Growing up among Cannons by Maria Cervino

Growing up among Cannons

Brazil is considered a peaceful country. In contrast to the Middle East, the country never struggled with religious disputes. I was born in 1963, and in 1964, a military coup deposed the country’s president and installed a military regime, which reduced the civil rights of the Brazilian people for two decades. It was the beginning of the dictatorship. I was brought up during this period, and what I remember from this time was some violent attitudes of the government that censored many political and cultural forms of expression. For instance, many musical artists were exiled because their lyrics criticized the regime. Fortunately, this period didn’t affect my family intensely, but in many ways I faced the reality of living under a military dictatorship during my school life.

My school day was organized according to some military practices. Every day upon arriving and leaving the school, we had to march towards the courtyard and then sing the national anthem. Every Friday we also hoisted the flag at the same time. One of the kids was chosen to be the master of ceremonies, and it was a personal honor. We could never be late or make even a small noise during that hour; otherwise, we could be sent to the bottom of the waiting list and lose recess privileges for one week. All the public and private schools were obliged by the government to conduct this event even though many of their principals were against this procedure and considered it a wasting of time. The military government also had their fingers in the school curriculum. From the first to eighth grade, the school was also required to introduce a subject called “Morality and Citizenship”. The content was about the official government powers, symbols, laws and military practices. In general, the students didn’t like to study or to memorize the subjects which were boring. From time to time, the school invited an army officer to make us a speech about the Second World War history. We enjoyed it because at the end of the speech, the guest distributed many military souvenirs. I also remember going on field trips to military museums and fortifications with my classmates and having a lot of fun.

Moreover, I have many memories from my childhood of going to patriotic events. September 7th is the Brazilian Independence day, and every year, the government promoted a military parade in one of the downtown streets. Some schools, but not all of them, also joined the parade with a band singing their own anthem. I had never participated in any of the parades with my school, but my father who was quite in favor of the military regime usually brought me. I remember, it was always crowded and difficult to reach a good viewing point. On the way, we bought a small Brazilian flag and pins to use on our caps. When the parade started, I was mesmerized by the military tanks and cannons, but I confess that every year going to the same event was tedious.

In 1986, when I was in college the military regime ended. A democratic regime was installed again, and people recovered their rights to vote for president. Many political rallies took place on the streets, and I participated in many of them looking for freedom and for better days. On the other hand, even being against the military regime, in many ways this restricted education showed me the principals about citizenship and patriotism and I feel proud to be Brazilian.