Quilombo-A culture of resistance
Quilombo - A culture of resistance
In Brazil, during the four centuries of tension and confrontation of classes in the slavery system, thousands of slaves escaped from the europeans plantations and created the quilombos.
Originally “quilombo” means “place where one is with God” in Banto language. The quilombo rebuilt in Brazil as a territorial organization of African origin and it worked as an outlet against the violence of slavery. Wherever slavery flourished, so did resistance. Even under the threat of the whip, slaves tried to carve spaces of autonomy through rebellions. And then they created a new social organization of runaway slave communities represented resistance against European acculturation.
During the slavery times in Brazil and almost hidden from civilization, the free slaves recreated their African origins. They have never abandoned their culture, keeping the secrets of ancient customs. This alternative communities sought to reproduce Africa in the Americas, and in which all members were free and equal, just as they had been in their homeland.
In the Amazon, hundreds of families lived and produced hidden in the bush, running away from slavery for an unknown time length.During my course over the TransAmazonian I have met some of these maroon communities. There, inhabitants still retaining the memory of the time of slavery while they managed for generations to pass on the secrets of the rivers and jungle to survive.