The Black Thinker in Education Petronilha Beatriz Gonçalves e Silva: memories and reflections

Abstract

This text takes up relevant questions about black thought in education in Brazil. Through this interview we went on to deepen how 23 years after the publication of the book that inaugurated thedebates in this regard, questions about Brazilian black thought consistently reverberate, challenge and question the Education of Ethnic-Racial Relations at the dawn of the 21st century. Professor Petronilha affirms that such thought came with the enslaved African Black people and that in the Diaspora they are being recreated and remade, particularly through the experiences of Black teachers, especially Black female teachers, throughout the 20th century. Elements such as the relevance and timeliness of an anti-racist pedagogical praxis and proposals from the Black movement, Black institutions, projects and research that assume a visceral and dialogical commitment to the history and perspective of the Black people were highlighted during the interview. Through her family and school memories, the interviewee reminds us that, no matter how schooled we are, we cannot do without the thought that is built in family nuclei, in communities, in religious spaces of African base and by the Black movement. It is important to keep in mind that there is a Black thought in education in all areas of life. Although important organizations of the Black movement were articulated in the 1970s, the formulation of Black thought in education predates this period. This thought precedes the organized Black movement as we know it. It was, in fact, initiated by Black teachers from Primary School, today known as Elementary School.