The struggle of the babassu coconut breakers

 

 

 

It was the year 2024, and on July 15th, at 9:00 in the morning, radio host DJ Elson Pedra spoke about the greatest voice of reggae in Jamaica, through his philosophy of living together with reggae. Naturally, July 15th was the birthday of the greatest reggae artist, and all the star power of Jamaican music hovered in Isaacs' shadow.

 

He was, in fact, the richest voice of reggae in the world, despite having some ups and downs in his life as a singer. Gregory Anthony Isaacs fought for a good truth in favor of his efforts in the face of resistance that did not disappear from his eyes.

 

It is worth noting that Kingston never imagined that the child Isaacs would bring to the universe of all times the best songs ever heard and danced in the ballrooms. On a very painful side, Isaacs did not forget to talk in his songs about the unfair side of society and the inadequate positions of people.

 

Without delay, Dona Maria, fifty years old, still practicing the art of cracking coconuts, asks her son César:

 

-César, why is this reggae music playing all the time on the radio?

 

The young man sitting in front of the radio answers;

 

-Mom, today is the birthday of reggae artist Gregory Isaacs, so announcer DJ Elson Pedra does not forget with this melody of struggle.

 

-Very good and may God give you many years of life. This song has a beautiful message, but I do not know English. Look, son! I was born and raised here in the middle of the coconut plantations among the babaçu palm trees, watching the wind sway the green leaves.

 

César says:

 

-Mom, the man who says he bought the 1,500 hectares of land from the coca farms gave us until July 18, 2024 to leave his land. And he forbade us from picking the coconuts from the palm trees. This is unfair and very cruel, I suffer because of this.

 

Dona Maria, dissatisfied with this news, says:

 

-I'm not leaving here. My place is here, with the babassu palm trees. I've lived on this land for fifty years and no one has ever thrown me out of it for any reason. I live as a woman who breaks the babassu coconuts. After all, there are more than 500,000 women rural workers in Maranhão. There's no way I'm leaving here. My job is to extract the babassu oil from the most important palm trees in my babassu.

 

-And how many people live in the Cocais community?

 

Cesar asked.

 

-My son, there are more than 80 families who live here. All the families make a living from collecting coconuts from under the palm trees. The babassu grows freely, and there are no fences around the palm trees for 1,500 hectares. We are free to move around and collect coconuts. There has been no cattle raising or pasture land here for over 60 years.

 

Uneasy, Cesar asks:

 

-July 18th is coming, and that man in the Toyota pickup truck seems very angry, enraged and bad-tempered. He doesn't want to talk or make peace. He came out telling us to leave and that he's going to bring eight chainsaws to cut down the palm trees.

 

-For all I care, he can bring up to a hundred chainsaws. And I'm not afraid of his henchmen either. The same gun that shoots lead out of his, also shoots buckshot out of mine. There are 1,500 hectares here where you can see the coconut forests as far as the eye can see. How dare he do that. To me, he's a criminal for cutting down trees that have done nothing to him.

 

-Mom, our fight, our battle is different. I'm writing a letter to DJ Elson Pedra, from Buriticupu, so he can help me by reading my letter on his show. I'm going to tell our whole story in Cocais. And I'm going to ask him to put our background music “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles, in the rhythm of reggae remix 2022. In two days my letter will be aired.

 

It didn't take long for the babaçu coconut breakers, Mrs. Luíza, Raimundinha, Mrs. Chaguinha, Mrs. Lurdes, Conceição, Das Neves, Felismina, Luciana, Digé, Maria do Carmo, Rosário, Antonia, Nazaré, Carminha, Mrs. Tereza and many others with their respective husbands, to arrive at the door of the house. Mrs. Luíza talks about the expulsion from the Cocais lands.

 

-All of this is very sad. No authority comes to Cocais to see what this man wants from the residents. He has money and thinks he owns everything. God is for us!

 

Dona Lurdes adds, saying the following:

 

-He said it at the door of our house, in the yard. That no one is stopping him from doing his business. And that the cattle ranchers, farmers and owners of agricultural companies are all on his side. And he also said that the police station, Ibama, the Labor Court, the municipal, state and federal governments are on his side. And they all say that we shouldn't delay in throwing out this human trash from the Cocais. I keep thinking. How am I going to live from now on? Who will be on my side in this battle? My people, I only live off the babassu coconut, all my income comes from the babassu. Jesus Christ has to help us in this bitter time. May God protect us.

Antonia, rubbing her right hand over her eyes, began to cry, saying:

 

-My God! Have mercy on us! I don't have money to pay rent in the city. Imagine my things being thrown in the middle of the yard! Where are we going to go? The government should help us in this resistance. Our activity is essential to the lives of many people.

 

Raimundinha, moved by the situation, says:

 

-Don't cry, woman, you've already cried the greatest pain in the world. If you cry, it will hurt me more and more every minute. Here comes your husband from selling olive oil. Wipe your face, woman.

 

Dona Digé, lamenting, says:

 

-This is the end of times. You know that I live off the babaçu coconut, it is what supports our family and keeps us together. He talks about cutting down all the palm trees that grow on 1,500 hectares. My people, this man is a criminal, an outlaw. Because he has money, he thinks he is all-powerful. Look, I use palm tree straw to make baskets to sell, coconut shells to make charcoal for cooking, and cashew nuts to make oil to sell and soap to wash our clothes. I depend on babassu. Babaçu is my life.

 

Mrs. Rosário says:

 

-Let's fight, women! Let's raise our arms! Let's do as the women of Lago do Junco did, who approved the Free Babaçu Law in 1997. This law protects coconut breakers, guaranteeing them the right to free access and common use of babassu palm trees, and it imposed restrictions on the felling of trees. Let's fight! We will not give up. We will not accept deforestation on the Cocais lands.

 

Carminha added:

 

-This happened in the Médio Mearim region, the families and communities of Ludovico, Centrinho do Acrísio and São Miguel do Lago do Junco got together and won the Free Babaçu Law, an area to live and produce. Look! This fight is ours and we must come together to mobilize our situation. We cannot remain silent.

 

Dona Maria, César's mother, says:

 

-We are not leaving here, my people. We are going to fight with our lives, it is the only weapon we have. God will send an angel sooner or later, this angel is coming. Our fight cannot defeat us. The music that plays up there in the house will stay there for a long time. It is our defense music. If you think about it, I have cried too much under the babaçu palm trees. Well, it is difficult to lose everything without giving anything away. God will free me from this devil who wants me out of the community.

 

Antonia, worried, says:

 

-There is no time to mobilize anything, the 18th is up. May God always protect us.

 

Cesar says:

 

-My people! I am going to put music on the hood of our house in our defense. It's our song - "Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles, in the rhythm of reggae remix 2022. We will fight, battle and combat the enemy with our bare hands. Believe me! God will give us this land as a gift and everyone will have a home and a place to work.

 

It was already getting dark, and the sound from the top of the house continued to symbolize the struggle of that community with the music of Harry Styles, when suddenly, a car stopped in the yard of César's house. His mother and father went to find out what was going on. The men got out of the car each with a. 380 pistol and fired several bullets at the two peasants without mercy. Meanwhile, upon hearing the bangs, César ran towards his parents lying on the ground, where a large pool of blood was forming. Crying, he said:

 

- You killed my parents. Murderers... Man...

 

César had not finished saying the sentence when he received twelve bullets all over his body. Staggering senseless, César falls next to his parents, hugging them for the last time.

 

Buritucupu

 

It wasn't long before César's letter arrived in the hands of DJ Elson Pedra, at the time of the program. He says:

 

- Today, July 17, 2024, I just received a little letter from our follower and follower Cesar, from the lands of Cocais. How are you Cesar? It's a very sad letter, but I'll have the breath to read it and air in my lungs. Here at the climax of the sequence with DJ Elson Pedra, we play the background music requested by César. “Sign of the times” by Harry Styles, in the rhythm of reggae remix 2022. Play... Beautiful rock! Come on, swing, I'm in the mood, we have 120 followers in this sequence. Buriticupu invading your space and sending only good news. I'm going to read Cesar's letter to you now.

 

“Dear friend DJ Elson Pedra

 

It is always a pleasure to be able to write this letter to you and other friends who are watching. My name is César, I was born and raised here in Cocais, on 1,500 hectares of babassu palm land. This land belongs to José Fran, who passed away and left no heirs, only the residents of this location. A man named Manoel de Sousa showed up here in a Toyota. He entered the Cocais land armed and threatened all the residents of this community, forbidding us from collecting coconuts from the palm trees.

 

He threatened to cut down all the palm trees with a chainsaw, expelled us without any rights, and gave us until July 18, 2024 to leave the land. I would like my friend DJ Elson Pedra to help me so that we are not expelled from our land, it is the only space we have, the only place where we live. I am poor, my house is covered in straw with walls made of mud and clay. My parents need this place, they are already old and have nowhere to go. I worry about my parents, but I can sleep on the streets of the city, high up in a palm tree, or even sell a newspaper, wash a car, watch, clean a yard or do anything. I just can't see my parents suffer. Help my parents and the entire Cocais community! My job is to sell olive oil produced by my mother. We have no job or home anywhere else. Help me, DJ Elson Pedra. I beg you by the blood that the most just man in the world shed, do something for us. The Regueira masses need to help me, and all good people.

 

Here I end very dejected with tears in my hands. Listening to our defense song “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles, in reggae remix 2022

 

Cocais, César – o regueiro”

 

DJ Elson Pedra, quite nervous about the event, says:

 

-My friends, this situation experienced by a follower and our petitioner is very unfortunate. I inform the followers that we have reached the mark of 1,400 thousand listeners and followers. There are many phone calls here from all over Brazil. Everyone wants to help the Cocais community.

 

The other day, representatives of Ibama, inspectors, Military Police and other important people went to support the Cocais community. When they arrived at the location, they all saw the bodies riddled with bullets and the three thrown to the ground. The house set on fire left no straw, only the song of the regueiro boy Cesar playing at the top of the house. “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles, in the rhythm of reggae remix 2022, played non-stop and its lyrics, translated, were as follows: