Educação das relações étnico-raciais: o Ticumbi e as contribuições pedagógicas do negro brasileiro

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the pedagogical contributions of the Baile de Congo de São Benedito, widely known as Ticumbi, in Conceição da Barra, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Building upon Nascimento (2017), this research considers the "Brazilian Black person" as a conglomerate of African peoples speaking numerous languages and originating from diverse regions. Specific objectives include: investigating practices used to perpetuate Ticumbi knowledge; identifying elements within these practices that can be recognized as pedagogical contributions from the Black population within the Capixaba socio historical context, grounded in the foundations of Ethnic-Racial Relations Education. In this sense, concepts such as the Afro-Brazilian civilizational values of Trindade (2005), the living tradition of Hampâté Bâ (2010), Oralitura of Martins (2003), and Cosmopercepção of Oyěwùmí (2021) are appropriated, along with a literature review to understand the forms of tradition, respecting its particular mode, territories, and secrets, highlighting studies by Oliveira and Oliveira (2022), and Meireles (2018b) among others. Through research committed to African and Afro-Brazilian history, anchored in Law 10.639/2003, a qualitative methodology using (Auto)biography, as proposed by Souza and Meireles (2018), was employed. Fieldwork consisted of accompanying the Ticumbi tradition in its annual cycle. The results demonstrated that in Afro-Brazilian traditions, specifically the Ticumbi, a formal system of teaching and learning is not always followed. This process occurs depending on the experience of each master and the transmission of necessary information to those responsible for continuity, without this being recognized as lesser knowledge. A prominent pedagogical element was the transmission, albeit unplanned, from older to younger generations, a characteristic of the training received since childhood. Another highlight is the songs, many produced impromptu, which sought to portray the context experienced by the participants. In the context of Ticumbi, everything is sung, everything is revered by the voice. It is through the timbres that deities, ancestors, and forces of nature, among other elements, are remembered. Finally, the complexity of the tradition in its historical potential is highlighted, bringing information about conflicts that occurred during the colonial period on the African continent, more specifically in the ancient kingdom of Congo. Memories maintained through orality, passed down from generation to generation by members of the Baile de Congo de São Benedito de Conceição da Barra, in addition to a strong oral tradition about the events that occurred in the quilombola territory of Sapê do Norte, which has an intense history of struggle and resistance.