Quilombolas
(kee-lahm-boh-lahz)
Amazon rainforest, Brazil
Proven Free
The word quilombo originates from the Bantu language and refers to a type of military socio-political institution known in Central Africa... In Brazil, the word (quilombo) was used to designate communities organized by runaway black slaves, but which also housed poor Indians and whites. One of the most well-known quilombos is that of Palmares, located in the interior of Alagoas, in a place of difficult access. It was formed around 1595, occupying a territorial space equivalent to one third of Portugal, with about 30 thousand people, led by Zumbi dos Palmares. In addition to houses, workshops, pottery, religious temples, plantations and a political and defense council, quilombos were organized societies that planted what they needed to eat, had a hierarchy and were free to express their beliefs, their culture.
What are the beliefs and practices of my people regarding how a human being is meant to exist in relationship with a living earth?
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Proven Resistant
Silenced and omitted for a long time by historiography in Brazil, the quilombos start being noticed during the 1970s by the Brazilian black movement... The National Coordination of Articulation of Quilombolas Rural Black Communities (CONAQ) was created in 1996 as a national movement with the purpose of representing and defending the rights of quilombos located in all Brazilian regions and biomes, as well as in rural and urban environments. It is mainly focused on defending quilombola territories, seeking to enforce the right to entitlement based on collective property and opposed to large exploratory economic enterprises - agribusiness, mining, real estate speculation, industries, wind farms, among others - whose activities have severely impacted the quilombola way of life.
What are the beliefs and practices required to survive and thrive as free people opposing white supremacy?
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Additional Resources
Powerpoint
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