How do you think about the experiences of freedom among black people in Brazil before the end of slavery in 1888? Interested in this question, this lecture presents a reflection on the experiences of free and literate black men, who were active in the press, as well as in the political-cultural landscape of the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the second half of the nineteenth century. Ferreira de Menezes, Luiz Gama, Machado de Assis, José do Patrocinio, Ignacio de Araújo Lima, Arthur Carlos and Theophilo Dias de Castro are the central subjects in this narrative, along with so many other “free men of color” who sought in different ways to conquer and maintain their spaces in the public debate about the Brazil’s paths, while relying on the sustainability of their own individual projects. Against the grain of “ race hatred” daily practices, they not only contributed to debates on daily, abolitionist, black and literary newspapers, but also led the creation of resistance, confrontation and dialogue tools and mechanisms.

Ana Flávia Magalhães Pinto is an adjunct professor in the Department of History at the University of Brasília. She received her PhD in History from the State University of Campinas, her MA in History from the University of Brasília, and her BA in Journalism from The University Center of Brasília. Pinto has developed research articulating knowledge in the areas of History, Communication, Literature and Education, with an emphasis on political-cultural performance of black thinkers, black press, abolitionism and experiences of black freedom and citizenship in the slavery period and post-abolition in Brazil and elsewhere in the African Diaspora.

This lecture will take place on Monday, March 9, at 4:00pm in 1014 Tisch Hall.