This week we continue to hear from the voices of Afro Brazilian working-class activists, artists, and intellectuals.
The October 2022 general election is quickly approaching and the majority Black population in this country represents the largest, albeit complex, Black voting bloc in the world.
Over the next few months, I am speaking directly with a growing transnational community about how Black populations in the diaspora can build greater connections through working-class dialogues.
Today I am speaking with activist and artist Dante Freire. He is the creator of Afrobianidade, an archive dedicated to documenting the history and lives of the Black artistic community in Bahia, Brazil.
Atlantic Archives: Tell us about yourself and your work.
Dante Freire: My name is Dante Freire, a 28-year-old Black transman, and artist who believes strongly in the power of making connections through art. I’m building and arming myself with colors, while my work flows from my experience as a dissident body. From the perspective of someone who occupies the place of the invisible, I am making my way using new and unseen colors and shapes.
AA: You use your art as activism. What are some of your most important goals?
DF: I want to see bodies like mine retaking the history that bleeds from those who came before us. Therefore, as an artist, a transman and a Black person, more than making connections, my goal is to show that our artistic point of view has always been expressed and so it will continue.
AA: How would you describe living in Brazil?
DF: I usually say that I love Brazil, but people make it difficult. The government, the overwhelming prejudice and a system that strictly punishes those they should be listening to. Living here means getting used to building resistance since your birth, but also knowing that the best chance in life is to find bodies of resistance like yours. Living here goes beyond being resistant- it requires building references and role models for your community.
AA: Your community archive AfroBaianidaes was started last year with the Atlantic Archives network, which documents Black artists in your region. Tell us about it and why you started it.
My goal is for us to be seen. Beginning with us telling our own history from the Black perspective, Afrobaianidades was born from the desire for us to be recognized. I started this project because I want people to know who we are, the culture we produce, why we produce and to whom we dedicate our work. We have great minds here and Afrobaianidades is an opportunity to connect with others and share how our art and ancestry walk together.
AA: The goal of Atlantic Archives is to start a dialogue between Black Americans and Afro Brazilians. This year is a critical moment to do this because of the Brazilian elections. What issues affect your community the most and how can Black Americans better understand and support?
DF: I believe that our relationships in the diaspora are sabotaged because of a history of prejudice. Daily the world witnesses how Afro Brazilians deal with the explicit inequality in a city with the most Black people outside Africa. Especially now, in a period of political struggle against a government that will not hesitate to deprive us of the little financial and social assistance that we have fought for. That’s why we need to create a solid support network, we need eyes and ears to also turn to the stories we tell, paint and perform. More than surviving, we want to live.
You can learn more and support Dante and the Afrobaianidades archive here.
