Comunidade Quilombola do Mel da Pedreira no Amapá: protestantismo como eixo de identidade religiosa

Abstract

The Community of the Remnants of the Mel da Pedreira Quilombo (CRQMP), located in the state of Amapá, on the 156 BR [Federal Highway], approximately 50 km distant from the center of the city of Macapá, consists of a rural community. This is about the 3rd community to self-recognize and self-define itself and the 3rd quilombo to receive its title in Amapá. It is a community which has its history, cultural practices and identity marked by the Afro-American religious matrix and later by Protestantism. In the last decades, the Protestant religiosity has become intensified with the emergence of other denominations the base of which is Pentecostalism. In this context, the main theme of this dissertation is centered on the analysis of the influence of Protestantism on the culture of the community of the remnants of the quilombo and processes of resignification of the black identity at the local school. The issues deal with religious discourses, resignification of cultural practices, the applicability of the Law nº 10.639/2003 to the school curriculum among other aspects which involve the local culture, religiosity and the black identity. Thus, the focus given in the discussion in this research is that culture, memory, ancestral roots and the history of the black population should be valued and recognized as a patrimonial good in the social construction, as well as in the school curriculum of the public schools implanted in the quilombola communities. A historical analysis is made about the expansion of Protestantism in Brazil, especially Presbyterianism in the state of Amapá, more precisely in the CRQMP. The in loco research at the CRQMP made it possible to perceive how strong the family ties were among them, as well as the value and importance of collective work, of the preservation of the land, and especially, the Protestant religious practice to which makes total sense this harmony and group life experience, since the religion legitimizes the friendly relations through its beliefs and spirituality. We cannot affirm that the CRQMP lost their black identity when it self-declared itself Protestant, since the evidences of the black matrix observed in the social, economic and religious space are very strong. The changes in the CRQMP did not happen only through the influence of religious factors, but above all, due to social and intercultural reflections of the community as a collective space. As to the quilombola school education policies in Amapá, these are coming along in very slow paces, since they are sporadic and fragmented actions without articulation with the regional reality. In the specific case of the CRQMP, it is urgent that a differentiated, quality education be developed as well as that there be the valorization and the permanence of the quilombola teachers and the implementation of pedagogical practices and of continuing education courses to tend to the local needs.