[2019] Seminário Cebrap

On 3 May historian João Reis, from Universidade Federal da Bahia (Federal University of Bahia) and Mecila Senior Fellow, presented the Seminar “Ganhadores: a greve negra de 1857 na Bahia” (Ganhadores: the black strike of 1857 in Bahia). The event integrates the series of Cebrap Seminars of 2019.

Professor Reis, one of the most prominent researchers of slavery in Brazil, discussed his long-term research that has now resulted in the book which gives the seminar its title, published by Companhia das Letras.

The work sheds light on the event started at June 1, 1857, when the streets of Salvador witnessed the first day of strike of the men who worked as loaders, a key service entangled with the urban life. Black men, either slaves or not, started a movement against new forms of state control over their work and their bodies – from new taxes to new forms of police enforcement.

What were the conditions could explain such a movement? How did the ethnical dimension of the organization take place? What happened and what were the consequences of this movement? These are some of the main questions addressed by professor Reis, that brings a fresh look to an event that marked the urban life and economy of Salvador.

The presentation is fully available on the video below.

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