Capoeira and Social Justice

Dr. Martin Luther King Day is a great opportunity to reflect on the history and struggles of Capoeira, and how the legacy of that history affects how the art is practiced today.

When Portugal went to Brazil in the early 1500's, they viewed it as an almost exclusively economic project. Brazil was used to harvest wood, coffee, sugar cane, and other products to send that wealth back to the mother country. Doing this required a massive labor source, and the Portuguese initiated a new system to serve this labor need: the Transatlantic Slave Trade. People were taken from Africa, put into bondage, and transported across the Atlantic Ocean to be enslaved in labor in the various colonies of the "New World." Conditions were brutal, and the enslaved African people were dehumanized to the level of livestock.

Slavery continued to dominate the economic landscape of Brazil until various pressures both internally and externally led to the abolition of slavery in 1888. However, even after slavery was abolished, the African and mixed race people in Brazil still faced exclusion and oppression from the ruling class. Capoeira was made explicitly illegal following abolition, and the punishments for people practicing the art were severe. It took an incredible amount of strength, resilience, and love for the art and its legacy to preserve it through this period. Eventually, through the tireless of work of Mestre Bimba in Salvador, Bahia,

Dr. Martin Luther King was a revolutionary figure, and remains a symbol of the fight for equality in the United States and globally. His commitment to and leadership in the Civil Rights movement in US not only led to transformative change in this country, but also inspired other movements around the world. In his work, Dr. King did not confine his focus to the social problems in the US, but saw the fight against inequality as a global struggle.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

Capoeira has also been a fight for survival and justice, from its creation in Brazilian plantations, to its resistance to explicit illegality, and to its fight for the equality of its practitioners today. Capoeira strives to be a place that uplifts the marginalized and pushes the community around it to be better. Groups today around the world often find ways to participate and promote causes for change, education, and service, especially to the communities most in need. This is not something required of all people in the art, but I think it is an important part of honoring the history, the philosophies, and roots of where Capoeira came from, and also to pay respect to the immense suffering that was undertaken by those creators and cultural stewards.

I encourage everyone to take some time this week and learn a bit more about the history of Capoeira and of the people who created it. They are incredibly inspiring stories in their own right, and the best way to make sure we remember and honor that history is to keep telling those stories.

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Day,

-Instructor Mike