Tierno Monenembo : You are deputy mayor of the city of Ouro Preto (literally Black Gold), a city marked by slavery. Afro-descendant yourself, tell us about your city and the tragic ties that bind it to Africa.
Chiquinho de Assis : Gold is black and so are our people. Data from the latest census shows that 70% of the indigenous population declares itself to be of African descent. With great joy, I am part of this ethnic majority group, but which struggles daily to be included in the majority in order to be able to enjoy rights. Ouro Preto is the little Africa of Minas, I have no doubt about it. By the motivation of the exploitation of gold, dozens of African ethnic groups, who had a mining knowledge, came here reduced in slavery and here they are perpetuated with their descendants. The big question is that the absolute majority of the population remains on the margins of housing, infrastructure, public health and security policies. They represent a large part of the city’s poor population, which is the majority.
One cannot evoke Ouro Preto without recalling Chico-Reye, the central figure of the black memory of this city. Who was Chico Reye?
Galanga, tribal king in Gabon, baptized here François. It is the symbol of the victory of liberation through work. It is a symbol of identity and self-esteem for black people here. Galanga has inspired stories, beliefs, legends. It is a libertarian myth constantly visited by different generations. The symbol of those who buy their freedom (manumission) through hard work. He is also the reference of the free slave who succeeded in buying the freedom of so many others, of his people.
| The fabulous story of Chico-Rey : His real name, Galanga, Chico-Rey was a Gabonese king who was deported into slavery with his entire court. The chance of slave trade led him to the mines of Ouro-Preto where he was forced to extract gold during the many years that his servitude lasted. He had the brilliant idea of letting himself be puffed out with a large mop of hair in which he concealed part of the powder of the precious metal that he had to deliver to his white master every evening. The immense amount of gold he accumulated by this ruse enabled him to free himself and his court. Becoming the first black owner of a mine, he built one of the most beautiful churches in Ouro Preto, the Santa Ifigenia church (Saint Iphigenia is the only black saint in the Bible) and reconstituted his court in this picturesque city in Brazil. , as it was in Gabon. |
Apart from Chico Rey, what other figure or historical fact has Slavery left in Ouro Preto?
We have in Ouro Preto the figure of Antônio Francisco Lisboa, or Aleijadinho. The son of an enslaved black woman and a Portuguese architect, he became the greatest exponent of the aesthetic school of construction and sculpture in the 18th century, not only in Ouro Preto but also in several cities of the cycle of the Gold from Minas Gerais.
Is there today a link would be only symbolic between Ouro Preto and Gabon, the country of origin of Chico-Rey?
Unfortunately no. For the Brazilian consulates, the African representation was often taken as a reference of Bahia or the samba of Rio de Janeiro. We must revisit this place, demonstrating the importance and strength of Afro Minas Gerais, the strength of Ouro Preto, a city that in the 18th century was the most populated in America, with more inhabitants than New York, where the majority were African people.
Has your municipal council tried to establish a twinning with an African, Gabonese for example?
In vain, some initiatives. We need to act more diplomatically in this regard. We are hopeful with the current moment in the country for activities of this magnitude.
Ouro Preto is one of the most touristic Brazilian cities, the most marked by slavery. Do you ever come across African tourists in your streets and in your churches?
Yes. But less than I would have liked to meet. Today, the local university has an agreement that allows African students to study here, which has helped other countries learn more about the tiny Africa that is Ouro Preto.
Brazil and Africa seem to ignore each other when they are neighbours, when Brazil is the second black country in the world (just after Nigeria) and when their economic complementarity is obvious. Here, I am speaking to the politician that you are: how to correct this diplomatic and commercial deficit that many see as an aberration ?
I think we need to strengthen ties, build bridges, share stories, memories, traditions. Culture is a great ally in this regard. We must strengthen the cultural productions of countries of African descent so that these productions are the links that allow the exchange that will strengthen our sense of origin and belonging. I believe that the creation of an international fund in this direction would be a great ally to take advantage of this objective of cultural exchange.
Do you know Africa?
I know Africans, unfortunately not Africa. It’s an old wish, I’ll get there.
If not, which country would you like to visit first and why?
Angola and Guinea. To Angola, we owe the capoiera and to Guinea, the very first blacks in Brazil.
| Framed: Arrived in the 17th century in Salvador de Bahia, the first blacks in Brazil came from present-day Guinea. Of Nalou or Baga ethnicity, they lived in the Boké and Boffa regions before sinking into the holds of slave ships. In memory of this sinister episode, it is in Boké and not in Conakry that Brazil has set up its general consulate in the Republic of Guinea. |
Source: The Point