#himnoir

The message that my friend and artist, Isaiah Lopaz, wrote, began with the question, “Have you heard of Forum Brasil?” Forum Brasil is a community space in Kreuzberg, which celebrates the various cultural expressions of Brazilian identities in Berlin. Under a new initiative, AfroPolitan Berlin, they host events, courses and workshops, and offer capoeira, theatre and dance classes.

Isaiah invited me to attend an event, Dia da Consciencia Negra, or “Black Awareness Day,” where he would be presenting his very popular art project, “Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Him.” The event was hosted to honour the courage, the lives and legacy of the people that fought and defied their enslavement by forming and defending their quilombos. Quilombos were settlements whose existence was a direct rebellion against and resistance to the contemporary established and normalised system of African slavery. The first of these are said to have developed in the mid-16th century, and the exact date of the event - the 20th of November - is the day that marks the death of two of the most famous quilombola warriors, Ganga Zumba and Zumbi. An altogether very humbling and significant occasion.

The evening’s performances were punctuated by dinner, which was the first time I’d ever tried Brazilian food. We had feijoada (beans), rice, ximxim de galinha (chicken stew), crème de milho (corn porridge), farofa (cassava flour, olive oil, onions and salt), and salada/mohlo vinaigrette. If you were brave enough, you could add a bit of the extremely fiery chili. (It was mind-blowlingly hot! I mean, just look at it...)