Friday, November 21, 2008

Dia da Consciência Negra em Brasil!



Today, November 20Th, is the National Day of Black Consciousness in Brasil.

For millions of Brasilians this is a day of great pride, a day of black awareness (consciência negra) in the nation that held the most enslaved Africans in the Americas, where legal slavery lasted until 1888.

It is the day, in 1695, when Rei Zumbi dos Palmares was captured and beheaded by the Portuguese military for leading the greatest Maroon colony (Quilombo) of escaped Africans in the Americas. One hundred and ninety-three years before the abolition of slavery in Brasil, the barbarous Portuguese took Zumbi's head and displayed it in the city of Recife 's main plaza so that enslaved Africans would know that he was not immortal. Still, they could not kill his legend nor the legacy of the Palmares settlement over which he ruled at the time of his death.

Founded sometime in 1630, during the war between the Dutch and the Portuguese, the maroon settlements in the highlands of of Alagoas proved to be a place of sanctuary for many enslaved Africans who took advantage of the confusion of war to escape. Among them was a man from Angola who is now known by the honored title of Nganga Zumba. As head of the council of villages which became known as Palmares or Angola Janga (New Angola), Nganga Zumba was regarded as the patriarch or king of the settlement. By 1670, the community had grown into a small nation-state of approximately 30,000. The quilombo had to stave off many attacks by the Portuguese army but in 1678 Nganga Zumba, tired of the constant warfare, accepted a peace treaty that required that they relocate. His acceptance of the treaty caused a split among the community and led to Nganga Zumba being poisoned. Those who accepted the treaty and relocated were summarily re-enslaved! Nganga Zumba's nephew, Zumbi, had opposed the treaty and he was taken as king by those who decided to stay in Palmares. Zumbi valiantly led the quilombo of Angola Janga for fifteen years against Portuguese attacks until he was defeated in 1694. Forced into hiding and wounded after the defeat, Zumbi continued to fight as an insurgent against the Portuguese for nearly two years until his hideout was betrayed.

"One Tribe, Many Voices" Podcast Episode 26



Intro: Hino de Saudacao / Filhos de Gandhi /Afoxe Filhos de Gandhi
Samba de Senzala / Irmandade do Rosario / Batuques do Sudeste
Brasume / Nacao Ere / Maracatu Atomico
Lleva'me / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Agua Santa


  1. Luanda, Luanda / Nacao ere / Maracatu Atomico
  2. Rei Zumbi dos Palmares / Capoeira de Angola
  3. Os Tambores de Minas / Milton Nascimento / Nascimento
  4. Oracao pra Ya Oxum / Raimundo Sodre & Jota Veloso / Qual E da Musica?
  5. Um Canto de Afoxe pra o Bloco de Ile / Caetano Veloso /Beleza Tropical
  6. Tambores da Liberdade / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Tristeza e Beleza
  7. Cade o Timbau? / Timbalada / Cada Cabeca e um Mundo
  8. Malie, Um Canto de Fe por um Mundo Melhor / Ile Aiye / Canto Negro
  9. Lua Male / Mali Debale /Qual E da Musica?
  10. Berimbau / Olodum / 20 yrs da Musica do Olodum
  11. Na Cidade Negra / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Tristeza e Beleza
  12. Ilu Aiye / Minha Querida Portela / Sambas de Terreiro 1972
  13. Tanacara / Gonzaguinha / E
  14. Voce esta na Bahia / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Tristeza e Beleza
  15. Quilombo / Gilberto Gil / Beleza Tropical

RASHEED ALI & RAIN PEOPLE: Tristeza e Beleza na Cidade Negra



The truth about the African Diaspora!




What does the Rain People motto: "One Tribe, Many Voices"
really mean?

Who is the African Diaspora and what do we have to say?

Anglo-centric Black American people of the African Diaspora never give much thought to the fact that the majority of Africans do not speak English as their primary language.
Nor do they realize that the majority of Africans in Africa are multi-lingual; speak their own ethnic language and the languages of their neighbors as well as the language of the former colonizers.
There are an estimated 2,000 languages spoken on the African continent and millions speak Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, Arabic and Italian.

I think it is fair to say that Africans have many voices and if you want to hear what Africans have to say; you must take time to learn another language!