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Slavery left bloody wounds in Brazil, and prevalent racism prevents them from healing. National debates on animal rights— at first sight seemingly disconnected from racial issues—at a closer glance reveal the nefarious operations of discrimination against Black citizens.

In August 2018, I took part in a religious ritual in Salvador da Bahia. The orixá (Afro-Brazilian divinity) Oxumarê would receive offerings. Embodied both by the rainbow and the snake, Oxumarê is the divinity that fosters transformations. I’m an initiate of Bahian Candomblé, a religion with deep connections to West (Nigeria and Benin) and Central-South (Congo and Angola) Africa. A fundamental part of our rituals involves the propitiation of Afro-Brazilian divinities, often done through animal sacrifices in religious spaces (yards) called terreiros.
alvador da Bahia is the fourth largest Brazilian city, where more than eight people in every 10 are self- declared Black (preto and pardo). It is not by chance that the city has received the epithet of “Black Rome,” the “epicenter” of Afro-Brazilian religions. As the first Brazilian capital, the city is known for its colonial architecture, including hundreds of churches. However, more than Catholic churches, Salvador is also home to hundreds of Candomblé terreiros, some of them centuries old.

In one of the high points of the Oxumarê ritual in which I was partaking, a hundred or more people gathered in a semi-circle singing Yoruba songs. We were waiting for everyone to have a chance to prostrate in front of the goats that would be sacrificed that day. After bowing our heads in front of the animals—that had been washed and specially adorned with colorful ribbons for the occasion— we each touched our heads on the goats’ heads, one by one, thanking them for offering up their lives. Meanwhile the singing kept going around us.

When we finished paying homage to the animals, there came a decisive moment in the ritual. Each goat was offered a bunch of sacred leaves which they were free to accept or refuse. Only if the goat decided to eat the sacred leaves could the ritual continue towards the actual immolation. In case the animal refused to partake, this was a sign the goat should be freed. Sacrificing an animal against its will could never bring the positive effects our community expected.
After the sacrifice, goat meat was shared among humans and the orixá at the function. Music, dancing, and offerings fed Oxumarê with vital force (axé). In turn, the divinity would transform adverse situations in our favor, affording us the power needed to keep our religious community alive. Ceremonies like these take place all over Brazil; Afro-Brazilian religions can be found from north to south in the country.

However, keeping religious communities alive is not an easy feat in a country like Brazil in which Candomblé faces heavy discrimination against. In fact, Afro-Brazilian religions were considered illegal in Brazil until a few decades ago. Religious freedoms were only guaranteed by law in the country after 1946. Unfortunately, challenges to Afro- Brazilian religions did not cease by federal decree.

As soon as the religious ritual finished that August day, the Babalorixá (leader of the terreiro) rushed to a meeting with lawyers to discuss a court case about to be adjudicated in Brasília, the Brazilian capital. Due to the circumstances, many members of the terreiro could not even take part in the animal sacrifice. Over the previous years, racist attacks to Candomblé in general (and to our terreiro in particular) had led to the formation of what came to be called the GT Jurídico, a legal workgroup representing the interests of Afro-Brazilian religions.

A very important court case (for us) was about to be decided by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF). Known as Recurso Extraordinário (RE) 494601, the case had been initiated by the state attorney (Ministério Público) of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, which has a marked history of European colonization. They challenged the legality of a local law (Lei estadual 12.131/2004) implemented to guarantee Afro-Brazilian religious communities rights to perform animal sacrifices in that state. The attorney for Rio Grande do Sul took issue with such legislation, which they deemed to be incompatible with the State Code of Animal Protection (Código Estadual de Proteção aos Animais, Lei 11.915/2003), and to unfairly favor a small group of Brazilians, instead of catering to the common interest.

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