- Title: Transatlantic cruise to turn spotlight on Brazil-Angola slavery past
- Date: 18th December 2024
- Summary: SANTOS, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (DECEMBER 05, 2024) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE SHOTS OF THE COASTAL CITY DESCENDANT OF SLAVE, HELENA DA COSTA SITTING ON A CHAIR IN HER HOUSE DA COSTA SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) DESCENDANT OF SLAVE, HELENA DA COSTA SAYING: "My father was a slave and he obeyed... everything he was told to do he did." VARIOUS OF DA COSTA TALKING WITH ORGANIZER OF THE CRUISE AND PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AT THE SAO PAULO STATE UNIVERSITY (UNESP), DAGOBERTO JOSE FONSECA, AND RETIRED LITERATURE PROFESSOR AT UNESP, MARY FRANCISCA DO CARENO (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE SHOTS OF SHIP PASSENGER TERMINAL IN SANTOS PORT FONSECA AND DO CARENO TALKING IN A CLASSROOM FONSECA SPEAKING FONSECA WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) ORGANIZER OF THE CRUISE AND PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AT THE SAO PAULO STATE UNIVERSITY (UNESP), DAGOBERTO JOSE FONSECA, SAYING: "We want to sail the past maritime routes today and build a new future concerning these routes. We must understand that Angola is the place in the world from where the most enslaved people came and contributed to building the Brazil we have today." DE CARENO SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) RETIRED LITERATURE PROFESSOR AT UNESP, MARY FRANCISCA DO CARENO, SAYING: "Look, my expectation (of this trip) is to get to know my past." (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF CRUISE PASSENGER TERMINAL
- Embargoed: 1st January 2025 10:58
- Keywords: African roots Afro-brazilian Brazil History of slavery Memory
- Location: SANTOS, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
- City: SANTOS, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: South America / Central America,Race Relations / Ethnic Issues,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001710613122024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The organizers of "A Grande Travessia," or the Great Passage, are seeking to charter a cruise ship to depart from Santos and stop in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador before making its way to Luanda, Angola's capital.
From the 16th to the 19th century, Brazil received around 5 million enslaved Africans, more than any other country. Most were forcibly transported in inhumane conditions from Angola, in West Africa, aboard Portuguese vessels.
Helena Monteiro da Costa's father was brought from Angola to Brazil as an enslaved person in the 19th century. Next year the 99-year-old hopes she can take part on a first-of-its-kind cruise that would do the reverse journey back to her father's homeland.
"We want to resume the maritime routes of the past to build another future," said Dagoberto Fonseca, an cruise organizer.
Anielle Franco, Brazil's minister of racial equality, said the project was aligned with the government's "Rotas Negras" or Black Routes programme, which promotes tourism that values Afro-Brazilian history and culture.
Organizers see the cruise as part of a wider movement fighting for reparations over transatlantic slavery and European colonialism. The debate over whether there should be reparations to address historical wrongs and their legacies is long-standing and remains highly divisive, but support for reparations has been gaining momentum worldwide.
(Production: Lais Morais, Hugo Monnet) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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