Remembering Palmares: From the Historic Quilombo to the Memory of Black people

The Black kingdom of Palmares became an ideological project that opposed itself to the interests of the Portuguese crown, landlords and local governments. Protected by the dense forest formed by trunks of the Palms, Palmares resisted invasion and destruction attempts for more than a century. Although Palmares attracted poor indigenous people and white peasants, those that were considered the enemies of colonization were mainly “the blacks of Guinea”, as the Africans who were enslaved in the region were generally called.

The attacks perpetrated by Dutch and Portuguese colonial governments, local slaveholders as well as neighboring captaincies, always met the resistance of Palmares’ leader Ganga Zumba. After his death, in early 1680, his nephew Zumbi took over his post governing the resistance through a series of new expeditions organized to extinguish the network of communities that formed Quilombo dos Palmares. Such kingdom was seen as a danger to the slave system for serving as an example for the formation of similar communities.

The strong appeal of the quilombolas’ saga at Serra da Barriga made possible that Palmares’ memories were praised far away from Alagoas. In the 1920s, the history of Palmares' struggle had already crossed the country and made up the repertoire of São Paulo’s newspapers of Black press. On May 13, 1926, the young activist José Correia Leite published in O Clarim d'Alvorada the poem “Aos Palmares” (To Palmares), in which Palmares is presented as part of the symbols related to the abolition of slavery in Brazil. In the same year the Centro Civico Palmares was founded, followed, three years later, by the Clube Atlético Palmares.

Through publications in the Black press, the poet Carlos de Assumpção, born in 1927, tells us how Palmares was understood by Black readers from the state of São Paulo as part of a tradition connected to racial pride and the struggle against racism. He draws attention to the importance of the Black Brazilian Front (FNB), created in 1931, and its newspaper: A voz da Raça. Then, he recites the poem “Nosso avós” (Our grandparents), dedicated to his friend Eunice de Paula Cunha, who, along with her husband, were part of the FNB.

Throughout the year of 1933, Arlindo Veiga dos Santos, one of the founders of FNB, published in A Voz da Raça the Hino da Gente Negra Brasileira (Anthem of the Brazilian Black People). Its lyrics were written by him and its music was signed by maestro Alfredo Pires, also a FNB member. The anthem was performed on May 13th of that year as part of a long festive program organized by the FNB, in which the symbols of Palmares were constantly present.

Given the fact that quilombos of great historical importance existed also in São Paulo, the presence of Palmares' symbols in the spaces of Black sociability reveals the strength of its memory. In Maceió, the continuity of the Quilombo cultural manifestation was ensured by the rural Black communities, as seen in the images produced in 1952 by the folklorist Theo Brandão in the quilombo of Bebedouro, where it is possible to follow the narrative of the cultural manifestation.

In the second part, the indigenous spies appeared seeking to know the positions of the Black enemy. While the Black population was preparing for its defense, the soldiers appeared representing the troops of Domingos Jorge Velho, a São Paulo bandeirante charged with the mission of destroy Palmares, accompanied by an indigenous group. Then there was a fight in the square or on the street in front of the quilombo and, after many battles, simulated retreats and assaults, the king of the caboclos ended up capturing the Black king, and takes the queen with them.

The sequence of the cultural manifestation was the killing of the blacks and the destruction of the quilombo. The survivors were captured and reenslaved. The celebration ended with the sale of the blacks enslaved people and the handing over of the queen to one of the biggest landowners of the village. Even with a defeat in its end, this memory practice towards Palmares’ War reveals the runaway narrative as an experience of confront and rebellion feared by the slave owners.

The dancing balls in the Salão de Palmares and the civic activities of the Associação Palmares were two places it was experienced. It was in this context that Carlos de Assumpção wrote and published the poem “Diálogo do Passado e Presente” in the newspaper Novo Horizonte, in 1948 - years before his acclaimed work “Protesto”. The poem ended up being forgotten by the writer, but a reunion was promoted during the construction of this exhibition.

Other cultural events ensured the continuity of the Palmares’ narrative in the Brazilian Northeast.

An example is the lambe-sujo in the city of Laranjeiras, Sergipe, originated in the mid-19th century.

In the photographs of the geographer Avelar Santos Junior, professor at Federal University of Alagoas, it is possible to see the lambe-sujos wearing the Phrygian cap, symbol of freedom won by struggle, whose symbolism contrasts with that given by white redeemers.

In the whole country, different initiatives in rural and urban spaces contributed to keep Palmares as a symbolic axis for the Black people that would be reappropriated by the following generations. In this process, the association between historical consciousness and anti-racism was central. This relation it observed in the poem “Berimbau”, by Carlos Assumpção. It was written after the author watched an interpretation of the song “Zumbi”, composed by Jorge Benjor, and sung by Ellen Oléria. The verses are dedicated to the his friend Jorge Prado Teixeira, with whom Assumpção shared dreams in the Associação José do Patrocínio, between the 1940s and 1950s.

The relationship between memory and history remained alive in the next decades in the symbols related to the advances of Black people. With the approach to the Abolition of Slavery’s Centenary, it was built the monument to Ganga Zumba in 1984 at Cruz das Almas beach, Maceió-AL. The sculpture points towards Angola, on the other side of the Atlantic, and is complemented with the monument to Zumbi dos Palmares, erected at Serra da Barriga, where Palmares existed. The project was idealized by the Black militant and history teacher Edson Moreira and it was made by the sculptor José Faustino.

At the monument to Ganga Zumba, the memory of Palmares is perpetuated in new forms. Every first Saturday of January is celebrated At its feet the Dia das Flores (Flowers Day), with a procession led by Yalorixá Mãe Mirian, who runs the Ilé Nife Omi Omo Posú Betá . In the square, cultural presentations take place while the monument is washed. Then, flowers are thrown into the sea as a request for protection, peace and harmony to the Black people.