Black samba meaning7/26/2023 ![]() ![]() “This scenario began to change after the actions of these samba composers.” Lyrics were written to praise African characteristics and to include musical instruments linked to the Afro-Brazilian religions. Up to that time, the samba had been described by essayists, critics and specialists as a national symbol, the summary of the contribution of the three races that shaped Brazil, a legacy of the racial democracy that had ruled the country since the 1930s. He also came across texts written by these composers that, in one way or another, “rewrote” the history of samba as the legacy of African culture in Brazil. In the course of his work, Cerboncini came across a highly active movement that existed in the 1970s, in which prominent musicians such as Paulinho da Viola and Nei Lopes, were engaged in issues related to Afro-Brazilians. ![]() The referred lyrics attracted the researcher´s attention to such an extent that he decided to do research on the songwriter’s biography. It is based on Cerboncini’s post-doctorate thesis, A cor do samba: música popular e movimento negro, sponsored by FAPESP. The project has the support of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). He is also coordinator of the research project A cor do samba: música popular e movimento negro, whose team includes professors Sergio Miceli, of the University of São Paulo (USP), and Gustavo Ferreira, of Fluminense Federal University (UFF). The song’s lyrics contained the following symbolic words: “ Negro, acorda, é hora de acordar/ Não negue a raça/ Torne toda manhã dia de graça” ( Negro, wake up/ don’t deny your race/ make every morning a day of grace.) “This was the first time in the history of samba – and, perhaps, even in the history of Brazilian popular music – when an explicit call to action, directed exclusively at Negroes, had been included in the lyrics of a song, ” says Dmitri Cerboncini Fernandes, a professor of the Social Sciences Department of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). ![]() This is what happened in 1970, when composer Candeia (1935-1978), a native of Rio de Janeiro, launched the samba song called Dia de graça. Or it can become symbolic because of the unusual content of its lyrics. UH Collection / FolhapressTwo views of the Negro world: on the side, samba musicians from a Rio de Janeiro samba school visit the newspaper and introduce themselves… UH Collection / FolhapressĪ song can change everything it can trigger a movement or a revolution. ![]()
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