Autobiographical narratives of a black woman: race and gender social identities

Abstract

This text focuses on the theme of racial and gender identities constituted in the daily life of a student/teacher, during the doctorate course in education, from the contact with vast academic materials related to ethnic-racial issues. The aim of this paper is to present autobiographical narratives of a black woman, who is a teacher-researcher, focusing on the construction of her racial identity. The theoretical basis that supported the reflections was the voices of several black women, here I mention bell hooks, Grada Kilomba and Sueli Carneiro. Another important presence is that of Conceição Evaristo's literature, which invites us to trace the art of writing/living autobiographical narratives that carry feelings, gestures, affections, friendships, tensions, conflicts, negotiations, which are part of the memories of the author's life experiences. Besides Paulo Freire's texts with emphasis on the writing of letters, an important pedagogical procedure that made possible the elaboration of autobiographical narratives as a way to promote the process of constitution of my racial identity. The methodology used was narrative research, using the genre letter as an exercise in narrating, used here with pedagogical and methodological value, not exactly for the purpose of sending to recipients. As results, with the writing of autobiographical narratives I reconnected with certain memories, events, past experiences, raising my voice in the process of self-growth and self-recovery, enabling the dismantling of structures of domination, and reinventing other ways of being and living.