Nov. 20 is Black Consciousness Day in Brazil. A day celebrating the struggle of Black organizations, people, and movements in Brazil. Celebrating the ongoing fight against racism. And, above all, celebrating the history of Brazil’s most historic Black leader: Zumbi dos Palmares.
He was leader of the great Palmares Quilombo, present-day Alagoas, an autonomous state built by escaped slaves in the 1600s.

Palmares would last for roughly a century. It would grow to a population of tens of thousands of people spread out over 11 towns in the forested mountains and hillsides of northeastern Brazil. And they would defend it time and time again against attacks by the Portuguese colonial army. 

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Written and produced by Michael Fox.

Resources:

• Culture, Land and Resistance: Brazilians Celebrate Black Consciousness Day
• ‘Existing and resisting’: Black quilombo communities fight for land, rights in Brazil
• Black Consciousness Day in Brazil

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