Uma igreja quilombola: a caminhada da comunidade São Sebastião da Boa Vista

Abstract

This research builds on several borders, or even several dialogues: between religion and science, faith and politics, community and territory, territoriality and ethnicity, Religion Geography and Political Geography, CEBs and quilombo movement. Located in Paraibuna Pains district, in the municipality of Santos Dumont (MG), the former Owls village is now the Community São Sebastião da Boa Vista, our research field, which is presented as this reality in construction, interconnecting several identification and territorialization processes: an amalgam of identities and territoriality. By the ties of consanguinity and neighborhood, the "community spirit" was constructed from common thoughts and ideals, reinforced from the basic work of CEB, particularly in the 80s and 90s. Reading again its history, recognizing their values and identifying the oppressions in the light of faith, São Sebastião da Boa Vista emerges as a community of life and destiny. The popular religiosity experienced by residents is enriched by the awakening of a new critical consciousness from the basic work, promoting social and political community mobilization and organization. In this process, the right to territory is established as a maintenance guarantee of community relations, and the quilombo territoriality as a political strategy for the acquisition of rights and access to public policies. The methodological contribution of this research is composed of ethnography and oral history. Our immersion in the community is done through ethnography. This allows us to observe, describe and analyze the contemporary organization of the group, while the oral history provides tools to access the history of their formation.