IcamefromBahia

I came, I came from Bahia to sing
I came from Bahia to tell
Of so many beautiful things that there are

Image description: This is an old black-and-white photograph. In the image, we see two women wearing traditional attire. The seated woman is facing the camera, while the other is standing, turned to the right. Both are wearing long garments adorned with accessories. The standing woman has a large hat decorated with fruit on her head. She is standing against a light background, while the seated woman is on the ground. In the lower corner of the image, the word "Bahia" is written in lowercase letters.

Starting in 1850, with the end of the Atlantic slave trade and in the decades leading up to abolition, along with the even more intense development of the city, and the establishment of the Bahian community that had arrived in the immediately preceding decades — creating reception networks — more Black migrants from Bahia arrived. Many settled in the areas near the port of Rio de Janeiro, working in dock labor and the transport of goods, as well as in the large import and export warehouses located there. Families descended from Bahian men and women, some of whom had been born in Africa — brought over by the illegal slave trade — formed in the port region, where they were welcomed by relatives, brothers and sisters in faith, and friends who already lived in the area. Some famous Bahian aunts (tias baianas), such as Tia Bebiana, Perciliana, Tia Carmen do Xibuca, and Tia Ciata, among others, were part of this wave of migration that extended into the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

Image description: This is an old black-and-white photograph of two women posing together. The woman on the left is wearing a long black dress with white details on the top and a beaded necklace. She is holding a decorative object in her hands. The woman on the right is also wearing a black dress, but with a more open neckline and a beaded necklace with a small cross. Both are standing side by side, with their arms slightly bent.

The first candomblé houses in the city arose from the contact between these Black Bahian migrants and Africans and their direct descendants in the city. In this Rio Atlântico, the Yoruba babalaô Bamboxê Obitikô — a prominent figure of the Atlantic world — arrives from Salvador and establishes the Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá in the Saúde neighborhood, in the year 1866.

In the third decade of the 20th century, Iyá Davina de Omolu arrived in the same region, and the house she lived in with her husband Theophilo Marcelino Pereira, also located in the Saúde neighborhood, came to be known as the Consulate of Bahia, for welcoming those who came from there. This Bahian population grew and spread throughout the central region of the city, seeking housing around Praça Onze, on the hillsides surrounding downtown Rio de Janeiro, such as Morro da Providência and Morro de São Carlos, and began making their way along the train lines toward the suburbs. Thus, the Atlantic coastal routes that began at the port of Salvador flowed into Rio's beaches and spread inland, into the growing city.

Image description: This is an old black-and-white photograph of a coastal city. On the left side, we see a range of mountains that extends to the horizon. Moving to the right, the city becomes denser, with buildings of different sizes and shapes. In the center, there is a large industrial complex with several rectangular structures. On the right, more mountains appear, including a large triangular shape that stands out. The sky is clear, allowing sunlight to illuminate the landscape.