Queen Diambi Kabatusuila Mukalenga Mukaji Wa Nkashama, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been visiting Brazil in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo since February 27th. The royal leader arrived in the country for a meeting of the Afro-descendent and indigenous communities for the purpose of recovering the knowledge and practices linked to the culture of the Congolese people (Congo Kinshasa), once brought to Brazil during the period when there was slavery.
When she came to Brazil, last year, she made friends with Cristiane Papiôn, coordinator of the “Observatório Cultural das Aldeias” (Villiage Cultural Observatory) (OCA), Diambi got interested in returning and making a longer visit. Papiôn is an important reference related to political, cultural, and religious tolerance in the country and right away she got in touch with partners to organize the agenda and made new partnerships favoring the coming visit of the queen.
The tour was named “For Peace in Brazil”, it was created due to the need for Brazilians to recognize the importance of their African roots in the formation of their national culture, as well as celebrating religious and cultural practices focused on African descendent ancestry. The importance of the coming of a queen from the Congo to this country is justified by the Bantu cultural influence in Brazil, brought here by the Congolese and thereby contributed a great deal to the formation of the cultural identity of the country.
Djambi traveling through these four Brazilian states included meetings at universities, ethnic-racial encounters, tours to historical reference tourist locations featuring indigenous and black cultural experiences, visits to religious spaces, and social projects for children. The queen will remain here until March 15th. During her tour around Brazil, the queen has been accompanied by an entourage made up by several international authorities, among them, are ambassadors from some African countries from Europe.
Diambi Kabatusuila is the daughter of a Belgium mother and a Congolese diplomat father. Although she was born in Belgium, Diambi grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has had vast multicultural experience. She bears the title of Diambi Mukalenga Mukaji Wa Nkashama (Queen of the Leopard Order) and she was included and introduced in Kinshasa by the Traditional and Customary Authority of Congo on August 5th, 2017.