Criando meninos e meninas de respeito: relações e dinâmicas de criação do povo quilombola de Alegre-MG

Abstract

This thesis was developed based on fieldwork conducted in the Quilombola Community of Alegre, located in the rural area of the municipality of Januária, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The fieldwork took place over a period of slightly less than a year, divided between a longer stay during 2019 and a shorter stay of two weeks at the beginning of 2021, in a context still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The thesis focuses on the process of raising Black quilombola children from rural areas in the Quilombo of Alegre. Special attention is given to the participation of these children in their own upbringing process, whether through the assistance they provide to their adult relatives — which creates bonds of "consideration" between them — or through their unique ways of experiencing the quilombola territory, as well as the practices, relationships, ways of being, and ways of living that permeate and give meaning to life in the quilombo. Central to the process of raising children in Alegre are the women —grandmothers, mothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins —who mutually assist one another in raising their sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, nephews and nieces, establishing a network of aid mobilized by those who have children to raise. For these women, the greatest challenge lies in the ethical formation of their children in a world that has treated Black people with varying degrees of subtle or overt indignity and violence. It is worth noting that, historically, the residents of Alegre have sought better employment and income opportunities in the outskirts of large cities in Minas Gerais and São Paulo, as well as on coffee plantations in southern Minas Gerais and Alto Parnaíba. The prospect of raising children who will eventually leave the quilombo to seek work, or, as has become slightly more common, better educational and academic opportunities, remains a part of their horizon of creation. Within this context, the women of the quilombo mobilize stories, practices, and, when necessary, even "surras" to ensure that their children grow up "courageous" enough to fight for their dignity and capable of cultivating respect for themselves and their relatives.