Books for Black Consciousness Day

Last night I took part in a strutting street parade to mark the anniversary of the death of Zumbi dos Palmares.

Today, 20th November, is Black Consciousness Day in Brazil (Dia de Consciência Negra). This year a record 225 Brazilian cities declared the date a municipal bank holiday. It’s a small number but significant as in 2007 local authorities are slowly, very slowly, beginning to implement a law passed in 2003, making it obligatory for all schools in Brazil to include Afro-Brazilian history on the curriculum (law no. 10.639 – 9/01/2003 – read more about this law in English here).

As this blog is principally about books and is principally aimed at English speakers in Brazil, I want to recommend some great books available on Afro-Brazilian themes for kids, i.e. in very simple Portuguese – ideal for English speakers learning Portuguese:

Zumbi, O Último Herói dos Palmares by Carla Caruso (Callis) is an introduction to the warrier Zumbi, who led Quilombo Palmares in the battle for freedom.

For children’s short stories, check out Historias da Preta by Heloisa Pires Lima (Companhia das Letrinhas).

What colour is the black girl?
She is brown. She’s the colour of the eyes of her parents.
Where is she from?
She’s from here, from Brazil. But, in a way, she’s from the other side of the ocean – from Africa, the first house of the black people.

The image for this post is the cover of Sikulume e Outros Contos Africanos by Júlio Emílio Braz (Pallas) – A beautiful book, with more stories stories stories for you to learn Portuguese by…

And for the story of capoeira, one of the best children’s books of 2007:
José Moçambique e a Capoeira by Joaquim de Almeida, Laura Beatriz and Theza Almeida (Companhia das Letrinhas)

Play with the others, not against them. This is the basis of capoeira, a mixture of dance and fight developed in Brazil by African slaves as a form of resistance against opression. An art, considered a crime in the time of slavery…

This book is worth it just for the illustrations, and for the part in the story where the little boy runs towards the port, listening to a sound which grows louder the nearer he gets:

Tchim tchim tim

Dom dom

Tchim tchim tim

Dom dom

Tchim tchim tim

Dom dom.

And if you live in Brazil and don’t know what the sound is, you need to read this book!

Balada Literária in São Paulo

People in London sometimes ask if I ever think about returning to The Smoke.

Even though I have not lived in London since 2002, my friends stick to the adage that however much I insist in placing myself in remote windy seaside settings, the city refuses to be taken out of this girl.

The truth is that although I will always have a special place in my heart for the big cities in my life, right now I cannot imagine anything at all that would attract me to living in a huge, crowded, violent smogodrome.

Except, perhaps, for the fact that you big city bastards get to go to free events like this one.

Books at Bus Stops in Brasília

You know that feeling when you’re waiting at a bus stop and you just wish you had something to read? Well, for bus passengers on route W3 Norte in Brasília, this problem is well and truly over, thanks to the splendid new initiative Parada Cultural developed by Luiz Amorim, the brains behind NGO T-Bone – Açouge Cultural.

The idea is simple: a stall at the bus stop where anyone, whether waiting for a bus or not, can borrow books for free. The idea came from the fact that many Brazilians do not have easy access to books. Municipal libraries in Brazil are rare, and when they do exist, book enthusiasts must battle through bureaucracy in order to use them.

The new bus stop libraries involve almost no paperwork. During the day a member of staff notes down the details of borrowed books and after 6pm the borrower can simply take a book and leave a note with contact details. Books are available 24 hours a day, there are no due dates, no charges for borrowing and no fines.

The projects started at the bus stop 712/712 W3 Norte, and four other mini-libraries have since been set up at other bus stops in Brasília.

Originally from Bahia, 42 year old Luiz Amorim arrived in Brasília aged 12 in 1973. He was a shoeshine boy before he moved into the back room of a small butcher’s shop and began work as an assistant. He taught himself to read and fell in love with books. In 1994 the owners sold up, Luiz bought the business, and set up the world’s first library in a butcher’s shop. In his first year as owner, he put a shelf of books next to the meat counter and allowed customers to borrow the books for free, with no bureaucracy involved. The library grew and grew with donations, and after a few years there were over a thousand books next to the meat counter. The library was then closed down for breaking health and safety regulations. Amorim pursued sponsors and in 2002 opened his library in another building. The space became a cultural centre, which now hosts Saraus, readings and other literary events.

For the bus stop project, Açouge Cultural has so far raised 40 Thousand Reais from sponsors Caesb, (The Federal Government Water and Sewage Company) and the Spanish Embassy in Brazil. The organisation is now seeking further sponsors to adopt more bus stops.

Read more about T-Bone – Açouge Cultural and the inspiring rags to riches tale of its founder, here. (in Portuguese). And all about the project Parada Cultural, here.

Writing this post, it occurred to me that those budding Brazilians amongst my readers might be tempted to anglicize Açouge Cultural as Cultural Butchers. Non-native English readers of this blog please take note: This is a terrible translation for Açouge Cultural. The verb to butcher in English means to destroy, to decimate, and likewise its derivative noun. Hence Cultural Butcher does not exactly do this excellent project the justice it deserves. This highlights an example of an interesting challenge to the translator to not make the name sound at worst contradictory and at best, plain silly. Parada Cultural is also not as simple as it seems to translate to English. Ideas, anyone?