The voice of a people: Esmeraldo Duarte's profound reflection

Titled by Duarte as a reflection on the "Dignity of a People", the text delves into the deep roots of our history - from the harshness of slavery and droughts to the contemporary challenges of the 21st century. With honest and incisive writing, the author questions the "masks" we wear to hide our difficulties and calls on every citizen, and especially their leaders, to embrace honesty and determination as pillars for the future.

Esmeraldo, inspired by his experience in the diaspora and his return to his origins, offers us verses that don't shy away from pain, but seek in it the strength for change. It is an invitation to reflect on what it truly means to be a patriot and to live with dignity.

Read Esmeraldo Duarte's work in full below:

The Weight of Inheritance and the Sun of Dignity

Every day we think of the dignity of our people,
In each little palm tree, a new desire.
When the sun smiles with warmth and tropical morabeza,
Behind bare mountains, in an ancestral setting.

They hold secrets of stories from a concrete time,
Of our ancestors, under a restless sky.
Centuries of atrocities, mistreatment and slavery,
Drought, marizia and the martyrdom of a nation.

Witnesses of rain, sun, sea and wind,
Of a destiny traced in constant suffering.
Guarded in the code of a deep silence,
Signed by the law that governs this world.

Against will, we cross the endless Atlantic,
To unknown horizons, a bad destiny.
Commanded by human faces, but without mercy,
On a journey devoid of any freedom.

But still in the twenty-second century, sadness persists,
Disguised as morabeza, where tiredness resists.
We cover poverty with Carnival paintings,
In samba rhythms, hiding our evil.

Behind masks, we hide the weight of pain,
Accepting neglect, living without due value.
Bad nutrition, poor education, life without a plan,
Living day by day, accepting deceit.

When will we put our foot down in the cradle?
Maintain dignity and listen to what the soul wants.
Take charge of this nation and its priorities,
Under the banner of peace and opportunity.

Respect for all, an example on the world stage,
Because intelligence is not size, nor is it something material.
It's not in the size of the land or the hectares of ground,
But in the determination and honesty of each citizen.

The ability to direct, to command and to flow,
is in the firm law for all, in the right to exist.
A leader is one who understands the foundation of every cause,
who directs and helps, who acts and never pauses.

The virtue of survival lies in adaptation,
in research, in logic and in each new experiment.
Understanding business, rectifying losses and reversing profit,
Knowing that without defeat there is no triumph to be reaped.

It's better to die under the sun, with a clear soul,
Than to live in the cold shadow of cowardice and impunity.
Because patriotism requires character, respect and determination,
Honesty and intelligence to guide the heart.

Author Esmeraldo Duarte

Author Esmeraldo Duarte