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All Brazil São Paulo Monumento Mãe Preta

Monumento Mãe Preta

This somber statue remembers the enslaved women who were forced to nurse their owners' babies.

São Paulo, Brazil

Added By
Mictlān Tēcutli
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The monument with the backdrop of a church.   Eugenio Hansen, OFS/cc by-sa 4.0
The monument with the backdrop of a church.   Eugenio Hansen, OFS/cc by-sa 4.0
The sculpture from another angle.   Yanguas/public domain
The sorrow of the Mãe Preta.   Eugenio Hansen, OFS/cc by-sa 4.0
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About

In the square of the Largo do Paiçandu neighborhood of São Paulo stands a statue of an Afro-Brazilian woman breastfeeding an infant child. Look closely, and you’ll notice the faraway look on the woman’s face.

The solemnity of this statue is intentional. Monumento Mãe Preta (The Black Mother Monument) represents a heartbreaking reality that was suffered by thousands of Afro-Brazilian women who were ensalved and known as the “Black mothers.”

In the colonial period right up until the very end of the 19th century, it was common for slaveowners to rent enslaved women who had just given birth and use them as wet nurses to breastfeed the newborns of the wealthy and middle classes. This evil practice relied upon removing the mother’s own newborn child from her care.

The statue, sculpted in the 1950s by Júlio Guerra, immortalizes the profound sorrow of these women who were robbed of their freedom, highlighting the evil of slavery and oppression and reinserting their place in history.

Related Tags

Statues Slavery Women Children Monuments Black History

Know Before You Go

As it's in a public square, you can walk by the statue at any time. The nearest metro stations are São Bento, on the blue line, and República, on the red line.

Community Contributors

Added By

Monsieur Mictlan

Edited By

lethreep

  • lethreep

Published

October 19, 2018

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  • https://santoamarosp.com/2014/12/22/mae-preta/
Monumento Mãe Preta
Largo do Paissandú, 55
Centro
São Paulo
Brazil
-23.542909, -46.638326
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