The first Afro-Brazilian school in the country, Maria Felipa in Salvador (BA), uses African history and its influence on Brazilian culture as a primary reference to teach kids. At Maria Felipa, the goal is to provide an education that takes into account the ancestral traditions of our people and its diversity in terms of race, gender, and social class. To better understand the way this school works, 12-year-old junior reporter Gabriela F. spoke with Maju Passos, one of the school’s partners.

How did you start your career?

I studied dance, and I have worked in this fi eld as a teacher, choreographer, and researcher. I am currently studying for a master’s degree in dance at the Federal University of Bahia. In 2020, I became a partner at Maria Felipa. My child is socially perceived as white — my son Ayo is blond and has fair skin — and I didn’t want him to study in a place where he couldn’t see his mother in positions of power or leadership. Since then, I have been working on this project with my partner, Bárbara Carine, the school’s founder and Iana’s mother.

What is an Afro-Brazilian school?

We are a school that is registered with the Ministry of Education (MEC), just like any other, but our curriculum focuses on Afro-Brazilian culture, African influences, and the history of Africa and our people. There is also a focus on indigenous peoples’ culture.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in the beginning?

When we first started the project, there were many questions about the need for an Afro-Brazilian school. But this is not the case, for example, with Canadian, American, German, or even Chinese schools in Brazil. Then there was the challenge of the community itself accepting and understanding the school in general. Another challenge is the fact that we are two black women leaders. Unfortunately, we live in a country where women are not valued as they deserve to be. Our leadership is always under question.

What are the major values and principles that guide the education provided by your school?

Educating for power, celebrating diversity and having an educational space for children with different bodies and from different social classes. It is also our goal to lay the foundations for trilingual literacy, because we work with Portuguese, English, and Brazilian Sign Language (Libras). We try, by all means possible, to offer our children an environment where they can feel safe to be themselves. We believe that ancestral knowledge produces knowledge. To achieve all this, we have a social project within the school, which is private. In this project, 30% of our spots are reserved for Black and/or Indigenous people who are socially vulnerable, that is, those who cannot afford to pay.

How do you address racism?

What were the main challenges in your childhood? My mother is White and my father is Black; I am from a social class that allowed me to study in private schools. I was always the only Black person. Racism was a word I had never heard before. I only started hearing about racism when I was an adult. So, the main challenge as a child was experiencing racism and not identifying what it was. That’s why I thought it was a problem of mine, and I gradually turned into a child and teenager who was ashamed of herself, who thought that she was ugly and straightened her hair. I straightened my hair for 17 years; I started when I was your age. And today, I see you, so beautiful with your braided hair. I didn’t have that opportunity; I wasn’t taught how to comb my kind of hair.

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