Consuming culture and productions by black artists, who raise the flag of racial activism, is knowing history and strengthening the struggle. Next Sunday (26), one of the biggest names in this activism turns 80, Gilberto Gil continues to make history, questioning and raising the flag of equality on stage and off.
Eight decades of life: more than half of them dedicated to music as a symbol of resistance. It is not new that the repertoire of great artists is an instrument to combat prejudice, be it gender, social class or race.
The educator at the Afro Brasil museum Gabriel Rocha highlights that “art is one of the human expressions that can access places that other expressions cannot access”.
And the message that music carries can bother a lot of people. During the military dictatorship, this cry of resistance was silenced, silenced and isolated, as the expert explains. CNN in Diversity Mauricio Pestana.
“I always say that the 20th century, which I call the century of exclusion, which excluded all of us black people for almost 100 years, was also marked by great dictatorships. And the last great military dictatorship, from 1964 to 1984, lasted 20 years, and during that period, it was forbidden to talk about racism in Brazil. The military regime forbade us to say that Brazil was a racist country,” said Pestana.
During this period, the lyrics of the songs began to have an extra weight of struggle. With AI5 (institutional act number 5), –the strictest act imposed by the military that even revised compositions– many artists continued to claim their place of speech and paid dearly for it.
To break the silence once and for all, some well-known artists got together to make an aesthetic and cultural revolution in the country and used music to give voice to this movement. Jair Rodrigues was one of them.
“My father’s generation was a very important generation, this pre-social media communication. Of course he, through his music, reported those concerns of his. My father always recorded many things related to this pride, this joy of being who he was and coming from where he came from”, said Jair Oliveira, singer, songwriter, music producer and son of Jair Rodrigues.
Jairzinho, who was featured in the children’s group Balão Mágico in the 1980s, also feels the weight of this representation.
“Today I have several reports from several people that make me so emotional. Including Lázaro Ramos himself, his dear friend. In his book, he comments that I was his first mirror to identify with me because I was one of the few black children to participate in that television universe”, comments Jairzinho.
The fight for equal rights continues and for recognition in art regardless of skin color as well.
Singer and songwriter Gilberto Gil comments on the importance of speaking out against racism.
“Today the question is open all over the world. Racist manifestations, and insofar as they are manifested today, are immediately identified, they are immediately repudiated. So I think it’s very important to vocalize, to say that the speech starts to include this issue”, says Gil.
“These are steps that are being taken, they are steps that are being fulfilled. The ideal achievement of a final paradise, where everything where all the conviviality is harmonious”, adds the singer.
This speech and the strong singing of many other artists inspire new generations. MC Sophia is 18 years old and uses social media to carry the message of resistance.
“I’m talking about empowerment that people who don’t know start to know. People who don’t accept themselves start to accept themselves. People who don’t love each other start to love each other. All this through my songs and through my show.”
Source: CNN Brasil
