A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - A brief history of black anarchist activism within the Brazilian workers' movement (1906-1930) (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Although few pages have been devoted to Black libertarian activists in 
Brazil, they were at the forefront of major events and achievements of 
the Brazilian labor movement. The chronology would undoubtedly begin 
with the teacher, philosopher, and journalist Antônio Pedro de 
Figueiredo (1814-1859). Figueiredo founded the journal O Progresso 
(1846-1848), which benefited from contributions by other writers who, 
like him, had been influenced by French "utopian" socialism. In Recife, 
during the 1840s, there was a small colony of French immigrants, among 
whom was the socialist engineer Louis Vauthier; he had brought with him 
several works by socialist authors, such as Saint-Simon, Owen, and 
Fourier, as well as those of Proudhon, who already identified as an 
anarchist. In 1849, Figueiredo denounced slavery and large landholdings 
in Pernambuco, drawing on Proudhon's maxim: "destroy
the despotism embodied by large landholdings." Because of his socialist 
ideas, Figueiredo was subjected to constant racist insults from his 
opponents. "

Aí estão os anarquistas" - At the Heart of the Struggles:

The first Black anarchists began to appear frequently in newspapers and 
periodicals during the 1910s and 1920s. At that time, Kropotkin's 
libertarian communism, Pouget's revolutionary syndicalism, Ferrer's 
pedagogy, and, to some extent, Tolstoy's ideas were the main influences 
on libertarians, associations, and strike movements.

Photographs of the First Brazilian Workers' Congress (1906), held in Rio 
de Janeiro, show that a large proportion of the union representatives 
present were Black.
Between 1917 and 1920, large general strikes, heavily influenced by 
anarchism, broke out throughout Brazil. The country's regional capitals 
and industrial centers-Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Belém, 
Salvador, and Recife-became the epicenters of movements that brought 
thousands of workers into the streets to demand everything from the 
eight-hour workday and wage increases to the end of private property and 
the abolition of the state.
It should be remembered that many black anarchists participated in these 
strikes and were arrested, tortured or killed: João da Costa Pimenta, 
Armando Gomes, Hermogéneo Silva, Custódio Paes, Eustáquio Marinho, 
Justiniano Silva, Pedro Lessa, Olímpio Santana, João Lopes, Minervino 
Oliveira, Sinval Borges, Cândido Costa, José Argolo, José Leandro, 
Sebastião Silva, Tomaz Derliz Borges, Laudelina Silva, Domingos Passos, 
José da Silva Gama, Abílio José, José Domiense, Luiz França, Djalma and 
Cristiano Fettermann.

Companions - Of biases

Cândido Costa was one of the most active anarchists in Rio de Janeiro 
during the 1910s. His anticlerical and libertarian lectures attracted 
hundreds of workers. He participated in the First (1906) and Second 
Workers' Congresses (1913). While giving a speech to workers, Costa was 
brutally beaten by the police and by participants in a religious 
procession passing near the demonstration.

Minervino Oliveira, a Black marble worker originally from Bahia but 
active in Rio de Janeiro, was one of the leading representatives of his 
profession. He took part in various workers' demonstrations and was 
active in libertarian associations.
Laudelina Silva, a seamstress, became an emblematic figure in the fight 
against racism, labor exploitation, and sexual violence. She was 
arrested while demonstrating in front of her employer's home to protest 
her own dismissal and that of her colleagues. Before calling the police, 
the employer had declared that he didn't want "that lazy Black woman" 
outside his home. Laudelina and the other workers refused to be 
intimidated and continued their protest until they were taken to the 
police station.

In the 1910s, in Porto Alegre-Brazil's southernmost capital-the 
Fettermann brothers were anticlerical anarchists, educators, union 
members, and proponents of illegalism, active for several years. 
Cristiano Fettermann published articles in the newspaper O Exemplo. The 
newspaper's editors founded an evening school for workers bearing the 
same name. The newspaper also published texts by the Black socialist 
Tácito Pires. Djalma Fettermann worked as a journalist and taught French 
and Portuguese at the Modern School of Porto Alegre. He took an active 
part in the 1917 strike in Porto Alegre and, according to some 
historians, made bombs that were thrown at the police.

In Belém do Pará, in northern Brazil, Almerinda Farias Gama and José da 
Silva Gama emerged as leading figures in anarcho-syndicalism. José Gama 
was an influential union representative for printers. He also published 
articles in Belém workers' newspapers, such as O Semeador. Gama opposed 
racial prejudice and the expulsion of foreigners from Brazil. Alongside 
João Plácido de Albuquerque, he represented workers' associations at the 
Third Workers' Congress (1920) in Rio de Janeiro.
Almerinda Gama began her political career as a libertarian, giving 
lectures to printers in her own home.

In the city of Campinas, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, 
Armando Gomes was a railway worker active both as an anarchist and as a 
member of Black associations, such as the Liga Humanitária de Homens de 
Cor (Humanitarian League of People of Color), which fought against 
prejudice and defended Black rights. In Maceió, Olympio Santana emerged 
as an anarchist leader. He belonged to anarchist collectives in the city 
and published texts in workers' newspapers. Luiz França was another 
Black anarchist activist born in Maceió but active in Rio de Janeiro. In 
Recife, the libertarian dockworker Pedro Lessa was killed by police 
during a port strike.

In Salvador, the Syndicate of Masons, Carpenters, and Other Trades 
(SPCDC) was founded in 1919 by Black workers committed to revolutionary 
syndicalism. The union introduced several tactics unprecedented in the 
region, such as sabotage, boycotts, and the general strike.

Against all odds - Difficult years.

During the 1920s, anarchism began to lose ground within workers' 
associations, while Marxist communism advanced through an aggressive 
campaign within the unions. Many anarchists turned to communism, 
especially after the founding of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) in 
1922. In addition to competition from the PCB, anarchism suffered 
repression from state authorities. Under the authoritarian government of 
President Arthur Bernardes (1922-1926), many opponents were sent to the 
infamous Clevelândia prison in Oiapoque, in the far north of Brazil. Of 
the 1,500 people deported there, half died in less than two years. Many 
anarchists were sent to this "green hell," as it was nicknamed. The 
Black Uruguayan illegalist anarchist Thomas Derliz Borche and Domingos 
Passos, a Black libertarian communist active in Rio de Janeiro, managed 
to escape.

Domingos Passos, of Indigenous and Black descent, was arguably the most 
persecuted Brazilian anarchist and one of the most active figures in the 
labor movement during the 1920s. While many anarchists joined the ranks 
of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), the bricklayer and carpenter 
Domingos Passos fervently defended libertarian communism at meetings, 
strikes, and within workers' associations. He also published articles on 
libertarian communism in workers' newspapers such as Spartacus, Voz do 
Trabalhador, and A Plebe. He also participated in theater troupes in 
both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In 1925, Passos was arrested and sent 
to Cleveland; he escaped by crossing the Amazon rainforest to reach 
French Guiana, then Pará and finally Rio de Janeiro in 1927.

The trial of the Black anarchist cook José Leandro-arrested in 1921 
following an altercation in Rio de Janeiro that resulted in the deaths 
of three people, including a police officer-attracted the interest of 
the working-class press throughout Brazil and neighboring countries. The 
trial took place in 1924 and resulted in José Leandro's unanimous acquittal.

Texts to Awaken Interest: Propaganda Through Writing.

Black anarchists also wrote and organized through periodicals and 
workers' newspapers. The anticlerical newspaper A Lanterna counted among 
its editors the mestizo anarchist poet Raimundo Reis, also known as 
Beato da Silva. In Porto Alegre, Black socialists, syndicalists, and 
libertarians wrote, edited, and published the Black newspaper O Exemplo. 
Cristiano Fettermann, for example, published articles on education in 
it. The newspaper O Semeador was published by Bruno de Menezes and Silva 
Gama, Black anarchists from Belém do Pará. They also belonged to 
anarchist propaganda groups and taught in the city's modern schools. In 
Salvador, the newspaper Germinal was founded in 1919 by the mestizo 
socialist lawyer Agripino Nazareth, while A Voz do Trabalhador was 
founded by the Black anarcho-syndicalist Eutachio Marinho.

In the literary field, many Brazilian writers-libertarian or 
otherwise-were influenced by anarchist authors, such as Émile Zola, 
Guerra Junqueiro, and Leo Tolstoy. Raimundo Reis and Adalberto Viana 
were Black anarchist poets widely published in libertarian periodicals 
between 1910 and 1920. Pereira da Silva was a poet influenced by Tolstoy.

Gilka Machado (1893-1980) was a celebrated writer in her time, 
particularly among workers and libertarians. Her poetry was erotic in 
nature. Bruno de Menezes, in addition to his work as a journalist, was 
also a poet, dedicating himself to social issues and Afro-Brazilian culture.

Lima Barreto was a Black libertarian journalist and writer born in Rio 
de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil. His chronicles remain one of the 
major sources for the study of the First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930). 
In them, he denounced the racism, militarism, and hypocrisy of the 
Brazilian elite. Barreto was even interned in psychiatric institutions, 
where he wrote *O Cemitério dos Vivos* (The Cemetery of the Living), an 
autobiographical work.

Carlos Ferreira de Araujo Júnior

is a historian with a degree from the UEPB (University of Brazilian 
Studies). Bibliography: Renego - Grito Punk (2021), dedicated to the 
punk scene in Paraíba, and Brasil Negro Insurgente (2025), about Black 
libertarians and socialists in Brazil.

Photo captions:
1- Almerinda Gama and José Silva Gama
2- Candido Costa
3 - Delegados Primeiro Congresso Operario Brasileiro, which can be 
translated as: Delegates to the First Brazilian Workers' Congress
4 - Members of the Union of Masons, Carpenters and Other Trades
5 - Domingos Passos
6 - Lima Barreto
7 - Gilka Machado

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