The Afoxê Carnival group called Filhos de Gandhi was one of the first African groups in Rio de Janeiro. Inspired by the Ijexá Filhos de Gandhi, founded in Salvador in 1949, Filhos de Gandhi was established just years later, in August of 1951. Its organizers largely consisted of dockworkers from the Rio port, and most were residents of two neighborhoods, Saúde and Gamboa, but it also had many members from Bahia. Both the group from Rio and from Salvador have a strong connection to Afro-Brazilian religions. In 1968, a federal decree officially recognized the Rio group as part of Brazil’s national patrimony.
The Afoxê group’s first album, recorded in 1975, includes music such as “Cantiga de Exu,” “Cantiga de Ossãe,” “Cantiga de Omulu,” and “Cantiga de Oxalá.”
“The Filhos de Gandhi have an enormous importance for Afro-Brazilian religions in Rio de Janeiro and in Brazil in general. We are the caretakers, guardians, and advocates of all Afro-Brazilian culture from the Southeast Region,” says the group’s president, Runtó Machado.