On Tuesday I spent the day with Afro-Reggae, visiting their music programs for some of Rio’s favelas. It was an experience so powerful and with so many different emotions and complexities involved that I have had trouble articulating it -- but I’m going to try. I learned about the history of the favelas – for example, how Afro-Brazilians moved to these hilltop locations all across Brazil after slavery ended because there was no government support for them and they wanted to maintain and rebuild communities and share resources. While much of the land favelas are on today would be prime real estate, at the time Afro-Brazilians established them the land was too difficult to farm and thus constituted some of the only land former slaves could afford to inhabit. There are so many things I could write about to describe this day, but the two most prominent moments that I continue to think about are the dancing and singing rehearsal by the girls drumming troupe and the boys drumming troupe’s practice.
The white and lighter skinned Brazilians with power have proclaimed much of Afro-Brazilian culture as simply “Brazilian” culture – or part of the Brazilian national identity. While it is positive that some of this culture is valued and respected in the mainstream, I feel that identifying Afro-Brazilian arts such as percussion and African dance simply as part of Brazil while refusing to recognize their Black origins and expertise, is part of the system of racial oppression that whites and light mulattos impose on Afro-Brazilians.
The performances and rehearsals by Afro-Brazilian kids that I was fortunate to observe were reclaiming these artistic forms and using them to develop and express confidence, self-love and respect, determination, expertise, community, and joy. I could see in their expressions, body language, and performance how much these kids cared about their practice and how they believed they were talented and could continue to improve. While systematic oppression of Blacks, particularly in the favelas, makes these kids’ lives and prospects very difficult, the kids’ development of this self-belief through arts their community created cannot be underestimated. I see these programs and practices as an individual achievement that is developing a sense of pride in these kids, but there is more to it than that. Just as importantly, the kids’ drumming, dancing and singing is a reclamation of Afro-Brazilian culture and an affirmation of its value and origin.
The white and lighter skinned Brazilians with power have proclaimed much of Afro-Brazilian culture as simply “Brazilian” culture – or part of the Brazilian national identity. While it is positive that some of this culture is valued and respected in the mainstream, I feel that identifying Afro-Brazilian arts such as percussion and African dance simply as part of Brazil while refusing to recognize their Black origins and expertise, is part of the system of racial oppression that whites and light mulattos impose on Afro-Brazilians.
The performances and rehearsals by Afro-Brazilian kids that I was fortunate to observe were reclaiming these artistic forms and using them to develop and express confidence, self-love and respect, determination, expertise, community, and joy. I could see in their expressions, body language, and performance how much these kids cared about their practice and how they believed they were talented and could continue to improve. While systematic oppression of Blacks, particularly in the favelas, makes these kids’ lives and prospects very difficult, the kids’ development of this self-belief through arts their community created cannot be underestimated. I see these programs and practices as an individual achievement that is developing a sense of pride in these kids, but there is more to it than that. Just as importantly, the kids’ drumming, dancing and singing is a reclamation of Afro-Brazilian culture and an affirmation of its value and origin.
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