BLACKS IN THE AMAZONAS: CONSTITUTION OF ETHNIC-RACIAL IDENTITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Abstract

The affirmation of quilombola identities has been growing in recent years in the State of Amazonas, as well as the struggle for recognition of black communities. The presence of Africans and their descendants in Amazonas, treated in the background for long periods of local history, has been constantly referred to in research on Amazonian cultural formation. The black experiences that until recently were silenced in the local history have given rise to reflections and resignifications among the Amazonians. Based on the above, this study presents records of black culture and discusses its new approaches in certain areas of regional society, dealing with the resistance and black identities in the Amazonian territory. Bibliographic research was used with works that deal with the black presence in Amazonas (SAMPAIO, 2011; SILVA JÚNIOR, 2006). The sources make it possible to approach the history, experiences of Africans and Afro-descendant identities in the Amazonian territory, themes of paramount importance for the knowledge of an Amazon Plural, contributing to different interpretations and analyzes that come out of the limitations or misunderstandings about the historical-social formation and identity ethnic-racial in the region.