XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

The Black Associations and the Brazilian Antiblackness Dictatorship, 1976-1978.

• In Event: Counterrevolution, Peasant Struggle, and Black Dissent: Interrogating the Intersections of Race and Authoritarianism in Brazil

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the Brazilian dictatorship investigation of Black organizations in October 1976. This persecutory process against the Black Association reveals the overlap between the Brazilian racial system and anti-communism. Furthermore, through this documentation, it is possible to access part of the dynamics of the Black movement in the previous moments of the founding of the Unified Black Movement (Movimento Negro Unificado, MNU) in 1978. The Black organizations gradually began to be seen as a possible risk to the dictatorial regime. This fear is linked to the wars of national liberation on the African continent. the repercussions of the Black Panthers' actions in the US, combined with cultural expressions such as Black Music, put the spotlight on Black Brazilians and made Black people visible as potential subjects of insubordination. The dictatorship's actions against the Black organizations help to explain the relation between antiblackness and anticommunism during the Brazilian Cold War.

Author

• Caio Fernandes Barbosa, University of Nevada Reno