University of São Paulo: Archeology can be a tool for academic training on the African diaspora
Making these experiences available, called “mobility experiences”, is the proposal to make public the work of the activities carried out and the theoretical and methodological reflections in the “frame of an academic mobility project directed to the studies of the African diaspora”, a topic studied and practiced by its emergence, complexity and repercussion of the issue in the past and today.
And what is the difference between diaspora and African diaspora? “The term diaspora has to do with dispersion and refers to the displacement, forced or not, of a people around the world […]. The African diaspora is the name given to a phenomenon characterized by the forced immigration of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.” ( https://www.palmares.com.br ).
The article was written in two parts: the first by Patricia Marinho de Carvalho, creator of the alternative, participatory and “Afrocentric” proposal, and the second part, by Alice de Matos Soares, reporting her practices and consequent reflections on Afrodiasporic activities with students. . The idea of research, study and article was also stimulated by the scarcity of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in archeology, in addressing contemporary issues such as “race, racism and anti-racism, essential for the training of Afro-descendant students or not”.
Patrícia, linked to the quilombola communities, and Alice, as a collaborative participant, in addition to activities linked to the MAE, organized many Afrodiasporic and Afrocentric multiplicative actions, such as debates, samba circles, capoeira, soirees, theater, parades, and visits to terreiros – an experience, according to the authors, “that was not restricted to the intertwining of our academic trajectories, but also reached our Afro-diasporic experience of life.”
Adilson Moreira’s book launch – Photo: Personal archiveJessica, Hadily, Yasmin, Kika and Alice – Photo: Personal archiveAfrica Collection by Patrícia Marinho de Carvalho “Paty” – Photo: Personal archiveSoiree of Grupo Cativeiro Capoeira – Photo: Personal archive
They say that, together, they discovered, not to mention their own ancestry, knowledge about diaspora being grounded and built beyond the classroom, in the involvement with black movements that imprint diasporic identity. The authors’ report is intended to reflect and debate “knowledge, experiences and experiences” related to the African diaspora, having as a principle different, but not excluding, views of the science of Archeology. The personal growth stimulated by the identity experience of being a diasporic black woman, the understanding of visibility, resistance, and the performance of the black movement, with the dissemination of African and Afro-Brazilian culture, is highlighted.
Finally, the article highlights the importance of these movements in which teachers, professors and activists participate in the dissemination of Afro-Brazilian culture and the cult of ancestors, in the sense of infusing a culture and all its aspects, like any other, guaranteeing equality , opportunity and the absence of prejudice. It also highlights the exchange of experiences with teachers, researchers and black activists, disseminators of knowledge and worship of ancestors and creators of art, composing the network of the African diaspora.