The ‘Angolan’ Tradition of Capoeira and Brazil's First Indigenous Congressman

Latin America Reading Response
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Question 1: Vicente Ferreira Pastinha (1889–1981): The ‘Angolan’ Tradition of Capoeira (Write a 200-word response)Using Mestre Pastinha's life story as an illustration, the author describes the long history of both persecution and celebration of the Afro-Brazilian martial art style of Capoeira. How did the popularity and acceptance of Capoeira change after the fall of Brazil's military dictatorship (in the 1980s)? What caused those changes? Make sure your response includes specific evidence and examples from the reading.
The collapse of the military regime in Brazil and in the United States revived the interest in the African cultural values and these interests included Capoeira. In other words, Capoeira flourished as it was finally accepted by the new government that wanted to create harmony in a unified Brazilian state with no racial discrimination among different races. Capoeira was also adopted as a Brazilian national sport so as to show acceptance and ushering of the African people into the Brazilian society. The popularity of Capoeira was further promoted due to the significant change in Capoeira as it was merged with other Brazilian movements from martial arts. The new Capoeira concept was introduced by Mestre Bimba a Capoeira teacher who established the first Capoeira school in 1930 which also contributed to Capoeira’s popularity and acceptance. Capoeira also acquired more popularity due to the accelerated development in the tourism industry in Salvador where Capoeira was presented to tourists and large audiences that bought tickets to watch th...