MR. JUSTO, A PEASANT FROM THE "GREATEST TIME OF LAND GRABBING" TO THE QUILOMBOLA STRUGGLE

Abstract

The article is based on the political experiences of the quilombola farmer Seu Justo Evangelista Conceição to focus on the complexity of the constitution of the quilombola struggle, which erupted in Brazil after the 1990s, and which constitutes an important strategy to combat racism, land concentration and confront the advance of predatory policies in the Brazilian countryside. Political confrontation built on the multiple and historical actions of black groups in different corners of the country, especially in rural areas. It is from the acts of daily resistance and also from organizational processes that the experience of His Righteous Resonates and imprints reflections. In the black community of Tingidor, Seu Justo began to participate in the Basic Ecclesial Communities (CEBs), the Christian Action in the Rural Environment (ACR) and the creation of the Association of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (ACONERU). The conversations held between 2017 and 2020, together with bibliographic material, provide support for the considerations outlined in this text, which intends to discuss, from the thought of Seu Justo, the ills posed to black villages in the region of Itapecuru Mirim (MA) in the face of expulsion attempts related to the advance of farms and developmental projects on black territories and the strong processes of resistance traced in the years of struggle for land and dignity for the black communities.