Abdias do Nascimento (March 14, 1914 â€" May 23, 2011) was a prominent
African Brazilian scholar, artist, and politician. Also a poet,
dramatist, and Pan-African activist, Nascimento created the Black
Experimental Theater (1944) and the Black Arts Museum (1950),
organized the National Convention of Brazilian Blacks (1946), the
First Congress of Brazilian Blacks (1950), and the Third Congress of
Black Culture in the Americas (1982). Professor Emeritus, State
University of New York at Buffalo, he was the first Afro-Brazilian
member of Congress to champion black people’s human and civil rights
in the National Legislature, where in 1983 he presented the first
Brazilian proposals for affirmative action legislation. He served as
Rio de Janeiro State Secretary for the Defense and Promotion of
Afro-Brazilian People and Secretary of Human Rights and Citizenship.
While working as curator of the Black Arts Museum project, he began
developing his own creative work (painting), and from 1968 on, he
exhibited widely in the U.S., Brazil and abroad. He received national
and international honors for his work, including UNESCO’s special
Toussaint Louverture Award for contribution to the fight against
racism, granted to him and to poet Aimé Césaire in 2004. He was
officially nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.Born in Franca,
São Paulo state, Nascimento attended public school as a child and
joined the military in 1929, but was expelled from the Army due to his
resistance against racial discrimination a few years later. He
received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Rio de Janeiro in
1938, and graduate degrees from the Higher Institute of Brazilian
Studies (1957) and the Oceanography Institute (1961).From 1939 to
1941, Nascimento traveled throughout South America with a group of
poets who called themselves the "Santa Hermandad Orquidea", or "Holy
Brotherhood of the Orchid." At the Municipal Theater of Lima, Peru,
they attended a performance of Eugene O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones
with a blackfaced white actor in the leading role. Then and there, he
decided to create a black theater in Brazil to fight against racism.
In Argentina, Nascimento spent a year with the "Teatro del Pueblo"
(People's Theater) in Buenos Aires, where he learned the technical and
performance aspects of theater. Returning to São Paulo, he was
imprisoned, having been convicted in absentia by the civilian court
for the same incident of resisting racial discrimination for which he
had been excluded from the Army. While in prison at the Carandiru
Penitentiary, he created the Convict's Theater, in which prisoners
wrote, directed, and performed in their own plays and musical
productions. When released, Nascimento moved to Rio de Janeiro, where
he founded the Black Experimental Theater (Teatro Experimental do
Negro, TEN) in 1944. TEN premiered on May 8, 1945 with a production of
O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, surprising skeptical critics with a
presentation that was highly acclaimed for its technical and dramatic
effectiveness. With intense activity in theatrical production, TEN
also was responsible for stellar initiatives in black activism, such
as the National Convention of Brazilian Blacks (1945â€"46), the
Conference of Brazilian Blacks (1949), and the First Congress of
Brazilian Blacks (1950). A resolution of the 1950 congress advocated
the need for a Black Arts Museum in Brazil, and the Black Experimental
Theater embraced the project. Many artists donated works and the first
exhibition was held in 1968 at Rio de Janeiro's Museu da Imagem e do
Som (Museum of Image and Sound). The Black Experimental Theater
organized the cast for the play Orfeu da Conceição, by Vinicius de
Moraes, which was later adapted into the motion picture Black Orpheus,
directed by Marcel Camus.Nascimento became a leader in Brazil's black
movement, and was forced into exile by the military regime in 1968.
From 1968 to 1981 Nascimento was very active in the international
Pan-African Movement and was elected Vice-President and Coordinator of
the Third Congress of Black Culture in the Americas. For the next
decade Nascimento was a visiting professor at several universities in
the United States, including the Yale School of Drama (1969â€"1971),
and University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, where he
founded the chair in African Cultures in the New World, Puerto Rican
Studies Program in 1971. He held the position of Professor Emeritus at
SUNY-Buffalo. Nascimento also taught at the University of Ife (now
Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria.
African Brazilian scholar, artist, and politician. Also a poet,
dramatist, and Pan-African activist, Nascimento created the Black
Experimental Theater (1944) and the Black Arts Museum (1950),
organized the National Convention of Brazilian Blacks (1946), the
First Congress of Brazilian Blacks (1950), and the Third Congress of
Black Culture in the Americas (1982). Professor Emeritus, State
University of New York at Buffalo, he was the first Afro-Brazilian
member of Congress to champion black people’s human and civil rights
in the National Legislature, where in 1983 he presented the first
Brazilian proposals for affirmative action legislation. He served as
Rio de Janeiro State Secretary for the Defense and Promotion of
Afro-Brazilian People and Secretary of Human Rights and Citizenship.
While working as curator of the Black Arts Museum project, he began
developing his own creative work (painting), and from 1968 on, he
exhibited widely in the U.S., Brazil and abroad. He received national
and international honors for his work, including UNESCO’s special
Toussaint Louverture Award for contribution to the fight against
racism, granted to him and to poet Aimé Césaire in 2004. He was
officially nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.Born in Franca,
São Paulo state, Nascimento attended public school as a child and
joined the military in 1929, but was expelled from the Army due to his
resistance against racial discrimination a few years later. He
received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Rio de Janeiro in
1938, and graduate degrees from the Higher Institute of Brazilian
Studies (1957) and the Oceanography Institute (1961).From 1939 to
1941, Nascimento traveled throughout South America with a group of
poets who called themselves the "Santa Hermandad Orquidea", or "Holy
Brotherhood of the Orchid." At the Municipal Theater of Lima, Peru,
they attended a performance of Eugene O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones
with a blackfaced white actor in the leading role. Then and there, he
decided to create a black theater in Brazil to fight against racism.
In Argentina, Nascimento spent a year with the "Teatro del Pueblo"
(People's Theater) in Buenos Aires, where he learned the technical and
performance aspects of theater. Returning to São Paulo, he was
imprisoned, having been convicted in absentia by the civilian court
for the same incident of resisting racial discrimination for which he
had been excluded from the Army. While in prison at the Carandiru
Penitentiary, he created the Convict's Theater, in which prisoners
wrote, directed, and performed in their own plays and musical
productions. When released, Nascimento moved to Rio de Janeiro, where
he founded the Black Experimental Theater (Teatro Experimental do
Negro, TEN) in 1944. TEN premiered on May 8, 1945 with a production of
O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, surprising skeptical critics with a
presentation that was highly acclaimed for its technical and dramatic
effectiveness. With intense activity in theatrical production, TEN
also was responsible for stellar initiatives in black activism, such
as the National Convention of Brazilian Blacks (1945â€"46), the
Conference of Brazilian Blacks (1949), and the First Congress of
Brazilian Blacks (1950). A resolution of the 1950 congress advocated
the need for a Black Arts Museum in Brazil, and the Black Experimental
Theater embraced the project. Many artists donated works and the first
exhibition was held in 1968 at Rio de Janeiro's Museu da Imagem e do
Som (Museum of Image and Sound). The Black Experimental Theater
organized the cast for the play Orfeu da Conceição, by Vinicius de
Moraes, which was later adapted into the motion picture Black Orpheus,
directed by Marcel Camus.Nascimento became a leader in Brazil's black
movement, and was forced into exile by the military regime in 1968.
From 1968 to 1981 Nascimento was very active in the international
Pan-African Movement and was elected Vice-President and Coordinator of
the Third Congress of Black Culture in the Americas. For the next
decade Nascimento was a visiting professor at several universities in
the United States, including the Yale School of Drama (1969â€"1971),
and University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, where he
founded the chair in African Cultures in the New World, Puerto Rican
Studies Program in 1971. He held the position of Professor Emeritus at
SUNY-Buffalo. Nascimento also taught at the University of Ife (now
Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria.
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