Historical Genealogies of Black Feminism in Brazil: Candomblé Priestesses and Embodied Territoriality

Brazilian Black Feminists Lélia Gonzales, Beatriz Nascimento and Djamila Ribeiro constructed theories that reference historical processes of liberation among Afro-Brazilian communities, the two most prominent sites being the former maroon societies—<i>quilombos</i>—, and the Candomblé <i>terreiros</i>—communities of Afro-Brazilian religious worship. In this article I propose a genealogy of Black Feminism that places Candomblé priestesses as foremothers to the contemporary political and intellectual movement through the concept of embodied territoriality. Ethnographic and historical engagement with public representations of Candomblé shows that despite the rich history of Black women’s leadership, their politics are oriented more towards racial justice than gender oppression. Considering the ongoing tensions between an unmarked, but largely White ‘Feminism’, and the political commitments of Black Feminism as a path to liberation for all oppressed peoples, this work approaches historic Black women who did not frame themselves as ‘Feminists’, but who nevertheless are fundamental to the genealogy of contemporary Black Feminism. In conversation with US Black Feminism, the paper argues that following the relationships between generations of Black grandmothers and granddaughters from Africa to the Americas allows for continuity of Black feminist thought, history, and practice as it evolves through political and intellectual discourse.