Book, 30 Poems by a Black Brazilian[LS]

Unpublished anthology of poems by Oswaldo de Camargo, a writer who dismantles, through literature, some castles in which prejudice and racism are hidden. This edition has a preface by Florestan Fernandes and cover art by O Bastardo. “I have my soul and my chest uncovered/ lucky enough to be a man, a black man,/ the first imitator of the night and its mysteries.” Thus begins the poem “Atitude”, by Oswaldo de Camargo, which opens the second part of this book. 30 poems by a black Brazilian is the result of the union of 15 black poems — released for the first time in 1961, in a limited edition by the Associação Cultural do Negro — and poems published in the works O Strange and Luz & Breu. One of the most important Brazilian intellectuals, Camargo brings his poetic authenticity in the verses of this book to deal with blackness and ancestry. “I have within me longing and glory/ that they stole from my parents./ My heart can move the world,/ because it is the same heart of the Congo,/ Bantu and other unfortunates,/ it is the same”, declares the poet. In the preface to 15 black poems, reproduced in this edition, sociologist Florestan Fernandes highlights that the young activist's words were current at the time and remain current today, as they give rise to new teachings: “No one is better than a poet to revitalize the egalitarian aspirations […] that guided the great black social movements of the 1930s”. In a production that spans more than forty years of struggle and resistance, this anthology reinforces the exceptionality of Oswaldo de Camargo's work, which, based on the individual and collective experience of a black man in a country with a slave past, reverberates his timeless voice. “It is an immense joy to have the opportunity to see Seu Oswaldo's texts being responsible for this enchanting opening of doors, which will lead a new generation of Brazilians to an encounter with themselves.” — Emicide