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When a terreiro (Afro-Brazilian religious center) ceases to be seen only as a place of worship and begins to be recognized also as a place of memory, education, culture, and community organization, something important happens: the community begins to fight for the right to exist in the public space as well.

In this episode of Psique Ancestral, I talk with Elias, a cultural producer from the Federal District, actor, juremeiro (practitioner of Jurema, a Brazilian Afro-Brazilian religion), and candomblecista (practitioner of Candomblé), about the access of axé (Afro-Brazilian religious) communities to public policies, cultural grants, and parliamentary amendments.

Our conversation starts with a simple but uncomfortable question: if there are resources allocated to cultural and community initiatives, why do so many houses of African and Afro-Indigenous origin still find it difficult to access them?

Elias shares his experience in the development, coordination, and execution of cultural projects. We discussed bureaucratic processes, the importance of institutional organization, the need to understand how calls for proposals and amendments work, as well as the occupation of councils for culture, education, health, and other decision-making spaces.

We also discussed religious racism, the historical erasure of African-based traditions, and how this past continues to produce effects in the present. Many houses have learned, out of necessity and for survival, to hide their symbols, their knowledge, and their practices. Breaking this silence does not mean abandoning the sacred. It means ensuring that ancestry is also recognized in schools, in culture, in public policies, and in the decisions that organize collective life.

For Elias, the terreiro (Afro-Brazilian religious center) can and should be understood as a religious house, a cultural center, an educational space, and a place for the preservation of memory. This perspective broadens the discussion about the role of these communities in Brazilian society and shows that the struggle for public resources is also a struggle for the right to existence, representation, and the continuity of a history.

The interview also touches on political education, the presence of religious communities in institutional spaces, the use of social media, and the risks of allowing algorithms and artificial intelligence systems to reproduce inaccurate or biased information about Candomblé, Jurema, Quimbanda, Umbanda, and other traditions.

This is not an invitation to intolerance nor an attack on any religion. It is a conversation about the secular nature of the State, cultural rights, citizen participation, combating religious racism, and responsibility in constructing narratives about the people of Axé.

The experiences and opinions presented belong to the participants. Rules, deadlines, and requirements for calls for proposals, parliamentary amendments, and legal instruments may vary depending on the public body and the type of support. Always seek updated information from official channels before preparing or submitting a project.

Watch until the end and participate in the conversation in the comments:

Has your terreiro, your community, or your cultural group ever tried to access any public funding or resources? What were the biggest difficulties?

If this conversation resonates with you, please share the video. Information is also a form of care, memory, and resistance.

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