Requiem for a black historian

death, invisibility and return of Beatriz Nascimento

Abstract

The article takes a historiographical approach (study of trajectory) and, in the light of human rights (black feminism), on the social memory of the historian Maria Beatriz Nascimento (1942-1995). The narrative addresses the event of the murder of Beatriz Nascimento on January 28, 1995, which generated perplexity and indignation in the black community and in the historian's social network. This “fractured memory” sought to problematize a certain invisibility and forgetfulness of the historian in the following decade, since 1995, of the 300 Years of the Murder of Zumbi dos Palmares, then the March Zumbi +10 (2005) and the March of the Black Women (2015). Finally, the return and recognition of Beatriz Nascimento's legacy was considered both for her black trajectory and experience, as well as her appreciation for her academic, cinematographic and poetic production from the publication in a book, in the last decade, of her sparse work by newspapers, magazines and collections, since 1974. The documentary corpus of this work is based on a digital collection (commercial press, alternative newspapers, blogs of activists, movements and black entities), institutional portals of the National Library (Hemeroteca Digital and Digital Collection), the National Archive (Fundo Beatriz Nascimento), the Afro Digital Museum (UERJ-Rio) and the published work of the historian.