The Transatlantic Slave Trade saw over 5 million Africans trafficked from their homes in modern-day Nigeria, Benin and Angola, and were literally worked to death on Brazilian sugar plantations, “engenhos” in Portuguese. Brazil had one of the most brutal slave systems in the America that was also the last country in 1888 to abolish slavery.
The Pelourinho (“whipping post” in Portuguese) neighborhood was the epicenter of the Brazilian slave trade in Salvador de Bahia. It’s hard to fathom that these symbols of oppression and brutality are still standing prominently throughout this UNESCO World Heritage site as a constant reminder of its dark history.
From the cruelty of Brazilian engenhos to the Male Revolt and the preservation of African spirituality through candomble, it clearly demonstrates the resilience of these new African identities now called Afro-Brazilians.
