Every 20 November, Black Consciousness Day is celebrated in reference to the death of Zumbi, the leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares, located in Serra da Barriga, which has been declared a Mercosur Cultural Heritage Site.
That date was devised by the pioneering Grupo Palmares in the city of Porto Alegre in 1971 and after several subsequent contributions, it was made official through Law No. 12.519/2011 as the National Day of Zumbi and Black Awareness, a symbol of freedom and the fight for fundamental rights.
The date also recalls the importance of the black population in the structuring of this country, deeply marked by its history of enslavement whose consequences are clear 133 years after formal abolition. It is part of a set of existing affirmative actions that aim to increase representativity within social institutions, combating the obstacles that prevent the rise to positions of prestige and inviting reflection on existing structural patterns.
It is commonly questioned whether the practices that propose the historical strengthening, the maintenance of memory and promotion of the development of the black population do not constitute "reverse racism". It is necessary to clarify that this is a mistaken idea, since racism is framed within a systematic form of power that imposes advantages and disadvantages, so that white, black and indigenous people do not compete on an equal footing within a social order.
In this sense, it also highlights the advances of the anti-racist struggle through the actions of groups and movements that in their resistance seek emancipation, educational, professional and social development of a people historically marked by socioeconomic inequality. With advances demonstrated also in the existence of legislation that ensures the criminalization of behaviours that intend the inferiorisation of a person because of the black tone of their skin and facial features, such as the recent decision of the Plenary of the Federal Supreme Court which recognised the imprescriptibility of the crime of racial insult.
It is evident in this context, the influence of the African diaspora in the formation of Brazilian identity - language, cuisine, music, literature, religion etc.. - whose values were incorporated into Brazilian customs and make up a rich historical, cultural and architectural heritage protected by our Federal Constitution of 1988 through its articles 215 and 216.
Remembering that outside the African continent, Brazil is the country with the largest black population in the world, whose concentration is found in the city of Salvador, Bahia.
Thus, black consciousness can be understood as recognition of the importance of the historical facts that make up the memory that forms the collective Brazilian identity and also the realisation of the imbalances contained in social relations.
Therefore, even if the month of November is highlighted, the creation of strategies aimed at overcoming the effects of racism reproduced on a daily basis within the political, economic and legal structure, should be a common effort in the construction of the inclusive society we all seek.
