The bust of quilombola leader Maria Conga, vandalized on the 19th, the eve of the Black Consciousness holiday, was repaired this Saturday (30th) by the city hall of Magé, city of Baixada Fluminense, metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.
The plaque with the mini-biography of the black leader was replaced after being torn down. Installed at Píer da Piedade in November 2021, this was the second episode of vandalism against the tribute to the historic personality. In 2023, the representation of Maria Conga was graffitied with Nazi symbols.
Magé city hall calls this Saturday’s repair an act against intolerance. “This woman who was extremely necessary in the struggle of black people, our city, our country, in resisting and welcoming enslaved people”, stated the Secretary of Culture, Tourism and Events, Bruno Lourenço. “We will remain in the resistance because we understand the need to continue telling our history and our origins”, he added.
Who was Maria Conga
The bust created by artist Cristina Febrone is located at Píer da Piedade, bathed by Guanabara Bay. The place has historical symbolism, as it was the arrival point for Africans imprisoned during slavery.
Maria Conga was born in Congo, West Africa, in 1972. She was the daughter of a king, but was removed from her homeland on a slave ship that took her enslaved to Bahia, around 1804. At the age of 18, Maria was reportedly sold to a plantation owner from Magé and, at the age of 24, sold again to a count.
She achieved freedom at the age of 35 and founded the Maria Conga quilombo in the city, to provide shelter to other black people fleeing slavery. To this day, there is a quilombola community in the municipality.
In the years 2020 and 2024, Maria Conga was honored by plots from the samba schools Acadêmicos da Rocinha and Estácio de Sá, respectively, both in the access group of the Rio carnival.
