Yoruba Tribe Brought To Brazil From Africa | One54 Africa Podcast

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[00:00:00]When I was there, they thought I was from Bahia. They said you from Bahia? I said no, but the Yoruba tribes were brought to Bahia, which has they have the best carnival actually. You know what I mean? So they were like, oh you look I said the Yorubas were brought there and the Angolans were brought to Brazil. That's why in Capoeira, you have two styles. Regional is the really fast style and then you have Angola, which is the low slow is the Angola style of Capoeira and the father Capoeira is an Afro The father Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian man. Did you Did you learn that? Did you learn Capoeira in in Brazil?

[00:00:38]That's why yeah, you go ahead. Yeah, you go ahead. I can keep going. No, no, no.

[00:00:41]Let Let me get her two cents. Well, when she chooses to speak, I'll keep talking.

[00:00:44]Okay. So the history of of of Capoeira, you know, it's the slaves standing like they were dancing and they used it as a >> And and and as a martial arts >> No, well Right, enslaved, right. You know what I'm saying? So >> Yeah, and and and it actually started as a way to and correct me if I'm wrong here, but it actually started as a dance to hide from from the masters Yeah, so it would make it look like a dance, but then it was their way of being able to fight back and teach themselves to be able to fight against their against their masters. Yeah, and so that's and then you have the the hold out is the circle. The ginga is the movement. The berimbau is the instrument they used to play.

[00:01:24]The So you learned this Did you learn this in in Brazil? I love that I can show up anywhere almost anywhere in the world now and meet somebody like you who knows so much about Capoeira and it just fills my heart Yeah, I have Yeah, I appreciate because the man who is credited with bringing Capoeira outside of Brazil to the rest of the world first here in the US is Jelon Vieira and he happens to be my godfather. That's what's up.

[00:01:52]>> And we just had the 50-year anniversary of Capoeira in the of America and the world this past year and yeah man, you you got it. You got it right. It is a dance fight. It is the tool that we used. We had so many successful revolts. We did here too, by the way. We just don't talk about it as much as Tucson and Haiti or Right, no doubt. Yeah.

[00:02:19]But there were many many quilombos, many many hidden societies that they would successfully overthrow their um I'm not going to say that M-word. Yeah.

[00:02:31]But you know, their colonizers, right?

[00:02:35]And then escape and have like full-on cities Yes. you know Yeah.

[00:02:41]villages, systems, bank, I mean, things functioned so beautifully and it was just a little bit different here, you know, but >> Yeah. that that is the history and it's just it's beautiful. I I learned it growing up.

[00:02:55]>> Yeah. You know, cuz I grew up I it wasn't even like I trained at first. It was just like you had to be ready cuz at any point my dad, if you were walking from the living room to the kitchen, he might just come and sweep you and you had to be ready.

[00:03:10]>> Oh, really?

[00:03:11]>> it was just a part of life growing up.

[00:03:14]>> you stay ready, you ain't never got to get ready.

[00:03:16]>> Yeah.

[00:03:16]And I'm like, "I'm just trying to go to the Okay, fine." [laughter] You know, it was literally just that we lived in a house of dancers and capoeiristas. Capoeiristas, that's interesting. So what what what did you like let's talk about your childhood cuz it's interesting like what when did you start to become very very conscious and aware of your cultural background growing up? Like what was that like growing up in your childhood?

[00:03:39]I don't ever remember not Yeah.

[00:03:42]conscious and aware. I was raised by very very very proud, very black people.

[00:03:47]Yeah. [laughter] I love it. I love it. It was just not an option.

[00:03:51]>> it. Yeah, how did it show up you at home?

[00:03:56]Cuz your father is from from where?

[00:04:00]Um Connecticut. From Connecticut and but he has you guys have a your lineage and your heritage traces all the way back to to West Africa, correct? Is that right?

[00:04:09]>> A few places. Yeah, Southern Northern Yoruba, Fulani.

[00:04:15]Um few places. Yeah, yeah. Angola as well. Yep. Angola. Mhm, Tibet, yeah.

[00:04:21]Angola. Mumbundo. And the number one soccer player, I don't care what anybody says, is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele. Pele. Hey, Pele. Because they'll say, "No." I go, "Pele." They say, you know, they'll you know, talk about Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, and all this. I go, "My friend, Maradona from Argentina as a being Nigerian, you know, soccer's our first sport." I said, "Listen, Pele. Everything Pele did, they do now.

[00:04:48]Pele did in the '50s and the '60s. The bicicleta in the middle of the game, it's all Pele.

[00:04:54]Edson Arantes do Nascimento. I love that.

[00:04:58]>> Pele. I love that. Yeah.

[00:05:01]He's he's a he's a he's a he's a he's a history he's a he's an encyclopedia, even though people don't use the word encyclopedia.

[00:05:05]>> love your shirt, by the way. I wanted to just let you know I noticed. I appreciate that and I wore this just for you and I'm going to bring this up later cuz it's >> I don't think you wore that for me. Of course I did. I thought I was like, I thought I've got this in my closet, but we we'll get to that.

[00:05:18]Cuz I wanted to get into like, you know, your childhood. What were the things that you guys celebrated? Like I remember early growing up, you know, October 1st and knowing about Nigerian Independence Day. Were there things that you guys celebrated? Um Yeah, 100%. We celebrated I mean, I have memories of elaborate celebrations. For example, when Mandela got elected, we dressed up in colors of the South African flag and created a cardboard box ballot box and we all the kids at my mom's school in Harlem, a Montessori school, would like fill out a ballot and wait online and go on our turn and you know, have to say why we were so proud of South Africa before we put it in the box. Like it's just anything that any opportunity, you know, and on a very global scale. And my father was a Pan-Africanist, a sociology professor, a babalao, a diviner, a capoeirista, angoleiro. Like it was just a very vibrant experience.

[00:06:25]>> What language What languages did you did your parents speak at home? Did you I mean, obviously English. Did you guys learn any other languages? Uh We just spoke English at home. English. Yeah.

[00:06:34]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And only the queen's English.

[00:06:38]Well, the American version. That my You know, my parents were educators. So, growing up in Harlem, you know, they made it very clear. When you get in the Harlem world, Six years I was in there, baby. Yeah. 118th in Lennox, baby. What?

[00:06:51]>> Yeah.

[00:06:52]But I couldn't talk like Lennox in the house. Right. Right. Of course.

[00:06:55]>> You know, you talk how you want outside. When you get in the house, Of course. You you better properly conjugate >> I mean, I grew up with your mates. Yeah.

[00:07:03]Yeah. You talk outside with your mates.

[00:07:05]Inside, You better have proper conjugation.

[00:07:08]>> [laughter] >> You better You better have shrunken white next to your teddy bear.

[00:07:12]So, you know, like >> Okay. As as we were even talking about that in just I mean, cuz I think it's a perfect time to even talk about that because at home we were like my parents are very, you know, strict about the way we spoke at home and then when you get outside, but then when you get outside, there's always been this thing in the culture throughout the diaspora especially where you speak when you speak proper, you speak white. And it is probably one of my biggest irritations. Like like what There's only one way for us to speak. Like, you know, people say this all the time. Well, you don't talk like you from, you know, you from, you know, South LA. You don't talk like I'm like, what is that what does that even mean?

[00:07:49]Like how did that how did that materialize for you growing up when your parents like made sure you spoke a certain way?

[00:07:57]I didn't care. I mean, people might have said it, but I'm I'm like every we're all speaking white. This is not our language.

[00:08:05]That is wow.

[00:08:07]>> So what's the big deal?

[00:08:09]But they don't I have never quite heard it that way. They don't think so. I have never quite heard it that way before because it's always been about the intonation.

[00:08:18]>> in Kiswahili, then we can have a conversation. Come to me, I'm learning Yoruba right now, then we can have a conversation cuz I'm trying to understand the mind the pre-colonial mind, but how do I do that when all I know are colonial languages? That affects how we think. Yeah, of course.

[00:08:33]You know what I mean?

[00:08:34]>> powerful because you just broke that's just going to break the internet first off because the idea that people will say that you speak white. Well, yeah, where do you think the word came from? It came from England. Again, that's the English language.

[00:08:46]>> that. They don't know that. You're talking to southern black folks that are like >> I'm I'm Chicago. Right. Uh-huh. Kentucky, Alabama.

[00:08:56]>> anything.

[00:08:56]>> Yeah, but when they would say "Man, talk white." You're like, "What?"

[00:09:00]>> matter. Next time somebody I swear next time somebody says that to me I'm just going to say >> [laughter] >> Yeah.

[00:09:08]Oh. I don't care how you speaking English. You still that's that's not our native language. But they were designed that way. That was that that kind of that would they were designed that way.

[00:09:19]That kind of attitude was designed.

[00:09:22]So when we meet them, this is all designed, man. So you what are you going to tell a dude from Mississippi? You're like, "Well, man, you ain't black." I'm like What are you going to tell him? You want to fight you? You're like, "Well, you know, >> [laughter] >> I don't know what to tell you."

[00:09:35]>> it is.

[00:09:37]154 We all connected, baby. you already [singing] know.

[00:09:42]I'm talking 154, [music] we bringing that for cool around the whole globe.

[00:09:48]Ain't no place like, ain't no place like, ain't no place like [singing and music] home.