A nation built on blood

Back in time
In the days of expeditions
Large vessels
Crossed the ocean

Spreading chaos
Along the way
Invaded, took, exploited

Men, women and children
Sold as assets
Hot-iron branded
Rings around their necks

After many days of a turbulent journey
Sentenced to death
To work from dawn to dusk

In the harvest fields ‘till the end of their lives
Seeds sown with blood and suffering
Slaughtered, humiliated, enslaved
Financed the luxury and nobility of the crown

They tried to whiten us with their Christian baptism
Erase our ancestry and memories
They tried to silence us with instruments of torture
Rip our dignity out of our guts

To accept the doctrine of submission and fear
To accept a fate of a life without freedom
Explored for centuries
Enriching the monarchy

Explored for
Centuries, centuries, centuries

They tried to whiten us with their Cristian baptism
Erase our ancestry and memories
They tried to silence us with instruments of torture

And that’s how they created
A nation built on blood

Away from it all
Resistances were formed
Quilombos were getting stronger
Warriors were forged in steel

Andalaquituche
Osenga
Subupira
Cucaú

Acotirene
Aqualtune
Dambraganga
Tabocas

While troops were sent to decimate and extinguish
Attack!
Fire, cannons, blood
They tried to erase our history
Take our culture
Rituals, knowledge, wisdom, legacy

For over a century
This war lasted but the screams of freedom
From ghetto still resist!

Against the odds
Against the oppression
Never surrender!
Down with tyranny!

November 20th, 1695
An ambush in the woods killed Zumbi
Warrior commander
His spirit lives on us all
And brings to our people the strength to fight!