We have finally made it to the last segment of this series on the influence of Black Brazilian athletes on the global game of soccer. The series began with a question from Karen Hunter, CEO of Karen Hunter Media, the news and the creator of the Knubia educational platform.
Who do you have in your crew (historians, sports experts) who can speak to the validity of dribbling in soccer coming from Brazil?
We were put in contact with a professor of sports history named Henrique Sena. Sena is an assistant professor at the Federal Univeristy of Reconcovao. He works in the area of contemporary history, the history of sports, as well as the history of the Brazilian press. He reviewed the IG post and found some answers for us through his research.
Sena laid out the details of the rise of global futbol during the turn of the century and the abolishment of slavery in Brazil in 1888 (Brazil was the last country in the West to end slavery and the largest importer of kidnapped Africans.) And how the earliest Black soccer players rose to fame because of their unique and often superior skills. They also faced racial hostility and violence. The same early players were responsible for making the game more popular and eventually, when the sport became professionalized, the influx of Black players included many fan favorites.
But was the art of dribbling the ball one of the things that set these players apart?
Although there isn’t a great amount of recorded proof in sports history journals, Professor Sena believes that the evidence exists in the daily lives of Black Brazilians who play soccer in the streets every day.
The intense discrimination in the sport and society at large to make the sport inaccessible to Blacks, forced them to innovate and create a street version of the game. This streetball is known by many racial epithets like “bum ball” or “lemon ball.” They would play shoeless in the streets with balls made from everything from ox bladders or socks.
This streetball culture, dating back to the early 1900s and still going on today, likely influenced the Black players joining the organized clubs. Rena believes that the dribbling and footwork even served to protect the black players from racial violence during the games:
Our next series will be on the connections between Black history education in the United States and Brazil.
Hit us up if you have a topic you’re curious about!
