Celebrating M Janja's Birthday in Salvador

Last Friday, the place to be was the Alto de Sereia in Rio Vermelho to celebrate Mestre Janja's birthday. Mestre Paulinha and Poloca were in attendance along with lots of Nzinga folks and capoeiristas from all different groups across Bahia, including Angoleiros da Serra, Grupo Zimba, and FICA.

The party started with a roda during which M Janja played nearly everyone. After, we had a party that was thrown by the kids of Nzinga. They decorated the space and saved up to buy lots of brigadeiros, salgadinhos, refri, and a big strawberry cake.

It was a great party. Congratulations, M Janja. Here's to many more.

** And here is what Meste Poloca had to say about it on his blog:

Last Friday, October 3, Grupo Nzinga held a roda with the presence of many invited guests to start the celebrations for yet another year of Mestra Janja. It was a beautiful roda followed by a great party with a cake and lots of guaraná. The kids had a great time and I did too.

On the following day, the 4th, Janja’s actual birthday, she went to her home town of Feira de Santana to celebrate with her family. She was born on the same day as her brother, although not in the same year. She was born the following year. For twelve years she lived in São Paulo and in part for the Nzinga, she became a citizen of São Paulo. In June 2006, she returned to Bahia.

Over the past few months, she served as a Professor of Education at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBa) until she was invited by Secretary Luiza Bairros to be a part of her governing team, where she co-ordinates one of the departments of the Secretary of the Promotion of Racial Equality (Secretaria da Promoção da Igualdade Racial, Sepromi ). She already was a powerful woman, now no one can stand in her way. In another post, we talked about the nomination of Mestre Paulinha for the direction of the Center for Afro-Oriental Studies at UFBa, a post she will assume on October 22. To sum it up, the mestras of Nzinga have it all. Who can stop them now?

Thanks M Poloca. What an amazing resource he is creating. And thanks to Fabio for the link.