Interview with Claudio Aparecido de Carvalho, former president of the Congadeiros Association of the city of Machado (MG)

Abstract

The interview given by Claudio Aparecido de Carvalho intertwines his family's trajectory, from a historical and spiritual point of view, with the context of the Feast of Saint Benedict in the city of Machado, in southern Minas Gerais. Cultural aspects associated with the lifestyles of the Black population established in the region are raised, considering political and economic dimensions linked to the transformation of the territory, the transition from the context of farms based on enslaved labor to the urban consolidation of the municipality, and the perpetuation of traditions that reference the African continent as a dimension of identity and belonging for the communities devoted to Saint Benedict. Claudio also addresses the context of the coffee economy that was established in the region, spanning the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, as well as transitions from the slave-based structure to the post-abolition era in the southern Minas Gerais territory.