An Uncertain Future

The Portuguese colonisation and the Atlantic Slave Trade are the historical reasons at the bases of the presence of black African people in Brazil. From the XVI century, African black people — mostly from the Western African region — where captured and deported to Brazil to work as slaves in the plantations and the mines.

The Quilombos are Brazilian settlement founded by people of African origin; most of the founders of these communities were escaped slaves. Especially with President Lula da Silva, the rights of the Quilombolas (ownership of the lands and right of been recognised as communities) were finally recognised.

The 28th of October, Jair Bolsonaro, a right wing Brazilian politician, was elected ad President of Brazil. During his campaign, Mr Bolsonaro declared that will revocate the land concessions gave to the indios and Quilombola Communities. In one occasion during a speech he claims “I have visited a Quilombo. The slimmer Afro-descent weighted 7 arrobas” (around 15 kg, the arroba was a unit of weight used during the slavery period). “They do nothing. I think they aren’t good even for procreation. the Brazil waste more than 1 billion of Reais with them”. Brazil has always had racism problems and it systematically hid is past of slavery, today with the election of this new President it reach a peak.

The Quilombo’s Communities and few other institutions like the Slavery Museum in Belo Vale are the last witness of a past that the modern Brazil doesn’t recognise and would like to forget.