Journey through History in Brazil… The Malê Revolt.

Brazil House in Accra. Built by an Afro-Brazilian returnee. The house is now the “cradle of the Tabon people”

To get a better understanding of who the Tabom returnees were, I’m looking into the social context of society in Bahia at the time, and what would become perhaps the most significant slave rebellion in Brazil; The Malê Revolt.

And perhaps it is destiny, rather than a coincidence, that I, a descendant of an Afro-Brazilian, am in Salvador Bahia reading about a group of African Muslim Slaves who were conducting an important meeting not so far from where I sit, on this day- 24th January, in 1835.

Gathered together in a ‘loge’, the slaves put together the final touches of a rebellion that would contribute to Brazil’s history, and determine the fate of the returnees to Accra, to be known as the Tabom. The rebellion would beginning prematurely, at 1am on the 25th January… A few hours time will mark the 178th anniversary of the The Malê Revolt.

Please join my facebook group Kai Li’s TABOM project and join me on my journey through history to discover my Afro-Brazilian heritage and gain a deeper understanding of who the Tabom returnees were before they arrived in Accra.

“Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia” by João José Reis can be bought on Amazon

Cover illustration: Malê amulet confiscated by the police after the rebellion.