O impresso Quilombo como agente educador (1948-1950): letramento racial e construção de identidades negras

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the strategies employed by the newspaper Quilombo: Vida, Problemas e Aspirações do Negro (1948–1950) to educate and promote educational access among Black people, fostering the transformation of the social experience of this segment of the Brazilian population. The investigation provides an understanding of the perspectives on education and its implications, which made it an object of desire for subalternized individuals. The newspaper was connected to other activities developed by a group of Black intellectuals led by Abdias Nascimento, such as the Teatro Experimental do Negro (Black Experimental Theater), events like the Congresso do Negro Brasileiro (Congress of the Black Brazilian), and Black beauty pageants. In this sense, this group can be interpreted as part of the national Black movement during that period. Education was both an objective and a practice within the publication, as the newspaper’s mission—explicitly stated in its program—was to work toward the valorization of Black people through what it termed the "elevation of their educational, cultural, and economic level." To achieve this, Quilombo, alongside other actions and events organized by its founders, sought to educate the Black population by organizing literacy workshops, recommending readings, and promoting debates on issues related to the everyday lives of this group in Brazil. Beyond promoting educational activities, Quilombo encouraged formal education among its readers and demanded action from the State, political figures, and other institutions to facilitate Black people’s access to secondary, higher, and vocational education. The education advocated by the newspaper not only sought the social ascension of its learners but was also positioned to foster racial consciousness and a sense of belonging to a community. Through organized unity, it aimed to drive social transformations to combat racial discrimination and inequality. The intellectuals behind Quilombo had their own trajectories transformed by reading, writing, and schooling. As a result, they viewed education/ intellectualization and the appropriation/reproduction of hegemonic culture more broadly as pathways to overcoming racial subalternity both individually and collectively. Thus, the initiatives undertaken by Quilombo promoted a positive affirmation of Black identity and a literacy guided by the interests and objectives related to the racial identity of its readers.