"Nossa força é nossa consciência"

Yesterday, we went to the quilombo, Campinho da Independência. The place itself was beautiful and fascinating, but I've been thinking a lot about a particular woman we met there. She was a kind of matriarch at the quilombo. Her name was Laura.

She was an incredible person. You could see love on her face. Love for her community, for the past, for her people, for the future that would weave all of that together. Her monologue was disjointed--African understandings of the mind, the importance of going out into the world free from fear, the history of the quilombo, the election of a "people's president," the meaning of community and the definition family--but it was beautiful. I listened as attentively I could, the blazing sun and my shaky Portuguese making that difficult, and just took in everything she was saying. I don't know why, but I found so much meaning in everything she told us.

So I may have waxed a tad too poetic in that last paragraph, but my time at the quilombo was a truly incredible experience. I have such an appreciation for that place and for those people. Everything Laura told us seemed laced with a sort of cultural pride and political consciousness that was just amazing to hear. The pride she had in her community was strong, but it never once took on air of superiority; the pride she had in her people was a pride she had in all people who worked and struggled together, be they Afro-Brazilians, Tupi Indians, or Caiçara fishermen.

One thing she told us was, "Nossa força é nossa consciência. Our strength is our consciousness." I forget the context in which she said those words, but that doesn't really seem to matter all that much. The message is clear enough for me, at least. Consciousness of one's community (whatever that community might be), of oneself, of one's goals and ambitions; having that clarity of thought and mind--that's really what strength is. The strength to do anything.

[[I don't know if this explains anything, but I was drinking a caipirinha as I wrote this post.]]