By PETRÔNIO DOMINGUES*
The main expressions of this November 20th are based on the expectation that this nation will uphold the principles of modern democracies.
“National Zumbi and Black Consciousness Day” is celebrated on November 20th. But how did this event come about? For almost a century, the various segments of the black population celebrated May 13th — the official date of the sanctioning of the law that abolished slavery in Brazil in 1888 — as the date of the conquest of formal freedom in Brazilian society.
However, in the 1970s, a new generation of black activists emerged, who challenged the idea of freedom resulting from the abolition of slavery (which is why it came to be called “false freedom”); rebelled against the image of the faithful and submissive black man (hence the execration of the cult of the “Black Mother”); refuted the discourse of white people about black women, including that of many intellectual voices (Gilberto Freyre being the favorite anti-hero) and deconstructed as much as possible the “myth of racial democracy” — the narrative that Brazil was free of the racial problem —, even reinterpreting miscegenation, which came to be defined as a violent process of sexual exploitation of black women by white men.
In 1971, the Palmares Group emerged in Porto Alegre (RS), which, through one of its founders, Oliveira Silveira, launched the idea of celebrating November 20th in opposition to May 13th. The idea became popular and prospered, having been embraced by the Unified Black Movement (MNU), an organization founded in São Paulo in 1978 and which represents a true watershed in the anti-racist struggle in Brazil, as it inaugurates the contemporary phase of the black movement.
With this reinterpretation of Abolition, it was no longer possible to celebrate it festively by praising the “redeemer”, as was done in the past. Hence, by means of a shift, the Unified Black Movement replaced May 13th — which had gone from being a day of black celebration to National Day of Denunciation Against Racism — with November 20th — National Black Consciousness Day —, a date that marks the presumed “heroic” death of Zumbi, a historical figure appropriated as a symbol par excellence of black resistance to oppression, but also leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares who, by challenging the dominance of the colonial system centered on the regime of captivity, would have engendered an experience sui generis of a racially democratic society.
The leaders of the Unified Black Movement produced narratives that opposed traditional historical approaches and the place reserved for the black population in them. This change in perspective took on a special political significance, as it marked the replacement — at least in the militant project — of the symbolic figure of the “white lady” by that of the “black hero,” that is, instead of the idea of freedom granted (by whites), the vision of a black conquest.
In 1978, the Unified Black Movement approved November 20 as National Black Consciousness Day. From then on, a campaign was launched to publicize the date, with all the meanings, dilemmas and challenges of a reinterpreted black memory. The campaign raised awareness in the “minds and hearts” of the black movement, and also counted on the alliance and support of other social movements, cultural producers, artists, politicians, journalists, researchers and academic publications. The fact is that November 20 became consolidated, popularized within civil society and recognized by various instances of the Brazilian State.
The culmination of this recognition process was the approval, by the National Congress, of a law that, sanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in December 2023, makes the date – “National Zumbi and Black Consciousness Day” – a national holiday.
This November 20th will be a day when Brazilian society will have the opportunity to critically reflect on the situation of the black population. It has been 136 years since Abolition and this segment of the population is still making efforts in the field of rights and citizenship and has the achievement of equality on its horizon. After all, all indicators of income, occupation, education, public health, housing conditions and human development indicate that black people are at a disadvantage when compared to white people.
It is true that, in Brazil today, several public and private policies to combat racial inequalities are in place, among which Law 10.639 (which was amended by Law 11.645) and affirmative action policies, especially the quota system for black people in public universities, stand out. It is therefore worth highlighting the historic moment that the country is going through: this is the first time that civil society has addressed racism as a public problem – a process by which a collective problem assumes a privileged place on the national agenda. Furthermore, it is the first time that the Brazilian State has committed to implementing public policies aimed at addressing this problem.
However, on this November 20th, Afro-Brazilians do not want to focus solely on maintaining such policies; they also want to expand them, eliminating racial inequality in the job market, in media representation, and in institutionalized politics; they aim to eradicate police violence, with the differential treatment they often receive from the justice system and the so-called genocide of black youth; they aspire to tolerance of their African-based cults; that the educational system, when decolonized, respects the bases of multiculturalism and ethnic-racial diversity; not to mention specific public policies for black women, the remaining quilombo communities, and the valorization of the health of the Afro-descendant population.
Thus, oscillating between denunciation and protest – the main theme of the celebrations of black movements – and solemn and ritual commemoration – the hallmark of official acts –, in addition to the academic debate sparked by the series of events taking place this month, the truth is that, in any case, the main expressions of this November 20th are based on the expectation that this nation will uphold the principles of modern democracies, which seek to ensure that all citizens (“blacks”, “browns”, “whites”, “yellows” and “indigenous”, according to the classification of the IBGE) have equal rights (civil, social and political) and opportunities. For, as the Manifesto of the Black Coalition for Rights proclaims, “As long as there is racism, there will be no democracy”.
*Petrônio Domingues He is a professor of history at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS). Author, among other books, of Black protagonism in São Paulo (Sesc Editions). [https://amzn.to/4biVT9T]
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