Decolonial Coalitions: Afro-Brazilian Feminisms and the Poetic-Politics of Quilombo

Abstract

Moving beyond the legal and historical hegemonic definitions of the quilombo, this paper investigates continuities in gendered racial violence in Brazil by evoking the political and poetic of the quilombo. Inspired by the works of the historian and poet Beatriz Nascimento, the multifaceted notion of quilombo is conceptualized as an ongoing praxis of fugitivity and coalition that draws on the interconnectedness of anti-colonial, feminist, and anti-racist struggles. In exploring geopolitical breaks and epistemological ruptures, this paper fosters a necessary conversation between theory and practice by engaging with the living archives of three Afro-Brazilian writers and activists: (i) Beatriz Nascimento’s fundamental contributions on the political, material and symbolic dimensions of quilombo; (ii) the legacy and vision of Marielle Franco focusing on the necessity to ocupar the institutional politics like a growing seed; (iii) the work of Erica Malunguinho and Mandata Quilombo through the praxis of aquilombar the constitutional democracy, based on the alternation in representative power and repossession.