The Web site will also feature facts on Afro-Brazilians; Brazilian events taking place in the United States and Brazil; updates on Brazilian politics; and the upcoming World Cup and the Olympic Games. Afro-Brazilian.com will also feature articles from noted Brazilian and African American reporters across the United States. According to MercoPress, an independent online news agency, Afro-Brazilians represent the largest ethnic group in Brazil, making up more than 49 percent of the population. Afro-Brazilians have a cultural influence on Brazil that spans from cuisine, literature, sports and art, among others. Some of the little known facts on Afro-Brazilians include: * African culture has been instrumental in the development of Brazilian cuisine. Feijoada, Brazil's staple dish, was developed by African slaves * Blacks and pardos have a low representation on Brazilian television. In 1996 Taís Araujo was the first and only Black actress to be featured as a protagonist in a telenovela
History shows close to two million enslaved Africans were taken to South America. A great number of them were taken to Bahia, Brazil, to work on the sugar cane plantations. [Dionisio] has hope for the future of Brazilian Blacks. "If America can elect a Black president, I know that our time will one day come when a Black Brazilian will look after the wellbeing of his or her people. But at the way things are in Brazil, it is only through education that we will one day be equal to the whites, if you know what I mean." At this point, it sounded as if Dionisio was engaged in a monologue. "But many children dream of one day being like Pele, our greatest football star," he continued as he gazed in the distance, his eyes resting on the humming bird doing battle with the sweet nectar. The mention of Pele changed the contour of his face and I could see the veins in his face clearly showing. "Most of our people have let us down. Most, like Pele, can be considered Black, but we have a saying here that 'You are a Black person with a white soul. We say that of Black leaders and football celebrities who do not support any Black agenda."
Essence co-founder Edward Lewis welcomes Benedita da Silva, vice-governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, to Essence Communications, Inc., headquarters. Da Silva, one of the most-powerful politicians in Brazil, was in New York recently to meet with African-American business leaders to discuss economic and political partnerships between Black Americans and Afro-Brazilians.
Since I have been thinking about Blacks in Brazil for years, I do know that racial identity is important and perceived differently there. For example, people who consider themselves Black or African American in the U.S. would not automatically be considered Black or African Brazilian in Brazil. People who have brown or lighter skin complexions in Brazil are mulattos, morenos, or some other non Black color category. Approximately half of Brazil's 150 million people are classified as mulatto or Black. "Pe na cozinha" means "foot in the kitchen" and "mulatinho" means "little mulatto." "Foot in the kitchen" refers to someone normally seen as white acknowledging his African ancestry because the kitchen is the kitchen of slavery in which Blacks served whites in all aspects of life.
