In 2023, the centenary of the birth of Mãe Hilda Jitolu, leader and founder of Ilê Axé Jitolu, a Jeje tradition house, in the neighborhood of Curuzu, in Salvador, is celebrated. With more than 50 years at the head of the house, the role of religious leadership extended throughout the community. She was a mother, counselor and a great supporter of education.
Throughout her 86 years of life, Mãe Hilda has developed extensive work to raise awareness in the black community. Both through projects, such as Escola Mãe Hilda, idealized by her and installed in her terreiro, and through her work as Ialorixá and matriarch of Ilê Aiyê.
Daughter of black Brazilians, Mãe Hilda was born on January 6, 1923, 35 years after the abolition of slavery in the country. The granddaughter of Africans, Hilda dos Reis Dias was born on Dia de Reis and also has Reis in her last name. As she herself commented, “if I am a woman and I was born on this day, then I am a queen!” A reign that follows her legacy, inspires and empowers many other black women in Bahia.
Inspiration and Paths
Valéria Lima, granddaughter of Mãe Hilda, remembers her loving care and example of strength / Maiara Cerqueira
Valéria Lima is the granddaughter of mother Hilda and tells of the feeling of being part of this story. “It is a joy to be part of a family that is big and that is born big from it. A woman who has always been very strong, very welcoming. I was taken care of by her and I had the opportunity to take care of her too. She was a vain woman, I spent moments doing her nails, braiding her hair, this exchange of love and great care, ”she recalls.
In addition to the family relationship, Valeria remembers her grandmother as a strong woman who made everyone around her believe in their own potential and want to be strong too. “She managed to fulfill her dreams in life. She was able to fulfill her mission, and I, as a granddaughter, now have the opportunity to continue this legacy”, says Valéria, who is Ekedy de Obaluaê do Acé Jitolu, journalist and master in Ethnic Studies.
Of the women, Dete Lima is the eldest daughter of Mother Hilda Jitolu. To this day, she keeps the teachings she learned from her mother. “We were born here. All her children were born here in this house in Curuzu, where the terreiro still operates today. In our development, the pride of being black has strengthened us. Being born into a family knowing that you are black, that you are beautiful, that you can come and go anywhere, that helps any child to have their head held high”, declares Dete.
She remembers a unique moment in her childhood that she will never forget. In the fifth year of elementary school, when she missed a subject, she went to school accompanied by her mother. On that occasion, the principal of the school told them that she could no longer find a girl who wanted to be a maid. “My mother told her many things, and one of the things that, for me, was strong to hear is that she could look for this maid wherever she wanted, but that there, the daughter would not be her maid or anyone else’s. ”, recalls Dete when she was immediately removed from school by Mother Hilda to enroll in a new place.
“She put on her armor in front of me to defend me”, he recalls with emotion and notes that years later, his mother founded Escola Mãe Hilda. “She divided this yard here into two rooms with fabric to teach children who had no registration and couldn’t go to another school. The children of the community and their sons of saints”, says Dete, recognizing this creation as a great victory and a great knowledge.
Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality of Bahia, Angêla Guimarães, recognizes the important legacy of Mãe Hilda / Maiara Cerqueira
Ângela Guimarães, secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality in Bahia (Sepromi), also recognizes that Mãe Hilda Jitolu paved many paths. She argues that it is very opportune on her centenary to strengthen the history, memory and legacy that has expanded to Brazil and the world. “She is an iconic figure of incomparable importance for the fight against racism, for black culture, for the promotion of the rights of the black population”, declares the secretary.
“Today, we have a Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality due to this struggle that started way back. The struggle she receives from her ancestors, passes on and, today, reaches the third generation of her family”, says Guimarães.
Mother Hilda and Ilê Aiyê
The social action of Ialorixá Mãe Hilda Jitolu developed on several fronts, and her contribution was decisive for the conception of the work carried out at Ilê Aiyê. Before the first Afro block in Brazil was officially born and took to the streets, it was the gaze of this visionary woman who encouraged her children to create a carnival association that contemplated black people.
For Dete Lima, daughter of Mãe Hilda, her contribution was decisive for the conception of the work developed at Ilê Aiyê / Maiara Cerqueira
It is not by chance that Ilê was born under the motto of “the most beautiful of the beautiful”. Under another valuable female contribution, the costumes add identity to the work of the block. Made based on lashings and without any sewing, the technique is undertaken by the hands of the artistic director, Dete Lima. She is responsible for dressing the Goddesses and Queens of Ilê Aiyê on her own body.
Dete tells us that, today, she creates based on what she learned from her mother, watching her take care of the Orixás. “Ilê Axé Jitolu was my university, it was my school. Mother Hilda and Ilê Aiyê gave me a ruler and compass to do everything I do,” she says.
Ângela recognizes that the birth of the Afro block Ilê Aiyê forever demarcates the history of Bahian carnival and the history of black cultural organizations in Brazil. “Since then, there have been several Afro blocks all over Brazil. In Maranhão, in Rio, in São Paulo, in Sergipe, inspired by Ilê Aiyê. This is the presence that remains”, declares Sepromi’s secretary. She argues that if, today, there is a rise in the anti-racism struggle in Brazil, it is also due to initiatives like this one. “It was from inside Ilê Axé Jitolu that the creation of the first Afro block in Brazil was born”, she reinforces.
Black Woman Institute Mãe Hilda Jitolu
To celebrate the power that is mother Hilda and also with the purpose of keeping the legacy of black women alive, Valéria Lima assumes the executive direction of Instituto Mulher Negra Mãe Hilda Jitolu. “With respect, care, love and, at the same time, to show that her work continues. She is still alive in us, in the reference and motivation to develop projects, to create and welcome black women. This is the role of the Institute,” says Valéria.
“Create a welcoming environment for black women. An environment where they can come, learn an activity, learn embroidery, learn products of a cultural, ancestral nature. I grew up watching my mother braid and tie hair. This is exactly the role of the Institute as well. Offer training to these women. For their sustainability and also for the sustainability of the Institute”, says Valéria.
Another front of the Institute is the work of preservation and memory. Therefore, throughout 2023, Valéria plans to launch Mãe Hilda’s biography. Unpublished research, the result of his master’s thesis. Also as part of the centenary celebrations, the Institute should release a documentary about the trajectory of this important Ialorixá.
The purpose is to take the first step through the story of mother Hilda to tell the story of other black women as well. “As a journalist, I cannot distance myself from my craft. And as a social organization, I intend to give visibility and continuity to the trajectory of black women so that more girls feel represented and believe that they can occupy spaces”, says Valéria.
Editing: Gabriela Amorim
