O Povo Brasileiro - Episódio 3: Matriz Afro

BASED ON THE BOOK BY DARCY RIBEIRO "THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE" Africa, the so-called Black Continent. . .

parking place of the spaceship Earth. . .

where the human species originated millennia ago. Geographical space which, throughout the ages, has been the home. .

. to distinct societies, languages and cultures. Africa has never been homogeneous in terms of people and culture.

Some African peoples, coming from Angola, Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria. . .

from old Daome and other parts of the Black Continent. . .

have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and disembarked on Brazil. Those black people then became the main group. .

. for working purposes, to build Brazil up. "The Brazilian culture is impregnated with the African heritage.

Their presence was responsible for almost everything accomplished here. " THE AFRICAN MATRIX The first Africans to ever come to Brazil. .

. were from Africa's West Coast, North of the Equator. .

. as part of the so-called Guinea Circle. Then, came the Bantus.

Bantu means "the men" They were from Angola and Congo, in the Central Atlantic Africa. The Bantu people had a long historical past. They manufactured clay artifacts, had agricultural habits.

. . and raised cattle.

They had domesticated many wild plants. . .

and they had metal casting down to a science. Furthermore, long before the arrival of the Europeans in Africa. .

. they had organized themselves into States, learned how to trade. .

. and they were familiar with currency and slavery. The Bantu people considered iron a sacred element.

As many other peoples, they celebrated its divine powers. All over Africa and Brazil, metal gods spread around. The sacred is part of every moment and every situation for the Bantu.

The natural and the supernatural are inseparable. The Bantu believe in two worlds: the visible and the invisible ones. They believe in the interaction of those two worlds.

. . and they believe in a god who's the father and creator of everything.

The father of men, the father of things, the father of insects. God, the creator of the entire creation. .

. does not belong in the visible world, the world of creatures. He is the non-created, the beginning with no beginning.

. . of every and any beginning.

As the Bacongo say: "Zambi Pungô reigns above all" The Zambundos call him Calunga Zambi. Those are very often names that translate. .

. the concept of supreme union, bonding, or linking. "The Bantu worshipped gods named lnkices.

. . and revered their ancestors.

The ancestors' village is ideally similar to the village of the living. In their village, they have houses and fields. They own the land and the waters, the forests and the dry-lands.

. . the animals who live there and the palm trees that grow there.

" The first lineages, the first clans. . .

the first migrations to new territories. . .

are the marking points of the power over those territories. Therefore, the ones who directly. .

. descend from mythical ancestors. .

. are the ones who hold the power. In that type of hierarchy.

. . the elders, who are closer to the ancestors in age.

. . are the ones who not only hold political power.

. . but also religious power.

That's why they worshipped their ancestors, their dead ones. Because their dead ones are responsible for the blessings. .

. for the fertility of women and of the crop fields. .

. they are responsible for the riddance of certain dangers. Hence, their constant worship of their ancestors.

"Every life is sacred. And in the core of every creation is the human being. .

. the first sacred reality God has created. The human life, the man, the core of creation.

. . is what determines the good and the evil.

The Black-African ethics is anthropocentric and vital. " In the kingdom of Congo, there were 3 orders: the aristocracy, the free men, and the slaves. The king could not be mistaken for a common mortal.

By committing incest with his own sister, his family was no more. . .

and he was capable of governing all the families. The incest and the initiation act gave him power over the spells. .

. the power of the wizards. "The king would come to display sitting on an ivory throne.

. . and exhibiting iron and ivory bracelets.

Or he would be wearing an artistically woven gown. . .

or even certain animal furs set aside just for him. On his head, an embroidered cap. On his shoulders, a zebra tail.

Before him, people would kneel and throw dust over their heads. . .

before asking for his blessings, which he'd give by reaching out. . .

and waving his fingers. Every once in a while, on big celebrations. .

. he would stand up, and accompanied by powerful people in the country. .

. he would start a private dance ritual. .

. whose rhythm was filled with ceremony, gravity, and grace. " The king and his people mastered the art of warfare.

It is said the royal archers were capable of successively shooting. . .

28 arrows before the first arrow had touched the ground. Africa was a continent of slaves and of slave owners. In the Congo, the aristocrats had slaves working in their fields.

Among the Alçás, slaves were bought and sold. . .

used as soldiers and agricultural workers. . .

and they also served as currency on trading transactions. So, when Africans and Europeans met each other. .

. both knew very well what slavery was. Among the coastal Zaire Bacongo, the word for "sun" is "tangu".

. Which means "time" "current time" "hour". .

"Occasion" "favorable time" "accurate time" So, when a Bacongo wants to know what time it is, he asks: "What sun is it? " For many African peoples. .

. the sun symbolizes the transition from life to death. When the sun is no longer visible to men.

. . the Bacongo say it is the canoe taking souls to the dead world.

In the 18th century, there was a change in the Black group in Brazil. While slave dealers from other regions in Brazil. .

. were still bringing slaves from Angola and the Congo. .

. Bahia started sending ships to the coast of Mina. .

. and later, to the gulf of Benin. Bahia then started receiving successive loads of Geges, Nagôs.

. . and, in a smaller amount, of Alçás.

She came from the sky All dressed in white And covered in a veil Odorileia, lemanjá Odorileia, oiô Odorileia, lemanjá Odorileia, oiô The term "Gege" designated ethnical groups from the former Daomé. . .

such as the Fon people. The term "Nagô". .

Referred to ethnical groups who spoke lorubá. Those groups have come here to uniquely define. .

. the biological and cultural composition of people in Bahia. .

. Recife and São Luís do Maranhão. The Geges brought their boduns.

The Nagôs brought their orixás and orikis. For everything, the African has a song, an oriki, a greeting. It's that aspect of the sin, the error.

The orixás don't think negatively. The orixás don't punish people. Candomblé is a religion with an entirely mystical foundation.

It's something that's in the blood. "E-e-epa oyá ô Great mother Ya ô, Black beauty In the womb of the wind Master of the wind That dishevels the branches Master of the wind That messes up the fields Master of my mind ! " The Alças were neighbors of the lorubanos.

It is possible that they were an autochthonous people. . .

something really rare in the History of human kind. In the 14th century, the Alçás found themselves surrounded. .

. by the lslamic wave which had spread across the African continent. They learned how to read and write in Arabic.

In the beginning of the 19th century. . .

they came to Brazil and were named Malês. . .

and promoted bloodshed riots against slavery. "The nations of Alçá were the most flourishing. .

. and the most advanced in Central Africa. It was no wonder that such educated people.

. . could have never been transformed into passive working machines.

Despite the ignorance and brutality of their white owners. . .

the lslamic religion became a powerful sect. " The lorubás were a people rather than a nation. .

. and they attributed their origin to the city of Fé. .

. an ancestral place made famous by the beauty of its metal sculptures. In Brazil, the lorubanos were named Nagôs.

Among the many lorubano groups. . .

the gods vary from region to region. . .

from kingdom to kingdom. In the Oyó empire, for instance, the main god was Xangô. .

. the thunder god. "Afonjá, master of Koçô May Afoliajá strengthen you The one dancing amidst the children Makes the fire endure Without being seen And we just notice the stems of the leaves cracking Throw on the clay Those who are stupid No one can corrupt our ori The master of knowledge Bright eyes He goes beyond the high skies He punches the wall of lies He kills by piercing The eyes of the liar He kills by sealing Doors and ports He kills those who can't think Alaganju He destroys the roof of someone else's house and builds his own Water side by side with fire In the chest of the sky Winged, he quickly climbs lnto the heights of the skies He makes the fire Descend from the middle of the sky Besides Oyó, other small kingdoms of the lorubás.

. . became precious references to Brazilians.

. . such as Keto, the home of Oxóssi, and lrê, the home of Ogun.

. . regions that had mastered, before any contact with the Europeans.

. . the metal casting, a high level of urbanization.

. . a sophisticated aesthetic layout, and the currency economy.

We can say that the African arts. . .

are built on 4 foundations : the person, the community. . .

nature and creation, but also on the past, their History. . .

on their tradition. Those 4 foundations manifest themselves. .

. with exuberance through extraordinary shapes. They are shapes because they don't represent a perceived reality.

. . but they try to represent values that are beyond reality.

To see what we can't see. That's why the Africans. .

. have developed unique sculptural and artistic forms in the world. Gods may change and die.

Ogun, for instance. Now, he is not only the iron god, but also the technology god. Hence, both in Africa and Brazil.

. . he's considered the master of new techniques.

. . of the high-tech world, of computers.

Ogun is the orixá of the vanguard and of computers. Because he paved the way in mythical times. .

. today, he's the god of the high-ways. The orixás and the lorubanos live among us.

That explains why today they're not just lorubanos anymore. . .

rather multinational myths. When you manage to achieve something. .

. after sacrificing yourself, after a lot of crying and suffering. .

. whatever you achieved is going to be much more valuable to you. If you suffered because of it, you'll value it much more.

So, the African religion came to Brazil. . .

after a lot of suffering and after many losses. . .

and all that has strengthen the African descendant. He knows he only has his orixá because he suffered to get it. .

. because of his language and his name. .

. because of his way of life. If people tried to destroy that it's because they saw it as a threat.

The coming of the Africans to the New World sowed the seed. . .

and the Africans nourished it, in their own particular way. . .

and many things have flourished, and their work is being preserved. The African arts and culture may help saving. .

. the contemporary man. .

. who has completely forgotten that there are other things. .

. besides money and the economical value of things. The African cultures and even the African religions teach us.

. . that there is another reality besides the visible world.

. . that the human being is not made only of flesh.

. . but also of heart, spirit, and values we are not able to see.

What happened in Brazil was that the Africans. . .

influenced so much the construction of this country. . .

that today they are not the others. They are us, Brazilians. The Brazilian culture.

. . because of its Black and lndian foundations.

. . because of what it has assimilated from both.

. . has a stamina.

. . which will allow it to flourish in an extraordinary way.

It will flourish not due to its peculiarities, but to its creativity. "The Black man becomes, despite all the hardship he faces. .

. the most creative component of the Brazilian culture. " Aganju Xangô Xangô Aganju Aganju Xangô Xangô Aganju The son asked his father Where his grandfather was My grandfather, where is he?

The father asked the grandfather Where his great-grandfather was My great-grandfather, where is he? The grandfather Asked the great-grandfather Where was His great-great-grandfather My great-great-grandfather Where is he?