Critical Insubordination of the Brazilian Black Intelligentsia: A Glance at the Performance of the Neabi/Cpii

Abstract

From a black decolonial perspective (GOMES, 2020), this article aims to discuss the paths taken by the Center for Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Studies of the Colégio Pedro II (NEABI/CPII), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the (re)production of emancipatory and anti-racist practices and knowledge. In methodological terms, the research was structured based on the narratives of four black intellectuals committed to anti-racist education, who actively participated in the creation process of the NEABI/CPII, in 2013, and who had a recognized role in the constitution of practices based on (re)education for ethnic-racial relations and the fight against racism. In summary, we observed that the black intelligentsia underlying the group establishes a position of insubordination in relation to typical coloniality practices in the (re)production of knowledge, with actions that unfold into four dimensions: political-institutional, political-epistemological, political-identity and political-pedagogical. We understand that these dimensions, which are articulated with each other, are crucial for the constitution of educational spaces that are more democratic, racially diverse and politically positioned in the fight against inequalities