Tchau por agora (Bye for now) — London, United Kingdom

  London, England, United Kingdom
Saturday, August 4, 2012

What we have recorded in this blog is not the complete picture of African life in Brazil, it is only one perspective.    It is about the things that we witnessed and experienced that we did not expect, and that made an immediate and dramatic impact on us. We always knew about the significant African population in the country, the fact the Brazil has more people of African descent that any other country in the world outside of the continent and second only to Nigeria. We always knew about the origins of Capoeira, the African Martial Art that we used to describe in school as the deadliest form even we knew little else about it at the time. We knew that Brazil was the last country in the Americas to formally abolish chattel slavery and that life for Africans is not pretty. We knew about racial mixture in Brazil and the various unsuccessful attempts of successive governments to obliterate the black presence. And we had some idea about life in the Favelas.

What we did not expect to find was the living breathing African culture and religion, intact and functioning in an organized and progressive way and taking such a prominent place in the lives of so many people. The very public nature of fundamental aspects of African religion was a striking revelation for us and to experience it was most profound.

Finally before we end the trip we want to thank everyone who kept in touch for their encouragement and positive comments.

Jabulani Urhobo – content, photography and input
Asha Urhobo - content and editorial