Salvador, Africa's Root in Brazil

foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is undeniably and unapologetically black built on the wisdom in the struggle and by the craftiness of our ancestors it's also overflowing with contradictions Oceanfront favelas a chocolate City with vanilla political fingers a Christian City with afro-indigenous religious heritage why is this city so black where did these contradictions come from and where is this city heading join us today as we explore another part of the African diaspora [Music] Salvador Baya Brazil Salvador is a beautiful coastal city a metropolis with four million active people calling it home this city comes alive on weekend nights it's restaurants basketball and football courts all field as the evening ushers and eager Breeze up the coast Salvador Baya is a premier city a city of first it's the first region that the Portuguese landed so they came to Brazil it has the very first slave trading Market in the Americas the original sin started here it's also the most Chocolate City outside of Africa in fact it's intensely chocolate 80 chocolate to be exact this city has these statistics to reveal its uniqueness its specialness its qualities but that's not the tale of the city the tale of the city is the people the vibe and the love that exists here for black people prior to the arrival of the European the lands currently known as Brazil were inhabited by semi-nomatic hunter-gatherer tribes there were about 2 000 tribes in all with numbers upwards of 3 million that covered the land now known as Brazil all of that changed when Portugal hit the shore Salvador was founded in 1549 on a small Peninsula that separates todos Los Santos Bay from the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast coast of Brazil Salvador de Bahia became Portugal's First Capital in the Americas nine years later they began their run as the world's most notorious human traffickers on the planet Earth the Portuguese are The ogs Originators and primary benefactors of this cruel dehumanization known as the transatlantic slave trade Portuguese vessels carried roughly 5.8 million people into the worst nightmare imaginable European slavery this was easily The Lion's Share of the total people taken from the motherland but this my friends is only the beginning my name is foreign [Music] no thing let's see see Jesus is foreign [Laughter] there are several different reasons why Baya more specifically Salvador has been deemed the black Rome known as the black Mecca or better steel the blackest city outside of Africa several different reasons why here are a few of the majors the Portuguese were the first on the scene to start raping and pillaging Africa for its resources beginning of the transatlantic slave trade lies at the feet of the Catholic Church [Music] Alfonso V king of Portugal approaches the pope regarding some lucrative opportunities he has newly discovered in Western and central Africa Pope Nicholas V's response was to issue a Papal bulldom verses on June 18 1452 it stated to invade search out capture Vanquish and subdue all saccharins which were Muslims and pagans whatsoever and reduce their persons to Perpetual slavery and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms dukedoms counties principalities dominions possessions and goods and to convert them to his and their use and profit uh they showed up on the scene first they were the first Europeans there and they were the Europeans to take the most out of Africa they took of upwards of 4.9 million individuals from African soil and transported them to Brazilian soil now of that 4.9 million 1.3 million of these individuals went through Dubai airport and were processed inside a Salvador which is the first slave market in the Americas there was a period of time in the 1930s where the president and the elite class started to make designations of the different regions in Brazil and while many of the regions were pushing towards modernization and whitening there was one region that was going against the mold a region that already deeply identified and represented their Blackness and due to that the president designated this area Salvador as black about that whitening Brazil upon abolition was faced with a question about the future of Brazil the future of Brazil in the world right and haven't been one of the last countries to abolish slavery and seen as backwards and inferior they were grappling with what to do with this majority black population how did they move forward and become modernized and become um comparable to Europe um and other countries that was modernized in long before the abolition of slavery so in Brazil there was a concerted effort at the level of government the federal government to eliminate uh and exterminate the black and Indigenous population through um whitening branchiamento embedded in the idea of whitening of course is the idea that Blackness and indigeneity are inferior that meant an actual Financial investment in the importation of European whites that would produce a new white race in Brazil people say ah but I am in this position because I I worked hard I worked hard exactly but we need to explain it to them because they they just think it's it was hard work the same reason why [Music] exactly exactly racism structures everyday life everyday structures institutions policies shape people's experiences especially put particular racial groups at an advantage and others add a disadvantage Salvador is the third largest city here in Brazil and like most of the other cities the majority of the black people stay in favelas which is kind of low-income housing if you will favelas are something that you're going to see throughout different parts of Brazil in Salvador you will see them here as well but what's interesting is how they came about sister slavery was abolished people had nowhere to go and no money to get there eventually in 1888 slavery was abolished but no Provisions were made to integrate former slaves into Brazilian Society by offering educational opportunities or job opportunities so you have many of them going to the urban areas to cities and living in the poorest neighborhoods with the least opportunities foreign [Music] of necessity rather than live a life exposed to the elements our people found materials and built Shanty towns these Shanty towns are historically marked by sharp socio-economic inequalities abusive police tactics low-income majority black and brown community members and located in urban neighborhoods it is here that you will also find the heart of Black Culture graffiti the current sounds blaring out of speakers capoeira condobly temples churches Community organizations and of course great restaurants that serve up a taste of the culture the landscape of Salvador is abundant in its historically relevant culturally demonstrative Soul filling icons Susanna's her history Falls comfortably into place here serving up A Soulful Taste of the culture this restaurant is indicative of what you can find inside of the favelas in Salvador this 300 year old fish stew cruises together ingredients and techniques from indigenous Portuguese and African cultures to deliver a completely resilient dish this authentic National Treasure is the flex of Bahia no one does it better [Music] thank you [Music] one of the Major Imports that we found here was Black Eyed Peas served in so many different dishes and we were just quite surprised honestly I wasn't expecting that but then it is directly across the shore from Africa right yes Angola straight across from Angola so you'll definitely receive and taste a lot of flavors from Africa fresh shrimp cooked in the sauce baby oh my goodness they also do this cassava a lot here and it looks like they have turmeric turmeric seems like turmeric is in everything [Music] yes thank you if you see your friend at a store or something how do you say hello hello somebody's playing football and they score how do you say good job or yeah sure excitement movies we say so good you're right right yes and the number from the springform is to study it thank you because VR is here that Brazil is there's no racism and that um you know there's nobody sees color right so in normal here uh she knows because it is [Music] in town NASA Colony we have a very mixed seasoned people hi rich people okay my password is the police foreign foreign right so one can say kind of the quick answer to a definition of structural racism is that it permeates every aspect of our lives uh it's so Insidious that oftentimes you can't see it there was a moment in the early 19th century where the state decided that we should be become more white we had policies for that some policies were like we need to to create and build a common sense that there is no racism here that miscegenation was something good that made us a better people and as much as we get to mix it it's better and because the mix would be like becoming more white so here in Brazil at our grandfather or grandmother said maybe it's better if you get married with a more lighter skin yeah yeah you're gonna have an easier life so our generation heard that a lot and uh but it's starting doing differently in our father generation they started to to change it in some way so yeah they didn't know we resisted they they couldn't make us more white right uh in the opposite I mean we are more black now than we were before because you know your roots you understand what you understand it every year every research they make the number of black people is rising yeah and people used to say I think it's better for me to say that I'm not black but I'm Brown because I'll make maybe I'll have more facilities and now it's the opposite no I'm black with Africa being directly across the ocean from here in the late people were taken from they were taken primarily from Benin and the Central and central Africa the Congo for this particular area people from Bahia were from those areas like up to 90 percent of the enslaved people here came from there and one interesting thing is that they were transported in groups so when they made it over here through these Shores they were able to keep a lot of their Traditions intact and you can see this and hear this and taste this in the different Customs present here in Bahia today people from all over Bahia loved this dish you could even say it's a dish of the Gods this is prepared as an offering to the orisha it's also prepared to satisfy the taste buds of people all over this city it's a street food that also helped to free a lot of enslaved individuals Urban slavery was a characteristic of Salvador where the enslaved would get jobs and split their wages with their masters well they were able to put away enough funds to buy their freedom and after people actually bought their freedom they would actually pay for other people's freedom as well in this area in this region you see it in the unity you see it in the religion you see eat in the food and you see it in the music [Music] [Music] they're kind of warming up it's about to go down right over here so this is culture and this is the culture of this particular area a rhythm everybody's riding and the rhythm's gonna be captured [Applause] capoeira once outlawed in Brazil this is a great example of resistance that flourished in Salvador where communities would play capoeira to be ready for combat this sport was brought over to Brazil by captured Africans they disguised this martial arts as a folk dance at one point it was even banned by the Brazilian government and anyone practicing would be sent to jail it was practiced secretly until that ban was lifted it's now a widely popular practice throughout Brazil with several capoeira schools right here in Salvador [Music] Salvador is a spiritual Town you'll see many different religions living side by side with each other religions that seemingly contradict one another can doble with its idolatry the Catholic Church the Protestant Church you see them throughout this city this is primarily a spiritual town the religion is everywhere they practice in African religion here a few different types and you see tributes to Kindle everywhere I mean in the Parks and all the stores it's definitely been a learning experience of being here and in a place that's kind of steeped in it you know it's been interesting seeing kind of how that manifests and what it looks like yeah here in the city seeing the orishas right or the deities there's a lake that is on the way to Centro and it has these These are rishas we thought it was some black royalty I mean maybe it is and you know maybe it is so it's definitely something that we've been exposed to more than we've ever been exposed to so it's interesting learning about it and just seeing what the culture is like here because it is definitely a part of the culture the step that we need to take right now and to the future is to elect black people I mean we have two Congress a man and woman that are black in in a group of 35. we never had we had one mayor that was a black woman this is the next step I mean that the people see themselves in the structure you know taking decisions for the city and I think this is something that we need right now because we have the infrastructure we have a good City uh we have opportunities but they are really concentrate in this small white people group that has economic and political partner two out of 30 . I mean and it's uh I mean we are 80 percent 82 percent I mean it at least we should have 82 percent of the public positions at least if not all [Music] so in like two or three years where do you see yourself what would you like to do okay [Music] foreign foreign [Music] Tours and Travel itineraries okay all out all around Brazil and other countries sharing the black history of all these countries so if you want to travel if you want to meet what you can discover about African Heritage in this city you should go to diaspora.black all right and discover a tour guidance and travel services to help you to discover it what are your dreams [Music] see a bridge passo yeah a new new artists okay yeah yeah yeah yeah help me you want to help the new people um foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] our meat the protagonist of black people in different places in different cities I mean it's a huge experience when you go to a different city and you see a part of yourself in that City and you connect with it because you recognize oh I heard this song I heard that drums I feel that tasty and when you connect with that this is very powerful because you understand that what we have passed as black people in any place it connects with other black people that live with something close to it in a very different context when you you come to Colombia or you come to Salvador and you recognize the same elements in both cities because we are so powerful and we are so creative that we could resist and share all those traditions in very different contexts so after is a movement is a strategy so you can preserve the memory of what we have done as black people in diaspora really empowering for everyone that goes to a different city and reconnects you with that common history I invite everybody to try it because you see that we have a very common Essence that can like us a seat that when you plant it can flourish in different ways no matter the ground you you plant it it will grow and it will give a lot of fruit and that's what you're doing with afro-tourism connecting those fruits those same

Channel: The Yarbros

Views: 477,564

Keywords: Africa in Brazil, the diaspora, travel documentary, black mecca, africa in brazil black rome, black rome, best travel film, travel film, how slavery started, how the pope started slavery, transatlantic slave trade, portuguese slavery, portuguese slave runners, pope nicholas v, slavery voyages, acaraje, moqueca, favela documentary, the yarbros, african diaspora, african diaspora history, the brazil you dont know, 1st stop, documentary, salvador bahia

Id: 1d7azOxgmR0

Length: 31min 42sec (1902 seconds)

Published: Thu May 11 2023