Black Women, Quilombo Geographies, and European Modernity in Early-Twentieth Century São Paulo

• In Event: Framing Women's Life

Description for Program

“Black Women, Quilombo Geographies, and European Modernity in Early-Twentieth Century São Paulo” employs Beatriz Nascimento’s concept of the quilombo (maroon communities) to center Black women and their geographies. This paper demonstrates the strategic erasure of Black women by state actors and the elite in São Paulo in traditional historical narratives. In the long nineteenth century, white European workers were positioned as the most significant residents, often obscuring the role of Black women who were caretakers and actors in the city. Through newspaper columns and medicolegal incident reports, I demonstrate the persistent hostility toward Black women and examine the ways in which their lives were illegible to the state actors and elite who insisted on European modernity and whiteness as the future of the city.

Author

• Kat Cosby, California State University Channel Islands