The African diaspora consists of the worldwide collection of communities descended from native sub-Saharan Africans or people from sub-Saharan Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The diaspora has continued for millennia, but historically, ethnographers, historians, politicians and writers have used the term particularly to refer to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were enslaved and shipped to the Americas via the Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries, with their largest populations in Brazil, the United States and Haiti. Some scholars identify "four circulatory phases" of this migration out of Africa. The phrase African diaspora gradually entered common usage at the turn of the 21st century. The term diaspora originates from the Greek διασπορά which gained popularity in English in reference to the Jewish diaspora before being more broadly applied to other populations.
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira, known professionally as Gilberto Gil, is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Gil's musical style incorporates an eclectic range of influences, including rock, Brazilian genres including samba, African music, and reggae.
Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion that developed in Brazil during the early 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of the movement.
Candomblé Ketu is the largest and most influential branch (nation) of Candomblé, a religion practiced in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The word Candomblé means “ritual dancing or gather in honor of gods” and Ketu is the name of the Ketu region of Benin. Its liturgical language, known as Iorubá or Nagô, is a dialect of Yoruba. Candomblé Ketu developed in the early 19th century and gained great importance to Brazilian heritage in the 20th century.
Afro-Latin American or Black Latin American, refers to Latin Americans of significant or mainly African ancestry. The term may also refer to historical or cultural elements in Latin America thought to have emanated from this community.
Afro-Brazilians are Brazilians who have predominantly or partial African ancestry. Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or pardos, may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Depending on the circumstances, the ones whose African features are more evident are always or frequently seen by others as "africans" - consequently identifying themselves as such, while the ones whom this evidence is lesser may not be seen as such so regularly. It is important to note that the term pardo, such as preto, is rarely used outside the census spectrum. Brazilian society has a range of words, including negro itself, to describe multiracial people.
Axé is a popular music genre originated in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil in the 1980s, fusing different Afro-Caribbean genres, such as marcha, reggae, and calypso. It also includes influences of Brazilian music such as frevo, forró and carixada. The word Axé comes from the Yoruba term àṣẹ, meaning “soul, light, spirit or good vibrations”. Axé is also present in the Candomblé religion, as “the imagined spiritual power and energy bestowed upon practitioners by the pantheon of orixás”.
Olga de Alaketu or Mother Olga was a prominent Candomblé high priestess, who was influential in promoting Candomblé and distancing it from Catholicism.
Salvador, also known as São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, is the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. With 2.9 million people (2017), it is the largest city proper in the Northeast Region and the 4th largest city proper in the country, after São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília.
The term afoxé refers to a Carnival group originating from Salvador da Bahia, Brazil in the 1920’s, and the music it plays deriving from the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion. It came to indicate a musical rhythm, named ijexá derived from the ijexá nation within Candomblé. Cultural performances of the afoxés, typically at Brazilian Carnival, incorporate choreography, song, ritual language and ceremonies deriving from the Candomblé religion. In Brazil, afoxé is generally performed by blocos, afros-groups of mostly black or mulatto musicians who are familiar with African Brazilian music. Afoxés are a cultural and religious entity that preserves a tradition of Afro-brazilian culture.
The Federal University of Bahia is a public university located mainly in the city of Salvador. It is the largest university in the state of Bahia and one of Brazil's most prestigious educational institutions.
Slavery in Brazil began long before the first Portuguese settlement was established in 1516, as members of one tribe would enslave captured members of another. Later, colonists were heavily dependent on indigenous labor during the initial phases of settlement to maintain the subsistence economy, and natives were often captured by expeditions called bandeiras. The importation of African slaves began midway through the 16th century, but the enslavement of indigenous peoples continued well into the 17th and 18th centuries.
Periperi is a subdistrict north of Salvador, in the Brazilian State of Bahia.
Born in Salvador, Bahia, Yeda Pessoa de Castro is a Brazilian ethnolinguist. With a PhD in African Languages at the National University of Zaire, she is a Technical Consultant in African Languages for the Museu da Língua Portuguesa at the Estação da Luz in São Paulo, a Member of the Academia de Letras da Bahia and of the ANPOLL's GT de Literatura Oral e Popular. Also is a Permanent Member of the Brazilian Scientific Committee of the Project "Slave Route" by UNESCO.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil.
Museu Afro Brasil is a history, artistic and ethnographic museum dedicated to the research, preservation, and exhibition of objects and works related to the cultural sphere of blacks in Brazil. It is a public institution held by the Secretariat for Culture of the São Paulo State and managed by the Museu Afro Brasil Association. The museum is located in Ibirapuera Park, a major urban park in São Paulo. The Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1959, houses the Museum. It holds around 6 thousands items and pieces including paintings, sculptures, photos, documents, and archives created between the 15th Century and the present day. The aggregation of pieces includes many works of the African and Afro-Brazilian cultural spheres, ranging from subjects and topics such as religion, labor, and art to the African Diaspora and slavery, whilst registering and affirming the historical trajectory and the African influences in the construction of the Brazilian society. The Museum also offers a diverse range of cultural and didactic activities, temporary expositions, and contains a theater and a specialized library.
Yemoja is a major water spirit from the Yoruba religion. She is an orisha, in this case patron spirit of the oceans and/or rivers - particularly the Ogun River in Nigeria. She is often syncretized with either Our Lady of Regla in the Afro-Cuban diaspora or various other Virgin Mary figures of the Catholic Church, a practice that emerged during the era of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Yemoja is motherly and strongly protective, and cares deeply for all her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent her wealth. She does not easily lose her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent, as the flood waters of turbulent rivers.
Mãe Menininha do Gantois also known as Mother Menininha do Gantois, was a Brazilian spiritual leader (iyalorixá) and spiritual daughter of orixá Oxum, who officiated for 64 years as the head of one of the most noted Candomblé temples, the Ilê Axé Iyá Omin Iyamassê, or Terreiro do Gantois, of Brazil, located in Alto do Gantois in Salvador, Bahia. She was instrumental in gaining legal recognition of Candomblé and its rituals, bringing an end to centuries of prejudice against Afro-Brazilians, who practiced their faith. When she died on 13 August 1986, the State of Bahia declared a three-day state mourning in her honour, and the City Council of Salvador held a special session to pay tributes to her. The Terreiro do Gantois temple has been declared a protected national monument.
Eugênia Anna Santos was a Brazilian Iyalorixá. She founded the candomblé Ilê Axé Opó Afonjá in Salvador, now considered a National Historic Landmark, and in Rio de Janeiro.
Isa Soares is a Brazilian-born Argentine dancer and activist involved in creating awareness of the African traditions of Argentina and fighting racism against Afro-Argentine peoples. She was one of the pioneers in developing African dance interpretation and instruction in Argentina.
