बेलेम, ब्राज़ील – ज़ाक्यू बेलेम अराउजो एक अकाई पेड़ से एक पत्ता काटता है और उसे कुशलता से मोड़ता है और एक छोर को दूसरे छोर से बांधकर एक मजबूत अंगूठी बनाता है। वह अपनी सैंडल उतारता है, अपने नंगे पैर हथेली की अंगूठी में डालता है और तेजी से खुद को पेड़ के तने पर खींचता है ताकि प्रतिष्ठित फल की एक शाखा तक पहुंच सके। ब्राज़ील में गुलाम वंशजों के समुदाय क्षेत्रों की मान्यता की मांग करते…

em maio 15, 2025 O projeto Raízes que Tecem realiza ações de valorização do artesanato tradicional de Ubatuba, com a identificação dos artesãos e artesãs das comunidades do Camburi, Quilombo da Fazenda, Quilombo do Sertão de Itamambuca e Quilombo da Caçandoca. No próximo fim de semana, acontece o 3º Encontro Festejo Mãos Que Fazem, na casa da farinha do Quilombo da Fazenda. Nos dias 18 e 19,…

A comunidade quilombola do Sertão de Itamambuca acaba de inaugurar a cozinha comunitária e a implantação da compostagem de resíduos orgânicos oriundos da própria cozinha e que serão transformados em adubo e biofertilizante. As ações socioambientais no Quilombo vêm se ampliando e fortalecendo a comunidade graças ao Projeto Quilombo Sustentável, realizado pelo Instituto Terroá em colaboração com a…

Reprodução: © Bruno Peres/Agência Brasil Primeira turma do projeto concluiu ciclo de formação na última semana Publicado em 25/08/2024 – 11:25 Por Ana Carolina Alli* – Brasília ouvir: Educação para o futuro. Um projeto inovador da Coordenação Nacional das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas (CONAQ) começa a colher seus primeiros frutos. Na última semana, um encontro em Brasília celebrou a…

Quilombola communities in Brazil totaled 7,666 in 8,441 locations across 25 states, comprising some 1.3 million people. The data can be found in a new supplement to the 2022 Census, released Friday (Jul. 19) by statistics bureau IBGE.

The institute explains that some of the communities have members in more than one location. This justifies the fact that there are 775 more locations than communities.

According to IBGE Manager for Traditional Territories and Protected Areas Fernando Damasco, community membership is linked to “ethnic, historical, and social issues.”

“A location is a place where people gather. The community, on the other hand, expresses the ethnic and community bond that goes beyond spatial location,” he explained.

Down a rickety staircase into a basement workshop lined with pottery objects, Irinéia Rosa Nunes da Silva shows off a sculpture inspired by a dramatic episode for her people. 

A dozen clay figures cling to trunks or branches, one with a bird in its arms. On a sweltering tropical afternoon, the septuagenarian artisan describes how this depicts the floods of 2010, when 50 residents from her village of Muquém, in the hilly and verdant countryside of northeastern Brazil, climbed up a pair of jackfruit trees and stayed there overnight to survive the rising waters.

The ceramic work is an apt memorial to the centuries of resistance by traditional rural communities known as quilombos which are scattered throughout the vast country. Descended from settlements originally founded by escaped slaves during colonial times, they have long been a symbol of struggle against oppression and hold an important place in Afro-Brazilian heritage.

Now, for the first time, a census has recorded the number of citizens who belong to these socio-ethnic groups. Quilombolas, as they are called, numbered 1.3mn in 2022, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. At 0.7 per cent of the overall population, they are not far behind the 1.7mn indigenous Brazilians. “Before we didn’t have this identification of our ethnicity or culture,” says Dorinha Calvacanti, the head of a residents association in Muquém. “It was a very important milestone.”

The community of 800 quilombolas in the state of Alagoas traces its origins back to the largest and most famous quilombo, Palmares. During the 17th century, Palmares grew into an autonomous confederation of settlements over mountains and forest. At its peak, there were an estimated 20,000 inhabitants, including runaway slaves, native people and white Europeans. Its last ruler, Zumbi, repelled numerous attacks by Portuguese forces before the kingdom’s capital fell in 1694, and was killed a year later. Following the abolition of slavery in 1888, the warrior king became a hero of the 20th century Afro-Brazilian political movement. The date of his execution — November 20 — is celebrated as Brazil’s Black Consciousness Day. 

Despite their belated recognition in today’s records, just under 3,600 self-declared quilombos continue to be afflicted by poverty, unemployment, discrimination and poor access to public services. Historically marginalised, few possess land titles. Even if the census data helps deliver better public policies, the long wait for inclusion is “a symptom of the structural and institutional racism of the Brazilian state”, argues professor Vagner Gomes Bijagó at the Federal University of Alagoas. “These challenges greatly impact the preservation of quilombola culture.” 

Public Defender's Office demands compensation from companies suspected of environmental damage; OTHER SIDE: Brazil Iron, subsidiary in Brazil, denies accusations

Residents of two quilombos in Bahia have obtained a judicial injunction in the United Kingdom to prevent British mining companies from continuing what the communities of Bocaina and Mocó, in the municipality of Piatã (BA), call intimidation.

The iron ore companies Brazil Iron Limited (BIL) and Brazil Iron Trading Limited (BITL), registered in the European country, are also accused of causing disturbances due to pollution generated by dust from the mine, noise from machinery, and explosions. Residents claim to suffer structural, physical, and psychological damage.