XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

“Mulheres que Gingam”: Reflections on cultural resistance through the Nzinga Institute of Capoeira Angola Studies in Salvador Bahia, Brazil and beyond

• In Event: Interdisciplinary approaches to fieldwork in Brazil: ethnographic engagement through public scholarship, community organizing and cultural immersion

Abstract

Capoeirista, a term that broadly defines a practitioner of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira that is rapidly growing with over 6 million identified members of over 300 schools across the globe and counting. Capoeira is an art-form born out of Black resistance to enslavement from Portuguese colonizers. While it has historically been male dominated, Black women were present and practicing from the beginning. Yet, despite their rightful claims to cultural patrimony, Black women’s participation and leadership within Capoeira is actively diminished, often overlooked and continues to be erased within larger discourse. Mulheres que Gingam: Reflexões Sobre as relações de gênero na Capoeira” written and organized by Mestra Janja Araujo, Renata de Lima Silva and Elizia Cristina Ferreiro intervenes in this dominant narrative of exclusion, introducing nuanced concepts like “Angoleira Feminismo” to represent women with dignity and respect within the craft. This paper explores the ethical considerations inherent in cross-cultural community organizing led by Black women through the lens of collaboration through Break The Boxes and Nzinga Institute of Capoeira Angola studies in Salvador Bahia, Brazil. Grounded in interdisciplinary ethnographic work over the past decade, this paper analyzes the process of organizing, relationship building, and language translation during a week-long, multi-generational group trip between Afro-American women faith-based practitioners to Salvador Bahia, Brazil. I strive to highlight practices that cultivate accountability, trust building and authentic community engagement for cross-cultural partnerships in the US, Brazil and beyond, with Black women front and center.

Author

• Azmera Hammouri-Davis, Harvard University