US historian launches book about Zumbi and Quilombo dos Palmares

Released in 2024, “After Palmares” is highlighted as the first book in English dedicated to the history of the largest Quilombo in the Americas and its last leader, Zumbi.

In an interview with the newspaper Folha de São Paulothe author of the book, Marc Hertzman, professor of history at the University of Illinois, states that his country, the United States, has a lot to learn about reparations from the slavery period with Brazil.

The author is a scholar on Brazil and Latin America and has other books about our country. As for the latest release, he spoke to the Sheet that there was no good book in English about Zumbi and Palmares, and that everyone should know this story.

With regard to the lessons that the planet must learn are the rights of quilombola communities in Brazil and the fact that there is a Black Awareness Day, policies that do not exist in the USA, he points out.

As he explains in the interview, the story of Zumbi and Palmares was well known there among 19th century abolitionists. However, this did not last. In this case, Hertzman is one of the few to publicize the story there and uses a video he produced with Brazilian historian Flavio dos Santos Gomes (check it out with audio in English below. It is possible to activate subtitles in Portuguese).

His students’ reaction is one of surprise when they learn that less than 5% of the people brought from Africa were destined for the USA, says the historian. And when he adds facts about Quilombo dos Palmares, they are surprised.

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Specifically about “After Palmares”, the author says that the work focuses on what happened after Zumbi’s death, on November 20, 1695. He indicates that little documentation from the time remained.

What is possible to access shows the fear of the authorities, through official documents, that a new magnanimous quilombo would be built along the lines of Palmares. Furthermore, he seeks to understand the symbolic and spiritual effect of Zumbi dos Palmares on society.

*Information Folha de São Paulo. Red Edition, Murilo da Silva.