The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1943-12-11

/ ting them up as Independent farm
ers In the little state where he.
ruled as unquestioned sovereign.
Just As we revere the memory of
great women slave leaders such as
Harriet Tubman and Sojourner
Truth, 50 Brazilian Negroes cher.
ish the remembrance of the brave
Haussa princess. Lula Mahin.
II was Lula Mahin who led the
other Mohammedan Negroes Of her
country In the great slave rebel
lions Of the early 10th century.
Nobody ever knew what became
OF her after the crushing OF the re-
bellions but her son born of a Por-
tuguese father. became a WELL
known Brazilian poet.
SON A POET
Maybe. II is not surprising that
the son Of Lula Mahin should
have become q poet Every tribe
In Africa has its honored artists
who tell In song and stofy Of the
great deeds done by great men and
women. The impulse which makes
men write stories and verse also
makes them despise tyrants and
mongers Of race hate.
American school children memo
rize the verses OF two white New
Englanders, Longfellow and Whit.
tier without once hearing OF Paul
Laurence Dunbar and Langston
Hughes. Brazilian school children
too. learn the rhymes OF the white
poets but the verses that stick in
the memory are the beautiful lyric
stanzas composed by Antonio Con
calves Dias and Jose Basilio da
Gama-'both Negroes.
These two men are the outstand.
ing poets Of their country. Con.
calves DiaS blood was mixed with
those two other dominant strains
OF Brazil-the Indian and the Span
ish. The eminent American Lit.
erary critic, Dr.. Isaac Goldberg
pointed out that he has celebrated
each OF the strains-the Indian in
'Os Tymbiras.' 'poema Americana.
the African in "A Escrava.' the Por-
tuguese in the 'Sextilhas de Fret
Antao.'"
ATTACKED INJUSTICES
Cruz Souza. who lived 70 be
only IS. has been called the Wal,
Whitman OF Brazil. because he
broke with polite poetical forms
and made his own techniques for
his bitter attacks upon injustice
and oppression. Indeed. this young
Negro was brother in the spirit
OF his American contemporary.
Walt Whitman-he sang the COM
mon man as did Whitman, he had
the same inpatience with tradition.
AZ cruelties and stupidities mas
querading n truth and righteous
ness.
Where would Brazilian culture
have been without that infusion
OF genius which IL received from
The always artistic soul Of the Ne
gro. To answer that question. one
might ask. would there have been
any Brazilian culture without fig-
ures like that Negro Brazilian and
world citizen. Tobias Baretto. law
yer philosopher. poet and humani.
tartan. who did so much 70 his
country conscious o. modern In
.ellectual trends
Similarly. would there have been
any Brazilian sculpture without
The Negro. Antonio Francisco Lis.
boa. remembered under the popu.
lar name Of Alejadhino7 Woulc
Brazilian art, in all It's forms, con-
tinue 10 advance without the fem
inine inspiration Of the morena-
the mixed-blood Negro girl who
Is literally Miss Brazil" and whose
praises are sung everywhere by
the poets OF Brazil.
PRIESTS KNEW MEDICINE
II is said that captive African
priests brought TO Brazil knew far
more about medicine than did any
doctor among their captors. We
know. OF course. that some OF the
greatest OF the ancient physicians
came from black empires and tina;
the colored University OF Tmbuk-
III in Africa was one OF the grea,
medical centers OF the medieval
world.
Brazils Negro citizens have
also enriched their country with