PEDAGOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF THE PROCESSES OF ORGANIZING BLACK MOVEMENTS IN DEMOCRATIZING BRAZIL

Abstract

The article analyzes the trajectory of the Brazilian black movement, especially its reinvention during the New Republic, by overcoming the centrality of “culturalism” and broadening its repertoires of political action. The discussion is based on the book “Orpheus and Power”, by Michael Hanchard, and the critical debate with the intellectual Luiza Bairros. The text highlights the centrality of Afro-diasporic cultural production in the consolidation of a black political identity, as well as the challenges faced in the transition from artistic action to the field of institutional politics, especially after the process of re-democratization and the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution. The debate between Hanchard and Bairros was fundamental in relaunching the academic and internal discussions of the movement, reinforcing its role as a training ground for citizenship. The article highlights the process of political maturation of black organizations, such as the Unified Black Movement (MNU) and the National Coordination of Black Organizations (CONEN), which consolidated themselves in the 1990s and sought to expand their institutional influence and strengthen alliances. Despite the progress made, structural limits to overcoming racism persist, expressed in state violence and socio-economic exclusion. The text concludes by pointing out that the critical dialogue between the works of Hanchard and Bairros remains current, challenging academia and activists to rethink anti-racist strategies in the Brazilian democratic scenario.