The TU annual Black History Month poetry reading of Navio Negreiro by Castro Alves will return this year as a Global Café event. Navio Negreiro by Castro Alves is a classic piece by Brazilian abolitionist Castro Alves describing the middle passage. The reading will be done in English, Spanish, and Portuguese and will be followed by an activity and discussion conducted in English.

António de Castro Alves was born on a sugar plantation in the northeast of Brazil in 1847 and became a passionate supporter of the abolition movement during his years studying in Recife and São Paulo. His epic poem NAVIO NEGREIRO is heralded as one of the last great romantic works in Brazil and is arguably the nation’s most well-known piece of abolitionist literature. Composed in 1868, the poem tells the story of the intense suffering that enslaved Africans endured throughout the Middle Passage. Castro Alves wrote it when he was only 22, though the poem itself was only published posthumously. Castro Alves died at the age of 24, never to see abolition declared in 1888.

We are searching for Spanish, Portuguese, and English readers! Please volunteer!

You can sign up here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oJ2ns3DA9eAHZjeRaoASdeoXebKrfIYRIIXp...

You can also access the poem here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yo42cyEmfvVEKeUfVfI3d2wSwNtQjD8j/view

Any questions and concerns can be directed to mloveles@tulane.edu