Samba communities in the periphery and the context of Black aesthetics: musical performances, anti-racism, and Afro-consciousness

Abstract

This article aims to understand the formation of samba communities as expressions of Black arts in the outskirts of São Paulo. Samba circles emerged during the military dictatorship period, when popular cultural manifestations in peripheral neighborhoods were under intense state surveillance. At the time, these expressions were often interpreted by academia through the lens of popular culture. Starting in the mid-1990s, new cultural collectives began to arise in the outskirts, proposing artistic interventions centered on valuing Black aesthetics and affirming Afro-descendant identity. The “Samba dá Cultura Community” is presented as one of these contemporary, Afrocentric experiences. Through participant observation, we conducted a sonic ethnography of the samba circle, discussing its musical performances and its connections to the emergence of contemporary cultural movements guided by Afro-consciousness in the periphery.