in the year following the enactment of the Lei Áurea, which ended legal slavery in Brazil, in 1889, João de Obá organized a celebration in Santo Amaro da Purificação, in the Recôncavo Baiano: the Bembé do Mercado. The party brought together fishermen and candomblé terreiros to denounce, on May 13, the conditions in which the so-called abolition left the black population, without any reparation for the kidnapping of African populations and for the years of forced labor.
Joédson Alves/Agência Brasil
“It is not the commemoration of the 13th of May, of the supposed abolition of Princess Isabel. The Bembé do Mercado is the affirmation of the resistance of our people. When there was the supposed abolition on May 13, 1888, they [negros] they had no land. They were all adrift. And many submitted to continue with the life of a slave because they had no land, no way to eat”, explains Babá Sérgio, from Ilê Oman, who is director of communication for the association that brings together 60 terreiros in the municipality to take care of the organization of Bembé do Market.
The fishermen who built this demonstration were, according to Sérgio, those who sought ways of surviving without having access to land. “They took [o sustento] of the sea, because the sea has no owner”, he says.
Cultural heritage
Māe Lidu (c), poses for a photo with her saint daughters at the Ilê Axé Igbalé terreiro. Joédson Alves/Agência Brasil
Bembé was recognized as intangible heritage by the Institute of Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Bahia, in 2012, and by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), in 2019. The celebration involves the performance of religious obligations, with dedications to Exu, Iemanjá and Oxum, as well as Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations, such as capoeira and samba de roda. The parties take place in central points of the city of Santo Amaro, a municipality founded in the 16th century in a place that was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples.
More than a historic party, Bembé is an organization of the Santo Amaro terreiros to preserve the local culture and resist the violence of racism that affects religions of African origin. A process that, according to Babá Sérgio, deepened in the last government, of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
“We fought, asked God and the orishas, the voduns and the enchanted ones. In the last government, there were many attacks on our terreiros. We were almost banished due to the sacralization of animals in a persecution of our religiosity. Refrigerators, slaughterhouses, [matam] thousands of birds. But the problem is because it is candomblé, because it is black”, criticizes the person responsible for the terreiro founded in 1933.
Ilê Oman is currently closed, in mourning for a year over the death of the mother matriarch Lydia, in December 2022. Lydia spent 48 years at the head of the house and dedicated 70 of the 86 years she lived to candomblé.
Babá Sérgio recognizes the sensitivity of religious leaders to position themselves politically. However, he sees that certain moments require acting. “We cannot put religiosity in men’s politics, in party politics. But, one way or another, we have to speak, because it is politics that moves us”, he emphasizes.
Therefore, he hopes that the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will bring a breath of fresh air to the people of Santo. “Our hope was to live with less persecution. This we will achieve, I am sure, ”he says.
“Stand firm and fight”
Mother Williana de Odé, in the terreiro Ilê axé Ojú Igbô Odé – Joédson Alves/Agência Brasil
The yaquequerê (little mother) of Ilê Ax Igbalê, mother Lyndu is frightened by the proportion of persecution of Candomblé temples and followers in recent years.
“A lot of religious prejudice. We dress in the clothes of the saint to be able to do the things we have to do. And many people make fun of us, our religion, our African matrix. We go on walks here to see if this is over,” he says, referring to demonstrations against prejudice organized by terreiros in the city.
The faithful, according to the mother of saint, strive to reconcile ancestral practices with respect for the community and the environment. “We don’t mess with anyone. Fulfills obligations. We do not pollute the river. When we take a gift to the beach, we don’t throw a perfume bottle. We don’t throw plastic bags. None of that we do, we have all the care, ”she explained.
Despite the discrimination, mother Lyndu defends that customs must be maintained. “People’s resistance is to stand firm, call out to God and fight”, she summarizes. “The people speak or not speak, criticize or not criticize, we have to continue. We cannot stop with our culture, with our axé, with our roots. We have to keep fighting,” she adds of her willingness to keep religion alive.
“We suffer many attacks, discrimination. People don’t respect us. And, after the last government, the situation got worse”, evaluates Williana de Odé from the Ilê Axé Oju Igbo Odé terreiro and who is also on the board of the Bembé do Mercado association. But the Mãe de Santo is also not intimidated by racist hostility. “I put on my clothes, put on my beads and go out on the street. But there are many people who don’t even say they are from candomblé”, she says.
To face this situation, Williana is confident in the union of the religion’s practitioners. “We are coming together more and more. And we always have meetings, through Father Pote [presidente da associação] and Bembé do Mercado. We are always in this issue of coming together to be in the sectors, doing the jobs, traveling, [e para a] walk against religious intolerance”, he emphasizes.
