November 20th was chosen by a group of activists from Grupo Palmares, which held an event in 1971 at Clube Nutico Marclio Dias, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, to honour ‘Zumbi’, a legendary black hero and freedom fighter.
Zumbi was born inside the Quilombo of Palmares, the largest colony of escaped slaves in Brazil in 1655.
The colony not only consisted of escaped African slaves but also of native Brazilian Indians and other mixed races.
The colony had a government system that organised similarly to an African Kingdom with a King and Assembly. The King was chosen from the best warriors. “Zumbi” was chosen this way and under his leadership, the colony fought bravely for 65 years against colonisers from Portugal and Holland and was finally destroyed in 1694.
Zumbi managed to escape from the colony and many believed that he was immortal. He was finally captured on November 20th 1695. He was immediately beheaded and his head was put on public display to convince the locals he was not immortal.
Nowadays “Zumbi” is regarded as a national hero and a symbol of the struggle for freedom, though there are some dissenting voices who think Zumbi is not the right figurehead for this day as he is said to have kept slaves himself.