Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

Yahoo News (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=734&e=3&u=/ap/20031121/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/brazil_racial_equality)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazil's president launched a national program to promote racial equality on Thursday, promising to grant land titles to the descendants of runaway slaves and promote a system of quotas at the nation's universities.

At a ceremony celebrating black consciousness day, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said blacks in poor rural regions earned a third of what whites do and likened the situation to "servitude so as not to say slavery."

"It's time for the country to face the truth hidden over four centuries: who pays the price of inequality in this country is the black woman, the black man, the black elderly, the black youth and the black children," Silva said.

The racial equality program announced Thursday — part of a land reform program already in effect — does not require congressional approval.

Silva spoke at a ceremony at Serra da Barriga, 1,000 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro, where the Quilombo de Palmares, a republic formed by runaway slaves, once stood.

Brazil celebrates black consciousness day on Nov. 20, the day runaway slave leader Zumbi died defending Quilombo de Palmares more than 300 years ago.

Palmares, which existed for nearly 100 years before being crushed by the military, was just the largest and most famous quilombo, as the areas where runaway slaves lived are known.

The government has documented the remnants of 743 quilombos around Brazil and Silva's program would grant land titles to those living in them.

He said his government would also conduct a nationwide survey to document any other quilombo remnants.

Silva noted that while Brazil has the largest number of black people of any nation outside Africa and second-largest number of black people in the world after Nigeria, they still make up a disproportionate number of the nation's poor.

While blacks make up 46 percent of Brazil's 175 million people, they represent 60 percent of the poor, he said.

Give thanks for this article Ayinde.

I've been in Palmares wich is the state near the one I live. There is still Quilombo people living there.

There's a lot of discussion going on regarding reparations now here in Brasil. I didn't listen about repatriation, still.

The concept of who is black is beeing an issue in Rio de Janeiro because of the quotes to Blacks. Before if one was a mixed person with brown skin, would not admit beeing black, but now seems that everyone wants to be black to ahve some the rights that are deserved and I see this as positive to up their self -steem.

I have one question. Do you (or anyone) knows about how africans in the mother land see the africans of the diaspora?

There was a celebration last week here in Recife with people from Angola and some black friends told me how they felt discriminated as the people from Angola where telling them how they were inferior for not knowing their lineage anymore and because they were mixed races and not pure africans. They (who are members of the black movement here) told mo how they felt them as "Rich Europeans" with a lot of prejudice talking about "pure africans" and not giving importance to the people here on the fight for the rescue of a lost identity.

Mandingo.

The anger and hatred among our people is understandable for most Afro-Diasporas have inhaled rubbish history defined as untruths and falsehood compiled by western historians, which demonize Africans in the Motherland. The lack of wisdom disadvantages all African people. Afro-Europeans and Afro-Americans must cease to assist their government in exploiting Africans on the continent through economical and political structures. Our history of slavery shouldn't lead to fragment the African race but rather bring about unity. Check the brotherhood between England and Australia & New Zealand.

Bantu-Kelani.