African Brazilians

African Brazilians
Sargen220 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Group	African Brazilians
Population	Approximately 54% self-identify as Black or Brown (IBGE 2022)
Regions	São Paulo (state), Rio de Janeiro (state), Bahia (state), Minas Gerais, Pernambuco
Languages	Portuguese language
Religions	Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Candomblé, Umbanda
Related	Afro-Brazilians, Afro-Latin Americans, Angolan Brazilians, Mozambican Brazilians

African Brazilians are Brazilians tracing ancestry to enslaved and free Africans brought to Brazil from diverse regions such as West Africa, Central Africa, and Southeast Africa. Their descendants have shaped Brazil's demographic profile and cultural landscape through contributions in music, religion, politics, and urban life. Major historical processes, migration flows, and social movements have produced a complex spectrum of identities and political claims across cities like Salvador, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

History

The transatlantic slave trade linked ports such as Luanda, Benguela, and Whydah to Brazilian ports like Salvador, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro (city), and Recife, producing a flow documented alongside treaties like the Treaty of Tordesillas's aftermath and events such as the Pombaline reforms. Enslaved Africans from regions under the influence of polities including the Kingdom of Kongo, Oyo Empire, Bight of Benin, and Kongo Kingdom were integrated into plantation regimes at estates tied to families like the House of Braganza and ports under the Portuguese Empire. Resistance took forms such as the formation of quilombos exemplified by Quilombo dos Palmares and uprisings linked to figures like Zumbi dos Palmares and episodes concurrent with the Inconfidência Mineira and the Malê Revolt in Salvador, Bahia. The abolitionist trajectory involved actors such as Joaquim Nabuco, André Rebouças, Princesa Isabel, and legal acts culminating in the Lei Áurea. Post-abolition labor shifts connected to migrations from Italy, Japan, and Portugal and created urban labor dynamics in neighborhoods like Pelourinho and favelas in Rio de Janeiro (city).

Demographics

Census results by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) classify populations into categories used in studies alongside scholars at institutions such as the Fundação Getulio Vargas and Universidade de São Paulo. Major demographic centers include São Paulo (city), Rio de Janeiro (city), and Salvador, Bahia, with significant populations in Recife, Fortaleza, and Belo Horizonte. Internal migration patterns during the 20th century linked rural regions of Bahia (state), Pernambuco, and Minas Gerais to urban industrial centers such as Santos, São Paulo and Manaus. Socioeconomic indicators measured by agencies like the Banco Central do Brasil and analyzed in courts such as the Supremo Tribunal Federal reveal disparities in income, access to housing in areas like Brás and Complexo do Alemão, and educational attainment at universities including Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and Universidade Estadual de Campinas.

Culture and Society

Artistic and cultural forms traceable to African lineages include musical genres and movements with roots in practices cultivated in communities around landmarks like Pelourinho and institutions such as the Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro). Influences appear in genres including samba, bossa nova, axé music, maracatu, and in performers like Carmen Miranda, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben Jor, Tim Maia, Miriam Makeba (in diasporic connections), and Martinho da Vila. Literary contributions emerge via writers and intellectuals such as Machado de Assis, Lima Barreto, Carolina Maria de Jesus, Conceição Evaristo, and Abdias do Nascimento. Visual arts and theater involve practitioners linked to institutions like the Museu Afro Brasil, Teatro Oficina, and movements associated with curators from Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Culinary traditions trace to dishes such as acarajé, moqueca, and ingredients introduced via Atlantic exchanges involving ports like Luanda and São Luís. Carnival culture centers on samba schools such as Mangueira, Portela, and Salgueiro, while capoeira links to rodas in plazas tied to figures like Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha.

Religion and Spirituality

African-derived religions syncretized with Roman Catholicism and Protestant currents in forms practiced in terreiros across states like Bahia (state) and cities such as Salvador, Bahia. Traditions including Candomblé, Umbanda, Macumba, and Afro-Brazilian variants of Spiritism developed liturgies, ritual music, and iconography incorporating orixás with parallels to deities from Yoruba and Bantu cosmologies. Key religious leaders and scholars such as Mãe Menininha do Gantois, Mãe Stella de Oxóssi, Zélia Gattai (cultural chronicler), and researchers at institutions like the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz and Universidade Federal da Bahia documented practices contested in debates involving municipal authorities and legal protections adjudicated by the Supremo Tribunal Federal. Pilgrimages to sites like Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia and festivals such as Festa de Iemanjá demonstrate hybrid devotional repertoires.

Politics and Activism

Political mobilization included abolitionists like José do Patrocínio and Luís Gama and 20th–21st century activists and organizations such as Movimento Negro Unificado, Quilombo movement leaders, Cotas policies defenders, and public figures like Marielle Franco, Luiza Bairros, Anielle Franco, and Celso Pires de Belchior who engaged electoral arenas at chambers including the Câmara dos Deputados (Brazil) and municipal councils in Salvador, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro (city). Legislative measures such as affirmative action policies at federal universities (debates in the Congresso Nacional) and quotas implemented by institutions like Universidade de Brasília generated contested litigation before the Supremo Tribunal Federal. Cultural policy debates involved ministries including the Ministério da Cultura and artists' networks like Rede Maré. Transnational links connect activism to movements in United States, United Kingdom, and organizations such as UNESCO.

Identity and Race Relations

Scholars at centers like Universidade de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas, and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro analyze categories used by IBGE and their interaction with self-identification practices in contexts shaped by laws like the Constitution of Brazil (1988). Debates around colorism, miscegenation, and social mobility reference historical actors such as Gilberto Freyre and critique frameworks applied in studies by demographers at IBGE and legal scholars in rulings from the Supremo Tribunal Federal. Race relations surface in policing disputes involving institutions like the Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and in cultural production responding to exclusion, including interventions by filmmakers at festivals such as the Festival de Brasília and writers awarded prizes like the Prêmio Jabuti.

Category:Ethnic groups in Brazil