The descendants of slaves brought from Africa no longer speak their ancestors' languages and many have lost their historic references. That is the direction in which the members of the Palmares Foundation and scholars have moved, helping several of these communities, now threatened by farmers or groups who are after their land. This work is taking place simultaneously with an extensive project aimed at valuing the roots of the black culture, honoring the 300th anniversary of the death of Zumbi, king of Palmares. It is a difficult task, admit the movement's leaders in the country, since the situation faced by these remanent people is not much different than the conditions of pressure and poverty of thousands of workers without land. However, they point out that, by complying with the Constitution, they are settling part of the debt that society has with the black population, who was enslaved in the past, and the majority of which still endure discrimination and prejudice today.
Palmares is nowadays the symbol of the black movement's campaign.
During almost 100 years, Palmares was constantly attacked by the Dutch and the Portuguese. He was killed on November 20th 1695 and this date was chosen as the National Black Awareness Day. There were large resistance groups, but there were also others that were part of the region's social and economic context. Many of these groups were not persecuted and have survived to this date. The information is being gathered at the Palmares Foundation, but so far only the state of Maranhao relies on an extensive work.