O National Zombie and Black Consciousness Day, celebrated in November 20th, was officially instituted by Law No. 12,519, of November 10, 2011. The date refers to the death of Zombie, the then leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares – located between the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, in the Northeast region of Brazil.
Zumbi was killed in 1695, on that date, by pioneers led by Domingos Jorge Velho. Currently there are a series of studies that seek to reconstitute the biography of this important character in the resistance to slavery in Brazil.
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Why November 20th?
His death date, discovered by historians in the early 1970s, motivated members of the Unified Black Movement against Racial Discrimination, at a congress held in São Paulo, in 1978, to elect the figure of Zumbi as a symbol of the struggle and resistance of enslaved blacks in Brazil, as well as fight for rights that Afro-Brazilians claim.
With that, the November 20th
it became the date to celebrate and remember the struggle of black people against oppression in Brazil. For this reason, Treze de Maio, the date on which the abolition of slavery happened, it was left aside. The argument used is that the May 13th represents a "false freedom”, since, after the Lei Áurea, blacks were left to their own devices and were left without any kind of assistance from the government.
The choice of November 20 took place in the context of the decline of the Military dictatorship (late 1970s onwards) and the redemocratization of the country. The weakening of the dictatorship gave strength to the opposition movements and to social movements, like the black movement.
With the redemocratization of Brazil and the enactment of 1988 Constitution, various segments of society, including social movements such as the black movement, gained greater space in the scope of political discussions and decisions. The participation of these groups in the political scenario had a certain result, with measures being approved that had the proposal to promote a certain historic repair.
Among these measures, we can highlight the race or color prejudice law (No. 7716 of January 5, 1989) and laws such as racial quotas, aimed at higher education, and, specifically in the area of basic education, Law No. 10.639, of January 9, 2003, which instituted the mandatory teaching of Afro-Brazilian history and culture. These laws provide for some compensation for the damage suffered by the black population in the history of Brazil. Behind these laws are the initiatives to end the erasure that blacks and the history and culture of Africans suffered in Brazil.
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In case of National Zombie Day and Black Consciousness, the date was created through the aforementioned Law No. 12,519, on November 10, 2011, during the government of Dilma Rousseff. This law did not transform the date into a national holiday, so the governments of each state and city in Brazil must choose whether to be a holiday or not. Journalist Laurentino Gomes says that, until 2018, the 20th of November was holiday in 1047 municipalities in Brazil (out of a total of 5561 municipalities)|1|.
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Zumbi dos Palmares
THE figure of Zumbi dos Palmares it is especially claimed by the black movement as a symbol of all these achievements, so much so that the law that instituted the Black Consciousness Day was also the result of this claim. Zumbi's name is even suggested in the National Curriculum Guidelines for Education in Ethnic-Racial Relations and for the Teaching Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture as a personality to be addressed in primary education classes as an example gives fight of blacks in Brazil.
![Zumbi dos Palmares was the historical character who inspired the creation of the Black Consciousness Day.[1]](/f/268441cd01befb8182501c333f5c5f7d.jpg)
This suggestion is guided by one of the provisions of Law No. 10.639, of January 9, 2003, which states the following: “The content programmatic […] will include the study of the History of Africa and Africans, the struggle of blacks in Brazil, black Brazilian culture and the black in the formation of the national society, rescuing the contribution of the black people in the social, economic and political areas relevant to the History of the Brazil."
But after all, who, in fact, was Zumbi dos Palmares? This is a complex question to answer, as sources and evidence regarding the life of this historical character are rare. What historians currently know is that Zumbi dos Palmares was one of the leaders of the largest quilombo in the history of Brazil, O Quilombo dos Palmares.
Some facts of the life of Zumbi dos Palmares that were taken for granted decades ago are now questioned by historians for the lack of sources and for inaccurate information raised by some of the studies done in the past. Something almost unanimously attested by historians is that Zumbi was born in Quilombo dos Palmares.
For decades, the version written by a journalist named Décio Freitas, who said that Zumbi was born in Palmares, but was kidnapped as a child and raised by a priest, was consolidated. As a teenager, Zumbi would have fled, returned to the quilombo and became an important general who defended Palmares from the bandeirantes.
This version currently does not have the support of historiography, as it is based on documents that only the author of the book had access to. Numerous studies on Zumbi have been carried out and all come up against the lack of historical evidence to support some of the conclusions reached. Recent analyses, however, point to how different versions of Zumbi were built and their political uses.
Laurentino Gomes states that the current image of Zumbi is a construction idealized from the end of the 19th century by the abolitionist movement. In this construction, Zumbi became the "hero of the struggles for freedom, not only of slaves and blacks, but also of peasants, Indians, minorities"|2|. It was this image that was behind all the recent achievements of the black movement and, even today, it is in effect.
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What does Black Consciousness Day represent?
In addition to issues involving Zumbi and Quilombo dos Palmares, Black Awareness Day is a significant date, as it brings to light important issues: the racism and the inequality of Brazilian society. It is a date that recalls the struggle of enslaved Africans in the past and that reinforces the importance of carrying out new struggles to make our society more just.
The Black Consciousness Day is important for us to remember that our society was built through the slavery. As much as improvements and changes have taken place, the lack of opportunities for the black population, the racism present in the details of daily life and the attempts to erase African culture evidence that we still have a long way to go. That's what Black Consciousness Day is all about.
Some indications can help us to understand the problem of racism in Brazil, since numerous researches about it have been carried out in recent years. In a survey carried out after the 2018 elections, only 4% of politicians elected to the Legislature declare themselves black. The survey indicated that, among district, state, federal deputies and senators, only 65 of the 1626 elected declared themselves black |3|.
Other data show that about 56% of the population declares themselves black (black or brown) |4|, but among the richest, blacks represent only 17.8% |5|. In contrast, blacks represent 75% of the poorest, in addition to corresponding to the majority of prisoners in Brazil: 65% |6|.
In addition, the blacks are more condemned than whites when they are prosecuted for drug possession. However, paradoxically, they are apprehended with lower doses of illicit substances compared to white convicts |7|. Not only does justice prove to be stricter against blacks, but the police as well, since 76% of those killed by the police are black |8|.
It is also worth mentioning that, in the labor market, black people also suffer from prejudice, as they receive, on average, 1200 reais less compared to white workers |9|. Even in unemployment, blacks suffer more, since more than 60% of the unemployed are black |10|.
Racism was so ingrained in Brazilian culture that even in the vocabulary it manifests. Expressions such as "the color of sin”, “denigrate”, “mulatto”, “bad hair” (referring to curly hair), among many others, clearly denote racism and emerged from the legacy of more than 300 years of slavery in Brazil.
The religious culture of black Africans also suffers a lot from the preconception in Brazil. In the 1930s, the so-called African matrix religions wereforbidden in Brazil. Currently, although the Constitution provides for religious freedom, what is seen in our country is that religions of African origin are intensely persecuted. A recent phenomenon is the vandalism actions committed against terreiros in which the meetings of Umbanda and Candomblé.
Even at school, there are huge resistance to African culture, as there are parents of students who refuse to allow their children access to knowledge and knowledge related to cultures of African origin. Even teachers often refuse to teach subjects related to Afro-Brazilian culture to students, despite the existence of a law that obliges them to do so.
Black Consciousness Day éthe moment in which we can become aware of the racism that surrounds us and take a stand for changes and a fairer country.
Grades:
|1| GOMES, Laurentino. Slavery: from the first auction of captives in Portugal to the death of Zumbi dos Palmares – Volume 1. Rio de Janeiro: Globo Livros, 2019, p. 422.
|2| Idem, p. 427.
|3| Country elected only 4% of black parliamentarians. To access, click on here.
|4| The number of Brazilians who declare themselves black is growing in the country, says IBGE. To access, click on here.
|5| IBGE: blacks are 17% of the richest and three quarters of the poorest population. To access, click on here.
|6| Blacks represent two-thirds of the Brazilian prison population. To access, click on here.
|7| Blacks are the most condemned for trafficking and with the fewest drugs seized. To access, click on here.
|8| Institutional racism drives Brazilian and US police to kill more blacks and poor people. To access, click on here.
|9| Blacks earn R$1,200 less than whites on average in Brazil. To access, click on here.
|10| With the crisis, unemployment rose more among blacks and browns, says IBGE. To access, click on here.
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By Me. Cláudio Fernandes and Daniel Neves
