Aphrodiasporic worldviews in Latin America: female protagonisms marked by ancestral practices in the northern area of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Latin American countries have as heritage the ancestral practices constituting the sociocultural structure, the history, and the memory of African groups and the African Diaspora. In this perspective, our article is part of a set of initiatives that seek to praise the importance of preserving Afro-diasporic memories in Brazil, focusing on a black territory in São Paulo – Parque Peruche Neighborhood, situated in the Northern Zone of the city of São Paulo (SP). Our main objectives are: a) participate in the production of memories and narratives concerning the diversity of Afro-diasporic groups and b) suggest possible interpretations on the presence and permanence of Black-African ancestry in such territory. Based on oral history and on fieldwork, we may indicate the presence of black women’s protagonisms as ancestral practices marked by inherited cosmovisions. Such conceptions create stated identities that particularize black experiences in the metropolis of São Paulo.