# Black resistance  
However, despite governmental control through policing and policies, black people in Brazil continued to use tactics and strategies to preserve their culture and celebrate their memory. A good example is the history of Carnival in Brazil, as explained by Ana Lucia Araujo. In Salvador (Bahia), organized groups of blacks would participate in Carnival from the 1890s under denominations that celebrated their African roots:  
Among these groups one could find the Embaixada Africana [African Embassy], Pândegos da África [Jokers from África], Os Congos da África [The Congos from Africa], Nagôs em Folia [Nagos in Folly], Chegados da África [Arrived from Africa], Filhos D'África [Sons of Africa], Lembranças da África [Memories of Africa], and Guerreiros da África [Warriors of Africa]. Affirming an African identity during the carnaval was already a positive cultural assertion in the beginning of the twentieth century. Moreover, many of these carnaval groups like the Embaixada Africana were closely associated with terreiros of Candomblé (as they still are today). During the processions, members of these clubs played instruments used in Candomblé ceremonies, danced "African" rhythms, and sang songs in "African" languages (Araujo, 2010, pp. 131-167).  
Such groups challenged the hegemonic powers that classified African-related expressions of culture as backwards and undesirable. Persecution of houses of Candomblé and Afro-Brazilian cultural practices was common until the 1940s (Lühning, 1996, pp. 94-220).