AFROCENTRATED EDUCATION: THE CULTURAL LEGACY OF CANDOMBLÉ IN ANGOLA, A STUDY CONDUCTED IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF LUZIÂNIA–GO AND IN THE DF

Abstract

A curriculum that embraces multicultural diversity is possible, as long as everyone is committed to the process. Understanding Law 10.639/03 goes beyond textbooks. Given the above, the main objective of this research is to analyze the contributions of Candomblé de Angola to the teaching of Geography and History, based on Law 10.639. However, we believe that school is indeed the path to individual transformation, or even the formation of the human personality. This allows individuals to see others not only through their own perspectives and convictions, but also to learn to be peaceful, thoughtful, and respectful of others beyond their own opinions. Through various disciplines, they become aware that the beliefs and behaviors of certain cultures and peoples must be respected as long as they do not interfere with the common good. In our methodology and framework, we will also briefly address religious persecution in Salvador, Bahia, in the 1920s, highlighting the case of the priest José Crescencio, given that one of his daughters, Norma Martins, also contributed significantly to the arrival of the Afro-Brazilian religion in the Federal District and surrounding areas. We will briefly analyze the teaching of Cultural Geography (diversity, religion, etc.) and how this discipline could explore Candomblé manifestations. We will also establish connections between Angolan Candomblé and the teaching of Cultural Geography. We will also analyze the Common National Curricular Base for geography teaching and the teaching of African Culture and History. We will delve into the sacred spaces of Candomblé, of Bantu origin (Angola), to highlight its traditional religious festivities, as well as its purposes and the cuisine associated with the deities. The results indicate that Candomblé is a religion like any other, anywhere on the planet, and deserves respect. Before beginning this research, we need to understand a little about what culture actually refers to in the anthropological sense. According to the online dictionary, in the anthropological sense, culture is the set of social and religious habits, intellectual and artistic manifestations that characterize a society, as well as the body of knowledge acquired by a society (SARAIVA 2010). Therefore, we will focus here on anthropological culture, since we are addressing ethnic-racial relations throughout this work. For Laraia (2001), anthropological culture varies according to factors considered relevant in cultural analysis, such as biological determinism and geographic determinism. Regarding biological determinism, Laraia (idem) proposes the idea that many believe, for example, that Nordic people are more intelligent than Black people, that Germans have greater mechanical abilities, and that Brazilians inherited their laziness from Black people. However, Laraia (idem) states that anthropologists believe or are convinced that genetic differences are not determinants of cultural differences. It is worth noting that this was not always the case in the general conception of anthropology, as we will see in this chapter on anthropologist Nina Rodrigues's thinking on this issue. Geographic determinism, on the other hand, considers that differences in the physical environment condition cultural diversity. According to Laraia (idem), these theories were developed primarily by geographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, considering climate as a relevant factor in the dynamics of progress. Laraia (idem) disagrees with this theory. For Ratts and Damascena (2008), contact between Europeans and Africans occurred through a complicated process of encounter or confrontation since the 15th century. Considering the African cultural diversity originating from various African kingdoms (as African societies were organized), the country we call Brazil was also formed through the encounter or confrontation of ethnicities and societies, in the process of colonization, understood as: European, African, and Indigenous. We would thus have several Brazils from the perspective of our socio-spatial formation, subdivided into North, Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central-West regions, presenting distinct and unequal historical processes and ethnic and social compositions. By analyzing the cultural context from the perspective of authors such as Alexandre Ratts and Ariadne Damascena (2008), we will be able to explicitly understand the participation of Black people in the formation of our culture as Brazilians. To this end, Ratts and Damascena (2008) highlight three dimensions of fundamental importance in this process: history, memory, and cultural practices. According to Ratts and Damascena (2008), we cannot forget that in Brazil, many Black cultural expressions are based on a principle of resistance and non-submission. For Campos (2017), the first Africans to set foot on Brazilian soil were the Bantu, originating from west-central Africa, sent as slaves to the province of Pernambuco.  Around 1580, they continued on to Alagoas and Rio de Janeiro, from where they spread throughout Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Maranhão, the state of Pará. According to this same author, the most important group of enslaved people introduced into Brazil was the Sudanese, who came to Salvador and spread throughout the Recôncavo region. Among these, the most notable were the Yoruba, Nagô, and Jeje, followed by the Minas Gerais blacks. However, there is considerable disagreement among authors on this topic, such as Nina Rodrigues, one of the first ethnologists to study the black race in Brazil. Therefore, education is the tool that changes a society, bringing about the long-awaited transformation. This transformation does not happen on its own, as a mere work of nature. There must be a mediator, a facilitator. This figure who makes all the difference is the teacher.