• Listen to this segment

Brazil Abolishes Slavery

Back in the day on May 13th, 1888, Brazil became the last nation in the Western hemisphere to abolish slavery. The centuries-old practice established in the former colony of Portugal and continued after independence was finally overturned in full by the sanctioning of “Lei Aurea” or the Golden Law. Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II had been in Europe when Imperial Princess Isabel acted as regent in his absence and abolished the abhorrent economic institution. For all its societal repercussions, the Golden Law contained just two articles. The first simply stated the end of slavery. The second noted that “all dispositions to the contrary” were revoked. The enslavement of Africans, which began in the 16th century, would, over time, eventually see the transference of an estimated 3.6 million people from their mother continent to Brazil. In both the colonial period and in independence, slave labor was a pivotal backbone to the economy. The brutal conditions moved many caught within its oppressive chains to flee and form maroon communities called quilombos, the most famous being Palmares.

Although abolished without the instance of a civil war as in the United States, slavery left a legacy of racism and accompanying socio-economic inequalities just the same that continues to plague Brazilian society to this very day.

For Uprising, this is your truth professa’ saying it’s no mystery why they conceal our people’s history!