Archiving Brazilian Negritude: Oral History and Black Informal Education during the Military Dictatorship (1985)

Jasmine Norma Watson

My dissertation, "Archiving Brazilian Negritude: Oral History and Black Informal Education during the Military Dictatorship (1946-1985)" explores the role of AfroBrazilian educational spaces in fostering Black consciousness before, during, and after Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985). By centering oral histories of Black militants, domestic workers, educators, and community members, my research investigates how intimate pedagogies that centered community, family, and friendships were drivers of the movement alongside the well-known intellectuals the historiography often centers. I utilize intimacy as lens to argue that Brazil's Black movement, specifically the groups, conversations, political and social thought that began in São Paulo were both political and cultural simultaneously, not one or the other. My dissertation redefines the AfroBrazilian "intellectual" and considers how everyday community participants were too contributing to the development of Black Brazil's intellectual history. Lastly, my research makes sense of the differing experiences, understandings, and resistance strategies amongst the AfroBrazilian population. Instead of comparing the AfroBrazilian with different backgrounds, I juxtapose their oral accounts and find their intersections. In doing so, my research identifies similar resistance strategies rooted in community and love that stretched across generations, social class, and gendered identities within Brazil's Black population. I engage the questions: How did generations of AfroBrazilian organizers' use of education illustrate their engagement with legacies of state sanctioned violence? How can exploring intimate spaces and relationships reveal more contributions by Black women to Brazil's educational history and AfroBrazilians' resistance history? And how do personal and communal memories intersect with, challenge, or support official narratives?

About Jasmine Norma Watson

Jasmine Norma Watson is a Ph.D. candidate at The Pennsylvania State University, jointly appointed in the departments of History and African American & Diaspora Studies. She earned her B.A. in Spanish Studies from Dominican University and an M.A. in History from Penn State. As a graduate student, Norma co-organized the interdisciplinary conference "Black Experiences in the Wider Atlantic: Approaches, Methods, & the Archive, 16th–21st Centuries," for which she received the Graduate Alliance for Diversity and Inclusion Service Award. Norma's research interests include 19th to 21st century Latin American History, AfroLatinidad, Black Feminist Theory, Black Women's History, Comparative Resistance Histories, Emancipation, Citizenship, and Black Diaspora Studies. Her dissertation project examines how AfroBrazilians used intimate, informal, and or nonformal educational spaces, to cultivate communal reflection, historical consciousness, social critique, and Black pride before and during Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985). Before graduate school, Norma taught English as a Second Language and Spanish in the Joliet School District in Illinois. She also organized events, protests, and educational programs for Black students at Dominican University and for the surrounding community. Norma's experiences as a teacher and community organizer grant her a unique perspective to uplift the intimate experiences and everyday practices that shape and sustain grassroots education and resistance in Black communities. Her research has been supported by CLR James Research Fellowship, Penn State's Africana Research Center, and Humanities Institute, and more. Beyond her doctoral studies, Norma enjoys dancing, spending time with friends and family, and grounding herself by being in nature and journaling.