Interactivity

November 20 is National Zumbi dos Palmares and Black Awareness Day. On this day, various cities in the country stopped activities to reflect on the history of Blacks in Brazilian society. Created officially in 2011, the date coincides with the death of Zumbi dos Palmares, one of the leaders of the Palmares Quilombo on November 20, 1695.

On this very important day, I present the readers of the foundation’s blog an article I wrote, published in October 2013, in the O MENELICK 2º ATO – AFROBRASILIDADES & AFINS magazine. The magazine is dedicated to appreciation of and reflection on the artistic production of the African diaspora, as well as Western black popular and urban cultural events, with special attention to Brazil.

In the article, I highlighted one of the most noteworthy practices of many African communities: the use of masks, mainly those of cows. The text discusses what this practice and this animal represent for these people, and describes some relations between these meanings in Africa and Brazil. Check out the complete text: http://bit.ly/1bN6rg2.

Viviane Lima, Bunge Memory Center historian