✍️

1. Essay On Quilombo
A quilombo is a settlement founded by runaway slaves of African descent, the most famous of these
communities was Palmares. This free territory was established in the 1600s and lasted about eighty–
nine years, which is longer than any other quilombo in Brazil. In 1984, the director Carlos Diegues
brought this overlooked history back into mainstream consciousness with his film Quilombo. The
main historical topic covered in this film is the spirit and resistance of African people once they
were separated from their homeland and subjected into slavery. History often portrays these
kidnapped Africans as helpless and submissive but they did not give up their freedom quickly or
silently. Diegues created this film not just to highlight the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
The director includes an optimistic portrayal of Palmares' lifestyle while also showing the truth of its
instability during its time period.
Another important theme explored in this film is the sense of community and love that is fostered in
these tight knit quilombos. This is portrayed in the scenes of Zumbi's abduction and later return to
Palmares. The community was heartbroken when a Portuguese man stole a little boy and murdered
his mother in front of all the children. Although this stunned the community, when Zumbi escaped
from his bondage and made it back to Palmares he was met with astonishment and celebration from
all of the people. Their spirit was not broken with this minor loss since the outcome of their
discovery could have been more catastrophic. This scene depicts the appreciation everyone in
Palmares has for being a part of the settlement and for being free from slavery in general. It tells the
audience that although the sense of loss of having someone stolen from them is horrible, it is better
than the alternative of having everyone separated and sold into slavery. These scenes also ends
happily since Zumbi is eventually reunited with the tribe and becomes a prominent member within
its ranks. Community is integral in quilombo culture and Palmares is especially close since it lasted
so long against colonial powers.
While Quilombo is a
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

3. Film Review Of Wasteland By Vik Munniz
Vik Muniz is a Brooklyn–based artist who makes art from any items found in trash. The
documentary film Wasteland delved into the souls and exposed the lives of several Brazilians who
worked as "catadores" or pickers of recyclable items in Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of
Rio de Janeiro. It was the biggest landfill in the world until was closed in 2012. Vik Muniz traveled
to the landfill, met various individuals and involved them in the process of creating portraits which
would then go on display. Vik did not know how the pickers would respond to this. He traveled to
the landfill to see it in person and he talked to some individuals who worked there. From talking
with the manager of Jardim Gramacho, he learned that the pickers ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The pickers work amongst garbage and filth. The pickers might have gotten used to it but it was
hazardous to their health. They were exposed to rotten food and garbage. When the pickers went
through the garbage looking for recyclables, their hands became dirty and a lot of bacteria must
have gotten on them. Their clothes were filthy and unclean; they could have been exposed to
diseases. Vik and everyone who worked on the film exposed themselves to these conditions. Suelem
once said that she sometimes ate food that she found within the garbage; this is threatening to her
health since she could sick at any time she eats it. The food she ate could have been expired or
infected. The film exposed the extensive poverty that exists in Brazil. Suelem paid $8 in rent a week
to live in a small room that had rats run around at times; she did not have a sink to wash her hands
or her teeth. Suelem's children and her mother lived in a small home without a mattress of suitable
use and the house did not have a completely functioning bathroom. Her children walked around with
almost no clothes on; they did not wear shoes and were walking amongst dirt. The difference
between the pickers' homes and Vik's home and studio in Brooklyn is
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

5. The Symbols Of Kwanzaa And African-American Culture
Kwanzaa History
"Kwanzaa, a seven–day holiday that celebrates African–American heritage. Dr. Maulana Karenga
created Kwanzaa to help African–Americans remember their roots and to foster unity during a time
of incredible racial strife. It's been observed from December 26 to January 1 every year since 1966.
Karenga, a controversial figure in the black power movement, openly opposed Christian beliefs and
originally declared that Kwanzaa should be an anti–Christmas of sorts. The name Kwanzaa is
derived from matunda ya kwanza, a Swahili phrase for "first fruits," is based on traditional African
harvest festivals, combining customs from several different cultures. Each of the seven days
represents one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or nguzo saba. There are also seven symbols of
Kwanzaa, which celebrants display prominently in their homes throughout the holiday. The colors of
Kwanzaa are red, black and green –– the colors of the Pan–African flag, which symbolizes unity
among African people all over the world. Black represents the people, red their blood and green the
earth and the future. Kwanzaa is, of course, a festive time; it has all the feasting and celebrating
you'd expect from a weeklong holiday, but it's also an occasion for reflection, conversation,
contemplation and camaraderie. And although it's a relatively young holiday, it has its fair share of
very specific, detailed traditions." (Cooper, A. (2011, July 25). Kwanzaa:
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

7. The Abolition Of The Brazilian Slaves Essay
The Abolition of the Brazilian Slaves
Slavery in the Americas started with Christopher Columbus at the end of his first voyage, west of
the Atlantic. When Columbus saw the Indians (as he called them) and he thought they would make
great servants to overlords in Europe. The author writes, "he promised to bring Ferdinand and
Isabella as many slaves as they required" (Nowara 10). This was a suitable proposition because the
lifestyle of slavery was already embedded in the minds of the Europeans during the medieval times.
The Portuguese and the Spanish were already using slaves from Africa while Columbus was
discovering the Americas and the Caribbean. During sometime between 500 A.D – 1500; the Iberian
Peninsula became a gateway for slavery after Spanish and Portuguese kingdoms drove out Muslim
kingdoms and battled them in the North of Africa. Another place that was conquered by the
Portuguese was Morocco and the city of Ceuta which was a strait in the peninsula. Giving the
Portuguese control and power of trade routes of gold and slaves. This soon brought the Portuguese
west and down Africa coastline. But African slaves was already well known in parts of west and
central Africa. The author writes "slavery was a well–rooted institution in the African societies with
which they traded" (Nowara 12).
There is proof of trade routes dating before the Atlantic slave routes, coming from the Saharan and
Indian Ocean region. But the Atlantic slavery trade routes had a lot more captives
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

9. Jardim Gramacho Essay
The upper–class society of Brazil gives Jardim Gramacho a bad name, one that Muniz disputes,
emphasizing it as a place for the lower–class. Jardim Gramacho is seen as a place for people of low–
quality and for the those who have nothing to lose or left to give, but by Muniz using the garbage
and other materials found around Jardim Gramacho, he displays how beautiful this wasteland is and
how important the people who live there are. When talking to his wife Muniz says, "Check out the
geography of this thing. This is the end of the line, this is where everything that is not good goes.
Including the people."(Wasteland) By saying this Muniz is implying that living in Jardim Gramacho
is depicted as a negative place and people that are not fortunate to have money or have nothing left
to live for are condemned to living there and are seen by the outside society as bad or worthless
lives. The reason fom Muniz creating his sculptures out of the garbage from Jardim Gramacho is to
show that there is something beautiful within the garbage which is the people. For example, one of
the sculptures Muniz creates is of a man named Zumbi. The sculpture shows Zumbi smiling
throwing grain out of one of the bag that the packers carry around. In the documentary Zumbi says,
"Before coming to the land field we had an easy life."(Wasteland) He talks about how is parents
were still alive and together and how life was good. Then one day his father died and he ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
His art has helped change lives and gave others the opportunity they needed to push themselves to
extraordinary lengths. He inspired the minds of the youth and helped Tiao pursue his lifetime goal.
The sculptures that Vik Muniz created is an eye opener not only for Brazilian social status but an
eye opener for millions across the world. Muniz art of the Pickers of Jardim Gramacho helped reach
to people of higher power and help communicate to them for a helping
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

11. Waste Land Brazil
Art, Inequality and Dirty Work
"The really magical things are the ones that happen right in front of you. A lot of the time you keep
looking for beauty, but it is already there. And if you look with a bit more intention, you see it."
Vic Muniz
Different films and documentaries about other cultures help expand our knowledge by introducing
values, struggles, innovations and beliefs beyond our daily experience by encouraging us to explore
values that a different from our own. The acclaimed documentary "Waste Land" produced by Lucy
Walker transports viewers to Jardim Gramacho, a large landfill site located on the outskirts of Rio
De Janiero, Brazil. The documentary follows Brazilian born artist Vik Muniz as he searches for an
answer to the question ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
All waste that Brazilians throw out is sorted and categorised by the hardworking Catadores, as Tiào
a character in the film says "we are not pickers, of garbage we are pickers of recyclable materials.
Garbage can't be reused, whereas recycle material can.". The Catadores wear uniforms that
symbolise an organised group, which prevent recyclable materials from ending up in the landfill so
they can protect the wasted resources that have good use from the rich and middle–class people in
Brazil. Materials collected by the pickers are then used to recreate useful objects such as furniture
and as seen in the film the materials can be used through Art. Another example from the
documentary that conveys the idea of sustainability is through the character named Irma. Irma is an
elderly lady who makes use of all food that is found in the landfill. She provides the Catadors with
Juice, Coffee and provides food for everyone. In the film, Irma quotes "I never let anyone go
hungry". She makes use of everything even the expired food that is found in the wasteland which is
still cooked and eaten ensuring that all waste and resources are used. Comparing these values to
Australians, Australians value the resources we also have such as food, water, shelter, clothing and
our wide useful range of available materials. The Australian population has different ideas about
sustainability but only a sample
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

13. Art In The Movie Wasteland
Art. What is it? Since a young age, I never found art highly important to me. I thought of it as weird
strokes and lines. I created this definition of art because I never understood the meaning behind it.
For some people, art may mean nothing. For others, it might be their world. But how does one reach
that point where they realize the significance of art in their life? Art is seen in a vast majority of our
life. Although we may not see it or appreciate it, it's there. Once its entity is acknowledged, many
new things could arise from that observation. Not only did I learn what art is but I gained a new
found perspective towards it from viewing the film Wasteland. In the documentary Wasteland
(2010), directed by Lucy Walker, there is an uprising ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I learned that a piece of art has a story behind it, even if it is just lines and squiggles. The catadores
learned to appreciate art but what purpose does it have? This project created a life changing
experience for the catadores. It gave them motivation and they all aspired towards achieving their
goals. The profit the catadores received from this project helped them move onto greater things. Isis
remarried and left Jardin Gramacho. Zumbi opened up a library and school. Others used money to
support their family. The catadores had found a significance of art which successfully altered their
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

15. Landfill In The Film Wasteland, By Vik Muniz
The movie "Wasteland" takes us on a journey to a landfill located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
The Brazilian artist, Vik Muniz, uses his skills to construct pieces of art from recyclable materials
and expresses a strong message through his portraits. Let us explore the lives of those wonderful
people who were touched by the beauty of trash. A movie exploring through a landfill may not seem
interesting, but once Vik makes his appearance, things get a lot more fascinating. Vik for instance, is
an unusual artist who makes some of his art from garbage and in his film he has a vision to change
the lives of the pickers in Brazil. He travels to Brazil from New York and meets several people who
work in the landfill. Throughout his journey he receives insight on what it's like to work in a landfill
and how it has affected the lives of these people. Of the 2 years of being there, he takes pictures of a
landfill, and several of the pickers, and composes many large portraits made of recyclables. As a
result, he takes a trip to London where one of his garbage portraits are getting auctioned off. He
dotates all of the money to the pickers and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Well, if you look closely at his portraits displayed in the movie, then you can see he uses lines to
form the creases in the clothing, shape for the bodies and body parts, and spots of color for the
background. He also uses value through out the portrait to make the figure stand out, and texture in
the hair and around them to give the portrait a life like feel. To make it even better, he uses the
principles of emphasis, which would be the figure because when you first look at the portrait, the
first thing that catches your eye is the figure. Although many elements played a huge part in the
making of these creations, one principle also played a huge
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

17. A Brazilian Historical Film By Carlos Diegues
Quilombo is a Brazilian historical film by Carlos Diegues. Diegues generates a notion of what the
Palmares people have experienced as runaway slaves during the 17th–century in Brazil and settling
down with others that have gone through the same complications. Thereafter, the audience is
introduced to the optimistic and promising character, Ganga Zumba, as an influential leader of the
Palmares. Zumba, who tried to guide his people to freedom, was granted the leadership role by the
previous ruler, Acotirene. While leaders like Ganga Zumba have extraordinary ambitions to guide
the Palmares, those ambitions can essentially result in sacrifice that manifests into beneficial
endings, allowing the people of Palmares to discover other ways out of the troubles that Zumba has
constructed by the help of the next leader, Zumbi. The film depicts a time period where there was a
great amount of " [...] slave resistance in Brazil," as stated in the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–
Latin American Biography translated by Franklin W. Knight and Henry Louis Gates. The film
revolves around a group of runaway slaves, lead by Abiola, who have rebelled against the
Portuguese and Dutch and had left the mountain in order to escape from the consequences. The first
scene starts off with settled runaway slaves who have established their own community and traveled
their way to into the Palmares. The director does this because he wants the viewers to understand
that the slaves wanted to go to the land
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

19. Wasteland Vik Munniz
Wasteland is an inspiring, strong, awakening documentary about a fine artist named Vik Muniz. The
documentary is directed by "Lucy Walker," and filmed in the largest landfill in the world located in
Rio De Janero, Brazil. It is based around the lives of several hard working garbage pickers who
desperately want to change the world by recycling. A lot of these garbage pickers work up to 16
hours a day for only $20 to $25 dollars a day. Some of these pickers do not go home for days at a
time, and some of them live at the landfill permanently. I was very inspired by the people in this
documentary. As much as these people disliked working where they worked and living where they
lived. They carried a very high amount of self–respect and self–value. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
During this time artist Vik Muniz moves his life from living in Brooklyn New York to moving back
to his home land of Brazil. Artist Vik Muniz returns to Brazil to create art from what surrounds
people in their daily lives such as the work these people do at the landfill. One of the photographs he
recreates is "Marat." A Jacques–Louis David painting "The Death of Marat," which was painted and
released on the 14th of November 1793. "Marat" was a French revolutionary leader Jean–Paul Marat
who was murdered by Charlotte Corday while sitting in his bath tub in which he sat all the time to
soothe a skin disease in which he suffered from. It is one of the most famous images of the
Revolution. While living in Brazil trying to put his artistic mind to work he meets several different
people that worked as pickers in the landfill. Some of the people he met includes Tiao which was the
President of ACAMJG (the Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho). Zumbi who is
the most intellectual resident of the landfill. He has kept every decent book he has found on the
landfill. Then there is Isis, she is a worker who hates picking garbage. She loves to be fashionable
which you can see with how she carries herself and dresses. Magna is a picker as well she started
working at the landfill because her husband lost his job and she had bills to pay and a family to take
care of. Magna was a very proud and dignified woman who at times would become embarrassed by
the way she had to live her life. The people who rode the bus with her made her feel this way by the
comments they made when having to sit next to her. They would insult her and tell her she smelled
unpleasant. She would tell them that she may smell bad, but at least she is not selling herself to
make money. She has a high level of self–respect, and she makes a good honest living working at
the landfill Valter dos Santos was the vice president at the landfill he worked with
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

21. Capoeira Essay
Capoeira
History:
Capoeira is the common name for the group of African martial arts that came out of west Africa and
were modified and mixed in Brazil. These original styles included weapons, grappling and striking
as well as animal forms that became incorporated into different components and sub styles of the art.
In 1500's the Portuguese, led by explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral, arrived in Brazil. One of the first
measures taken by the new arrivals was the conquering of the local population, the Brazilian
Indians, in order to allow the Portuguese slave labor (for sugarcane and cotton). The experience with
the Indians was a failure. The Indians quickly died in captivity or fled to their nearby homes. The
Portuguese then began to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The quilombo dos Palmraes lasted sixty–seven years in the interior of the state of Alagoas, fighting
off almost all expeditions sent to extinguish it. Because of the consistency and type of threat present,
capoeira developed as a fight in the quilombos. The birth of capoeira as a fighting style was created
in the slaves' quarters and might not have developed further if left only to that environment.
Starting around 1814, capoeira and other forms of African cultural expression suffered were
prohibited in some places by the slave masters and overseers. Up until that date, forms of African
cultural expression were permitted and sometimes even encouraged, not only as safety against
internal pressures created by slavery but also to bring out the differences between various African
groups, in a spirit of "divide and conquer". But with the arrival in Brazil in 1808 of the Portuguese
king Dom Joao VI and his court, who were fleeing Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Portugal,
things changed. The newcomers understood the necessity of destroying a people's culture in order to
dominate them, and capoeira began to be persecuted in a process, which would end with its being
outlawed in 1892.
Why was capoeira suppressed? There were many motives. First of all it gave Africans a sense of
nationality. It also developed self–confidence in individual capoeira practitioners. Capoeira created
small, cohesive groups. It also created dangerous and agile fighters. Sometimes the slaves
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

23. What Is The Irony In The World Of The Sugar Plantation
According to Adreoni in "The World of the Sugar Plantation", there are clearly limitations to what a
slave owner can do to punish their slaves but pain is still inflicted as depicted in the very first scene.
The film began right away with a powerful scene where a slave was being tortured. There's only so
much one could empathize when reading about the mistreatment of slaves in history books but just
hearing the shrieks of this slave, the pain seemed to radiate throughout the body even before
revealing the tortured slave on screen. When the scene cut so that the frame captured the white
people's response to this scene, I was appalled. A white child was sitting on a slave who was on all
fours like he was a piece of furniture. Adreoni mentions that "the slaves are the hands and feet of the
plantation owner, for without them ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The children weren't scared at all and were able to ward off the kidnappers through tricks. I was also
impressed with the amount of traps that people of Palmares set up. Their quick wit was not
something I had considered when visualizing the encounter as they were up against the guns of the
Portuguese. The cross plays a strong symbol throughout the movie when the kidnapped child, now
grown up, takes the cross right before he escaped only to throw it back down with such force.
Catholicism was not a necessity to him, as he was part of the indigenous people who the Portuguese
wanted to convert to Christianity and burn down their land. Later on when he returns after reuniting
with the people of Palmares, he mentions how the cross is only useful when it was turned upside
down, thus turning the cross into a sword. It was a powerful message that I interpreted as how the
Portuguese's motive for colonization was to spread Catholicism as the "true religion", but their true
motive of exploitation made their initial motive into a
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

25. Slavery In Colonial Latin America
The institution of slavery was a big part of life in colonial Latin America. According Henry Louis
Gates, Jr., 11.2 million slaves were imported to the Americas from Africa between 1502 and 1866.
Most of the slaves were transported to the Caribbean and Latin America. In fact, Brazil got a total of
about 4.8 million slaves (Black in LA). The working and living conditions for slaves were horrific.
So many slaves were imported specifically because slaves were expendable. Slave holders could
afford to undernourish their slaves due to the slave market. Slaves were in high demand in colonial
Latin America. Some slaves resisted their enslavement by running away to form quilombos, or
maroon communities. According to Thomas Gage, cimarrones, ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Zumbi is wearing brightly colored attire, standing in a relaxed manner, and holding what appears to
be a gun. Zumbi's clothing causes him stand out in the painting, making him the focal point of the
artwork. His posture and stance indicate that he is confident, but not violent. The way he grips the
gun with both hands suggests he was ready to protect and provide. The artist, Antônio Parreiras,
lived from 1860 to 1937 (MacGregor). This was about two centuries after the fall of Palamares and
the death of Zumbi. His painting of Zumbi proves that Zumbi continued being a major historical
figure to
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...