Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that people of African ancestry have used a variety of strategies to combat racism. It examines the history of strategies and resistance that Afro-Brazilian activists and politicians have used to combat racism in Brazil. The book discusses how they responded to racism in the context of a society that did not necessarily overtly discriminate in its laws, but where racism existed in practice. It looks at black agency during the Brazilian Empire of 1822 to 1889. The book focuses on the black theatre group Teatro Experimental Negra and the leader of that group, Abdias do Nascimento. It shows that the idea of racial democracy was being widely critiqued and that people of African ancestry in Brazil were subtly starting to develop a more Afro-diasporic relationship with other communities in the African diaspora.