So far so close

Salvador de Bahia, the black soul of Brazil

Audio 48:30

In the community of Solar do Unhã, during the feast of Iemanjá, goddess of the oceans and mother of all the Orixás, offerings are dispersed in particular at sea. © Sarah Cozzolino

By: Céline Develay Mazurelle Follow |

Sarah Cozzolino Follow

2 mins

The city, located on the northeast coast of the country, is the most African city on the American continent.

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The Bay of All Saints is where the country's history began in the 16th century.

First capital of Brazil, Salvador is also the first slave market of the New World where, during 4 centuries, more than 4 million Africans were deported.

This has earned Salvador the nickname of “Black Rome” today, in reference to its 360 churches and its African heritage, present everywhere.

Today, 86% of the population in Salvador declares itself black.

Every year, on February 2, in the Bahian city, as elsewhere in Brazil, we celebrate

Iemanjá

, the goddess of the waters, from the Yoruba pantheon and arrived on the American coasts by the galleys of slaves.

And on this occasion, we set off to discover the Afro-Brazilian culture which has shaped the soul of Salvador in its music, its gastronomy or its beliefs.

Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian syncretic religion, brings together many followers in the Bahia region.

In Salvador, this black soul is perceptible on every street corner, but its history, from slavery to the present day, is still too little told and readable in the city.

In the historic center of Pelourinho, the figures of the black resistance are rare and often misunderstood.

Today, Afro-Brazilians revive this memory, in order to deconstruct the imprint left by the plantation and slave society on people's consciences.

In Brazil, a country that is still very conservative and unequal, structural racism remains omnipresent.

A report by Sarah Cozzolino.

Learn more:

- On the guided tours and Afro tours of " 

Like a Sotero

 " by the guide Sayuri Koshima

- On

Ilê Aiyê

, first bloco, or black Carnival music group

- On “ Amor.a

” black dolls 

 and their anti-racist educational kit

- On the terreiro or place of worship of Candomblé La

Casa de Òsùmàrè

- On structural racism in Brazil, an

interview

 with Djamila Ribeiro, author of the book 

Pequeño manual antirracista

.

This

Small anti-racist manual"

is one of the best-selling books in 2020 in Brazil.

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  • Brazil

  • Slavery

  • Racism

  • Africa

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