First Day of Carnival Highlights African Heritage in Brazil
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 3, 2025. X/ @NetasgardBrazil
March 3, 2025 Hour: 9:57 am
Artistic associations used their parades to denounce racism, inequality, and the discrimination faced by Black communities.
On Sunday, the first day of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival, samba schools highlighted Africa’s heritage in Brazil, a country where 55% of the population is of African descent.
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The artistic associations, composed of up to 5,000 musicians and dancers, used their parades to denounce racism, inequality, and the discrimination faced by Black communities and practitioners of African-rooted religions such as Candomble and Umbanda.
This theme received the endorsement of President Lula da Silva, who was represented at the parades by Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco, Minister of Human Rights Macae Evaristo, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sônia Guajajara, and Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves.
The tone of protest before the 75,000 spectators at the Sambadrome was set when Unidos de Padre Miguel, the first school to parade, told the story of the ‘mãe de santo,’ an enslaved priestess who founded the first Candomble temple in Brazil 200 years ago.
Immediately after, Imperatriz Leopoldinense staged the mythological tale of Oxala’s troubled journey to the kingdom of Oyo to visit King Xangô, who is considered one of the principal orixas (deities) in Afro-Brazilian religions.
Viradouro, the champion school of the 2024 Carnival, paid tribute to Malunguinho, the leader, founder, and hero of Quilombo do Catuca, a territory in the state of Pernambuco where runaway slaves sought refuge and built societies separate from European colonizers.
His feats of resistance in the 19th century made him a revered figure among practitioners of Jurema Sagrada, an Afro-Indigenous spiritual tradition that exemplifies Brazil’s religious syncretism and Zambo heritage.
In the early hours of Monday, the first night of parades concluded with a performance by Mangueira, Brazil’s most popular samba school, which celebrated the heritage of the Bantu people in Rio de Janeiro.
The Bantu were among nearly a million African slaves who disembarked at Cais do Valongo, the former port of Rio de Janeiro, now known as Little Africa and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“I am the voice of the ghetto, mistress of crowds, matriarch of passions, Mangueira. I am of the Bantu people who flourished in the alleyways. Proud to come from the favela,” chanted the approximately 3,000 members Mangueira brought to the Sambadrome.
In its lyrics, the school denounced how its voice had always been criticized and censored by the bourgeoisie, yet this did not prevent Bantu culture from “taking the city by storm” and creating trends that are now imitated by all.
The thrones of the orixas, slave ships, African warriors, and emblematic animals of the continent stood out on the allegorical floats of the Special Group samba schools, the main attraction of Rio’s Carnival, considered the world’s largest open-air spectacle.
Mangueira was the most applauded school of the night, showcasing luxurious floats featuring various kinetic elements, some equipped with fountains spraying water, and a ‘front commission’ whose hats flew with the help of drones, with members dancing on a float equipped with several flamethrowers.
The crowd at the Sambadrome also erupted in celebration when loudspeakers announced that the film “Ainda Estou Aqui” had won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film, marking Brazil’s first-ever victory in the coveted category.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
