At 85 years old, the only living son of João Cândido Felisbertoknown as “Black Admiral”reacted with indignation and forcefully refuted the statements of the commander of NavyMarcos Sampaio Olsen.
Adalberto Cândido stated that his father was not a Navy hero, but a “hero of the people”.
“If I made a plebiscitean election to find out about recognition, he (João Cândido) was going to win”, declared Adalberto, in an interview with the newspaper O Globo.
Known as Candinho, he is a resident of São João de Meriti, where his father spent the last years of his life. Adalberto highlighted that João Cândido is internationally recognized and that his figure is fundamental in the history of the country.
The son of the “Black Admiral” reported that he did not have the courage to read Olsen’s letter in full, which classified the Revolt of the Whip as a “shameful episode” and the sailors who participated as “abject”.
Adalberto also said that his father was always pursued by the Navyfrom the events of 1910 to the present day, as a result of the institutionalized racism at the time and the resistance led by João Cândido.
The son of the “Black Admiral” also stated that João Cândido was reserved and did not comment much on the movement he led. However, he suffered persecution, such as unsuccessful attempt to work in the Merchant Navy and the prohibition of installing a bust in his honor in Porto Alegre (RS), where he was born.
Adalberto follows suit and continues to fight for recognition of his father’s legacy and the construction of a museum in his memory in São João de Meriti.
Outrage from parliamentarians
The Navy commander’s statements provoked revolt in parliamentarians. Federal deputies Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ) and Benedita da Silva (PT-RJ) visited Candinho to demonstrate solidarity.
“Honestly, the forcefulness took us by surprise, I think he missed the opportunity to remain silent. Talking about ‘abject sailors’ and ‘harmful facts of history’ 114 years later. It dropped like a bomb, because João Cândido is a hero of the resistance of black people,” Lindbergh stated.
“It’s not natural to take a hundred lashes as part of discipline, right? We have told all the stories, of all moments in Brazil, Why can’t we tell João Cândido’s story?”, asked Benedita.
The deputies’ expectation is that the project to include João Cândido in the “Book of Heroes and Heroines of the Fatherland” be approved by the Culture Committee and then by the Constitution and Justice Committee.
In 2008, President Lula sanctioned the posthumous amnesty of João Cândido as formal recognition of the injustices committed by the Brazilian State. In addition to the admiral, other officers punished for the Revolt of the Whip were “political amnesties”.
What was the Chibata’s rebelion
João Cândido Felisberto led the Revolt of the Whip in 1910, a riot against the application of physical punishmentincluding whipping, to sailors, most of whom were black, by officers.
The admiral received support of two thousand sailors and the rebels took control of Navy vessels in Guanabara Bay, in Rio de Janeiro, and took the officers hostage. Furthermore, they pointed the ships’ cannons at the city.
After the revolt, João Cândido was detained for 18 months in an underground prison, admitted to a hospital for the insane and was arrested again. After his release, he lived as a fish merchant in Rio de Janeiro and died in poverty in 1969.
The story inspired the famous song “The master of the seas”by the duo of João Bosco and Aldir Blanc.
