Today, we visited Pelourinho (Old Historic Center), Salvador. After our trip coordinator Julia explained how slaves had built many of the churches and buildings in the area, we entered Igreja de Sao Francisco, one of the most historically rich and elite churches there. A tour guide began to show us around the church, with all of its silver and gold trimmings. I asked Julia to ask the tour guide if slaves had built the church. He immediately got defensive and, according to Julia’s translation, said, “no, no, slaves did not build this one, this is a private church, blah blah.” Unfortunately he neglected to explain who actually built the church. Julia and I were not convinced. Was it the rich people who got down & dirty to build their own glamorous church? I immediately told the group that I did not want to hear or have anything that guy said translated to me from that point on. We all discontinued the tour and went our separate ways. His body language, defensiveness, and vague explanation turned me off. Were it not for the language barrier, I would have been able to engage the situation much better.
The other day we attended a seminar at Programa Politicas da Cor – Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (PPCOR-UERJ). At the seminar, an activist spoke of the impact black music and movements of the late 1960s and 70s in the U.S. had on Afro-Brazilians. He explained how the black nationalist movement and artists like James Brown reframed black identity with lyrics like, “I’m black and I’m proud!”. The symbols, including afro hair styles, Afrocentric dress, and proactive behavior, influenced Afro-Brazilians at a time where there was no progressive race based social policy in Brazil. However, the impact was limited because the language barrier prevented Afro-Brazilians from understanding what blacks in America were saying.
With that said, I am frustrated with my inability to effectively communicate with people here in Brazil (although I have come a long way with my Portuguese!). I feel that language barriers can sometimes handicap social movements, prevent people from uniting, and limit how much they cooperate. These events have made me realize how important it is for Americans, specifically African Americans, to learn foreign languages in an effort to advance progressive social movements.
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Nommo: The Power of the Word in swahili.
Throughout my trip last year, I remember many people talking about our inability to communicate affects our ability to converse across the African Diaspora. In fact, one person posed a question to the group Imagine if Brazil spoke English, just as South Africans were able to speak to Blacks in America. Imagine how we could collectively work together. What are your thoughts about creating a language program for students scholars interested in racial justice? How would the program look it?
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