching about African enslavement in the New World, I found few of my students, if any, thought of it in hemispheric terms. What little they knew related specifically to the U.S. and was focused on the South only.
Of the sheer numbers of Africans dragged here, most to Brazil, they had no idea.
When faced with the numbers of the transatlantic slave trade, U.S. citizens are frequently surprised by the fact that less than 400,000 enslaved Africans were carried to North America out of the more than ten million people that were disembarked by slave ships in the Americas between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries. (For estimates of the transatlantic slave trade, see www.slavevoyages.org). Of all major American regions of slave disembarkation, British North America (after 1776, the United States) was ahead only of the Danish Caribbean during the whole period of the transatlantic slave trade. At the other end was Portuguese America (after 1822, Brazil), which received almost five million enslaved Africans between 1501 and 1866.
Dr. Ana Lucia Araujo, is one of foremost scholars on transatlantic slavery here in the U.S. She teaches history at Howard University.
I am a social and cultural historian. Born and raised in Brazil, I completed a BA in Fine Arts in 1995 (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) and an MA in History of Brazil in 1997 (Pontíficia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul). Trained as a historian and as an art historian, I obtained a PhD in Art History in 2004 (Université Laval, Canada) and a PhD in History and Social and Historical Anthropology (Université Laval and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) in 2007. As a cultural and social historian, my work is influenced by the approach of historical anthropology. My research deals with the history and the memory of the Atlantic slave trade and slavery and their present social and cultural legacies. I am particularly interested in the public memory, heritage, and visual culture of slavery.
She describes some of her work:
My newest book Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History is the first book to present a narrative history of the demands of financial, material, and symbolic reparations for slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. It explores a myriad of written primary sources in several languages, including abolitionist pamphlets, parliamentary debates, petitions by former slaves, newspaper articles, congressional bills, as well as public discourses by black activists and politicians in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The various chapters examine the multiple dimensions of the demands of reparations, including the period of slavery, the emancipation era, the postabolition period, and the present.
My book Brazil Through French Eyes: A Nineteenth-Century Artist in the Tropics (2015) is a revised and expanded English version of my book Romantisme tropical (2008). The book examines the representations of Brazil by the French painter François-Auguste Biard. I argue that Biard, along with other French artists who published travelogues on Brazil during the nineteenth century, developed a particular vision of the country which I call "tropical romanticism." A Portuguese version of this book, translated by me, was published by the press of University of São Paulo, as Romantismo tropical: Um pintor francês nos trópicos in 2017.
Shadows of the Slave Past: Memory, Heritage and Slavery (2014) examines the processes that led to the memorialization of slavery and the Atlantic slave trade in the second half of the twentieth century. Relying on examples from the United States, Brazil, and the Caribbean, I discuss how different groups and social actors have competed to occupy the public arena by associating the slave past with other human atrocities, especially the Holocaust. I look at how the populations of African descent, white elites, and national governments, very often carrying particular political agendas, appropriated the slave past by fighting to make it visible or conceal it in the public space of former slave societies.
Give her a follow on twitter — she promotes new contributions to the field:
Black Women Slaves Who Nourished A Nation: Artistic Renderings of Black Wet Nurses in Brazil
by Kimberly Cleveland
Wet nursing in Brazil dates to approximately the late eighteenth century when upper-class families used black women slaves to breastfeed their white infants. Soon use of a black wet nurse became the norm among elite families in various parts of the country. Wet nursing developed into a business based on the need for breast milk, and the purchase, sale, and renting of slaves to meet the demand. In the late nineteenth century, a growing number of medical experts and abolitionists lobbied against wet nursing. Their efforts, combined with the abolition of slavery and the switch to a Republican government, triggered a decline in the practice. Nevertheless, this custom had become so deep-rooted and widespread that it only became fully obsolete in the 1920s.
Brazil’s history of wet nursing was recorded in artistic renderings. Europeans were the first to depict these black women slaves in their paintings and prints in the first half of the nineteenth century. Subsequently, international and national photographers created studio portraits of wet nurses with their white charges. Only in the twentieth century, when the nation was struggling with race relations post-abolition, did white artists acknowledge that the black women wet nurses were biological mothers, themselves, in their paintings. Since then, a small number of sculptors have used the black wet nurse as an artistic subject.
While scholars have identified samba, Carnaval, and Candomblé as forms of expression through which to explore the topic of race in Brazil, more studies of how art has functioned as a reflection of race relations are needed. One might expect the anonymous black wet nurse to have faded into obscurity well before the start of the twenty-first century; yet, this female figure remains a durable subject of artistic renderings and discourse on racial politics. This study uses renderings of the black wet nurse as a lens through which to explore broader social developments in Brazilian history and to analyze how artistic representations of this body of women have both followed and challenged dominant attitudes toward race and the memory of slavery.
Of the enslaved blacks who were used for a variety of types of labor in the urban and rural settings, and who also feature in artistic renderings, this black wet nurse is the only one who continues to be referenced in contemporary visual culture and discussions of race relations in Brazil. This is the first study to bring together a number of prints, photographs, paintings, and sculptures of this female figure from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries, from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and São Paulo, and to not only consider the works in their individual artistic and historical contexts, but also in relation to each other. The range of different types of artworks underscores the fact that the black wet nurses were not simply marginalized “types,” relegated to the memory of the era of slavery, but a complex group of women who, in fact, nourished a nation.
Like in the United States, racism and the legacy of enslavement — is evident in daily life in Brazil.
The new right-wing President of Brazil, like his North American ‘friend” is steeped in lies.
Brazil has the second largest black population in the world — the first is Nigeria. Those of us with an interest in black history, culture, and politics — need to pay closer attention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Pew Research survey finds that views on the positive effects of diversity on U.S. culture shift when adults are asked about people of color exceeding White people as the majority. Color Lines: Americans Favor Racial Diversity, Think It's a Challenge for Policymakers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While more than half of adults in the United States favor racial and ethnic diversity, many feel it poses challenges to policymakers, per a new study released today (May 8) by Pew Research Center.
The report, which surveyed 6,637 adults in the U.S. in January and February of this year, shows that White, Black and Latinx adults are almost equally likely to say racial diversity is good for the United States (some questions include responses from a small sample of Asian American Pacific Islanders). However, African Americans place more value than White and Latinx people on diversity in the workplace and integration, the study shows. And many said that a more racially mixed population creates challenges for policymakers. From the survey:
A sizable share of Americans (47 percent) say having a population that is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities makes it harder for policymakers to solve the country’s problems; a small share (7 percent) say it makes it easier for policymakers and 45 percent say it doesn’t make much difference. Whites (52 percent) are more likely than Hispanics (42 percent) and Blacks (30 percent) to say the country’s diversity makes it harder for policymakers to solve problems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A report just last year found that when it comes to teaching about slavery — the very economic and social foundation on which this nation was built — the U.S. does a piss poor job.
As the Southern Poverty Law Center found: “Students lack a basic knowledge of the important role [slavery] played in shaping the United States and the impact it continues to have on race relations in America.”
That’s especially true when it comes to the realities of slavery in the North, in places like New York City. Today, the Big Apple is known as a great bastion of liberal politics and the home to practically every race and ethnicity.
But for some 200 years, beginning in the 1620s in colonial New York, slavery existed in New York, ending in 1827, less than 40 years before the start of the Civil War and the eventual end to slavery throughout the U.S.
Unlike many cities in the South, the vestiges of slavery and what happened to black people who had been enslaved are often hard to find in New York. That’s why places like historic Weeksville in New York’s Brooklyn are so important — and so in danger of disappearing forever.
Weeksville was a free black community founded in 1838 by James Weeks, a black longshoreman from Virginia, who bought the land the community was built on and sold plots to other black folks, both those born free and those who had been enslaved.
Gentrification and urban renewal led to the demise of the community. However, the few remaining homes that exist, known as the Hunterfly Road Homes, give visitors a view of what life was like for black folks in New York following emancipation.
Homes that housed free African Americans beginning in 1830s New York City on Hunterfly Road in what was the free black community of Weeksville in Brooklyn
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the months after a jogger was slain in Howard Beach and police went on an intense hunt for her killer, detectives on the orders of top NYPD brass fanned out and demanded DNA swabs from some 360 black and Hispanic men because they had been previously arrested in the Queens neighborhood, the Daily News has learned.
The experience was not only humiliating for several of these men, in some cases their family members were harassed and intimidated by investigators, they claim. Legal experts, meanwhile, said the initiative likely violated the civil rights of the men who were approached, and is indicative of the NYPD’s “racially biased” policing tactics.
One man told the Daily News his parents were so rattled by repeated visits from 106th Precinct detectives they sold their house and moved to Westchester County. A second said detectives interrogated and terrified his teenaged niece when they mistakenly went to his sister’s home looking for him. Another man said he was embarrassed and stigmatized because his neighbors saw him get stopped at his door by detectives.
Chanel Lewis, 22, was convicted in April of beating Karina Vetrano, 30, to death on Aug. 2, 2016, in Spring Creek Park. On April 23, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Lawyers with the Legal Aid Society have filed a notice of appeal on Lewis’ behalf.
Prior to his arrest in February 2017 six months after the crime, cops had been stymied in their search for Vetrano’s killer. But DNA from the crime scene pointed toward a black man as the culprit, and then-Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce ordered the swabbing campaign, sources told The News. Boyce declined to comment.
Maurice Sylla, one of hundreds of men NYPD detectives are said to have demanded DNA swabs from. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the west African country where there are many more twins than anywhere else in the world, photographers Bénédicte Kurzen and Sanne de Wilde explore ‘double birth’ and its mythology. The Guardian: Images from Nigeria, land of the 'inseparable two'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ten young people pose for a group shot, boys in front, girls behind. Almost identically dressed, they stare straight to camera with a mixture of shyness and defiance familiar from school photographs the world over. But the brightness of their uniform, the playfulness of their headgear, suggests that this is no ordinary gathering – and indeed it is not. These children, togged out in their holiday best, were among more than 2,000 sets of twins who poured into the Nigerian town of Igbo-Ora last autumn for the state of Oyo’s first twins festival – an event celebrating the town’s claim to be the twins capital of the world.
Just as the festivities were gearing up, two photographers happened to arrive in Oyo on their own twins mission. Bénédicte Kurzen and Sanne De Wilde were travelling the length and breadth of Nigeria to investigate the mythology that has grown up around a strange genetic anomaly: for it is not only Igbo-Ora that is blessed with unusual numbers of multiple births. “West Africa and specifically Yorubaland (the south west of Nigeria) has 10 times more twins than any other region in the world,” they say. Alongside portraits of beautiful young twins revelling in their doubleness, Kurzen and De Wilde’s haunting photo essay, Land of Ibeji, also reveals a more troubling history in certain parts of Nigeria, captured in a picture of two little girls lying together on a tiled floor. One is listlessly awake and the other sleeps, their bodies strewn with the brilliant red petals of a flamboyant tree as if they might be on the point of death, or involved in some sort of sacrificial rite.
A group of twins pose during the maiden edition of Twins festival in Igbo-Ora, where more than 2,000 sets of twins gathered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH