Of the nine samba schools in the Rio Carnival Special Group that have already announced the 2025 plot, seven will take themes linked to blackness and black personalities to the Marquês de Sapucaí sambadrome.
This means that more than half of the 12 schools (three have not yet announced) will, in some way, have issues relating to Afro-descendance on Passarela do Samba.
The most recent announcement is from Estação Primeira de Mangueira, last Thursday (25). The choice was for the plot À Flor da Terra – No Rio da Negritude entre Dores e Paixões.
“Excavating the past, we follow the traces of the lively black presence in the central region of Rio de Janeiro, from the influence of the Bantu people to the current reality of this population. They are bodies devastated by the erasure of their lives, experiences and possibilities”, explains the school on X (formerly Twitter).
According to the author of the plot, carnival artist Sidnei França, the school aims to recover “engaging plots of inspiring characters silenced by time, in addition to valuing the knowledge and practices of the black population”.
Valongo
The plot makes reference to the Valongo Wharf, the largest forced entry point into Brazil for enslaved Africans. Today’s archaeological site is located in the region known as Little Africa, in the center of Rio de Janeiro, which brings together historical traces of the African presence in the country.
In the words of the second biggest champion of Rio’s carnival, with 20 titles, the region is an “open-air archive and a scene of contrast between so many pains and passions that forged the city’s identity”.
“This region has always remembered cruel violence, but also experiences of revolutionary freedom and reinvention of life. Daring in essence, the Rio soul defies death, celebrates life and makes carnival!”, concludes the green and pink.
Willow tree
Another school that announced the 2025 plot recently was Acadêmicos do Salgueiro. The title Salgueiro de Corpo Fechado was released on the 19th. The plot devised by carnival artist Jorge Silveira will explore the human relationship with the search for spiritual protection.
“This plot reflects the soul and ancestry that Salgueiro values so much. The expression ‘closed body’ is rooted in several religious currents. We are going to present a carnival approach to these rites and rituals”, explains the carnival artist.
In the presentation video, published on social media, one of the school’s matriarchs, the president of the Ala das Baianas do Salgueiro, Tia Glorinha, stages traditions of Afro origin, such as room smudging and blessing, with reference to orixás.
“No fear of macumba, no fear of quiumba. Hail to the old mandingueiros, the old sorcerers!”, exalts the publication.
African descent
The other samba schools that had already announced plots linked to blackness and black personalities are Unidos do Viradouro, Portela, Imperatriz Leopoldinense, Paraíso do Tuiuti and Unidos da Tijuca.
Current champion, Viradouro will take to the sambadrome the plot Malunguinho: the Messenger of Three Worlds, which tells the story of a quilombo leader who learned from indigenous people, 200 years ago, the secret of the strength of herbs.
The school explains that Malunguinho’s story takes place in Pernambuco, in the first half of the 19th century. “The Catucá quilombo was a focus of resistance and saw its last leader, João Batista, Malunguinho, harshly persecuted for his libertarian acts.”
Paraíso do Tuiuti announced that it will tell the story of Xica Manicongo, considered the first transvestite in Brazil. Born in Congo, Xica was enslaved and taken to Salvador in the 16th century.
The greatest champion of Rio’s carnival, with 22 achievements, Portela will pay tribute to one of the most important black artists in the country, the singer and composer Milton Nascimento.
Unidos da Tijuca will present a plot about Logunedé, stories about the boy respected by his elders, according to the oral wisdom of the Candomblés, which will give the public a little about the African diaspora.
Current runner-up, Imperatriz Leopoldinense will tell the story of Oxalá’s trip to the kingdom of Oyó with the intention of visiting Xangô.
Stories of resistance
Professor of comparative history at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the babalawô (title of priest in the Yoruba religion) Ivanir dos Santos celebrates the predominance of issues linked to blackness in Rio’s carnival.
“In a scenario of a lot of religious intolerance, a lot of racism in Brazil, it is extremely important that samba schools bring stories that tell the cultural, social, political and spiritual resistance of their founders”, he told Brazil Agency.
“The schools were created precisely by priests and priestesses, Ogãs and Bahians who were linked to our religiosity, our spirituality. There is not one of them that does not have its roots in these resistances that are being told.”
Ivanir remembers that some samba schools have taken these themes to parades since the 1960s and that there are now many schools.
He highlights that the Rio carnival has enormous visibility in Brazil and around the world, and plots linked to Afro-descendance gain even more relevance at a time when Portugal recognizes that slavery was a crime that must be repaired.
“Bringing these agendas is very important for the anti-racist fight in Brazil and for the dignity of the people of terreiros, as well as the quilombolas, as well as women. It is very important for a real democracy that Brazil needs”, considers the interlocutor of Commission to Combat Religious Intolerance (CCIR) and Advisory Advisor to Cais do Valongo.
Other schools
Two other samba schools announced plots for the 2025 carnival not directly linked to Afro themes.
Beija-Flor de Nilópolis will honor Laíla, carnival worker, carnival director and one of the great champions of Rio carnival, who died in 2021, as a result of covid-19. Laíla, in fact, was a follower of Umbanda and was always seen with several leashes around his neck, a form of protection, as he believed.
Academicos do Grande Rio will have the state of Pará as its plot.
The groups Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, Unidos de Padre Miguel and Unidos de Vila Isabel have not yet announced the 2025 plots.
