Afro blocks of Carnaval in Belo Horizonte

Raciality and organization

Abstract

We seek to understand how raciality, which is inherent to the Angola Janga and Magia Negra Afro Blocks in the carnival of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, is mobilized through organizational practices, directing the racial component towards the constitution and re-signification of social reality. We draw on debates about the origins of Afro-blocks, racism, organizational practices and the organizational process to consider Afro-blocks as black organizations that shape their practices in the present, redefining the social reality in which they are inserted. We used a qualitative approach, with an ethnographic research context, and thematic analysis as an analytical tool. The main results highlight six common practices in the daily lives of the blocos studied: emotional practices, financing practices, negotiation practices, ancestral rescue practices, territorial practices and knowledge-building practices. We concluded that the Afro blocos, such as Angola Janga and Magia Negra, do not consider race as a practice, but rather as an organizing principle. They stand out for their racial appreciation and anti-racist commitment, giving these organizations their uniqueness. As well as being hotbeds of cultural and physical resistance, they are recognized as producers of collective knowledge that changes and is closely related to daily activities.