To be African in the city: identity and memory in São Paulo during the 19^th century

ABSTRACT

This text discusses the marginalization of the Black contribution to São Paulo’s formation through demographic data and historical studies about Africans living in the city during the 19^th century. It discusses changing African identities among both enslaved and free black people and their effects in the appropriation of the urban spaces. The text also discusses relations between narratives about the disappearance of the city’s Africans and their culture, the obliteration of the Black presence in collective memory, and the idea of historical invisibility of those men and women.

Keywords:
African; afro-descendant; São Paulo; ethnic identity; memory