Memories of black workers in the rapadura mills in Cariri cearense

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to reflect on the memories of black workers in the rapadura mills in Cariri, Ceará. To this end, we used Afro-descendance as a method, which inserts us into the geographic space in an objective and subjective way to establish contact with Africanities, providing connections with our ancestry and the recognition of African thought in the places. As methodological procedures, we carried out a literature review and field research, specifically in the municipalities of Crato and Barbalha. The African knowledge present in the Cariri mills is the continuity of an African legacy that was transferred by the individual and collective memories of Africans during the forced diaspora. We believe that it is necessary to take a critical look at the formation of Cariri's geographic space, seeing that African populations possess ancient knowledge, which predates the history of Europe, which will certainly lead to the recognition of black spaces and memories, as is the case with the rapadura mills in Cariri.