Many Rivers to Cross: Black Migrations in Brazil and the Caribbean

Elaine P. Rocha

Jan 2024 · Vernon Press

About this ebook

Since the first contact with Europeans, the Americas have been a continent of immigrants as much as a continent of continuous migrations. Black migrations represent more than the transit of people between countries and regions and from rural areas to urban centers. It contributed to constructing networks that made survival possible, creating neighborhoods and cultural expression, impacting dietary habits, exchanging crops and agricultural techniques, and uplifting families from slavery and misery to ownership, education, and political representation. The most dangerous elements that moved from place to place with blacks were the ideas of freedom and citizenship.

This book brings together articles from authors dedicated to the study of black migrations in diverse countries as well as in diverse historical periods to highlight that the movement of black people has been continuous over the centuries. Sometimes voluntarily, others coerced, people have moved from one place to another, carrying with them history and important cultural traditions such as language, music, and religion. Moreover, dangerous ideas of liberty and equality would spread through the African Diaspora.

Ten authors from renowned universities contributed with their works on black migrations from a transnational perspective, exploring how people have transited between regions, countries, and continents, carrying their ideas, costumes, beliefs, and strategies for survival. In their trajectories, migrants built communities, created religions, musical traditions, languages, and much more. They influenced politics, contributed to revolutions and wars, to the economy, and shaped societies. For centuries, Latin America's official history has pushed black immigrants' histories to the margins, keeping them in the shadows and denying their importance in the construction of the modern world. The works brought together in this book aim to contribute to breaking this pattern, bringing the experiences of black migrants from the margins to the center.

About the author

Elaine P. Rocha has a Ph.D. in Social History from the University of São Paulo (Brazil), a Master in Cultural History from the University of Pretoria (South Africa), another Master in Social History from the Catholic University of São Paulo (Brazil) and a BA in History from the University of Taubaté (Brazil).

Elaine has been teaching history since 1985, at the secondary school level and from 1991 at the university level, teaching courses like Introduction to History, Brazilian History, Brazilian Culture, European Modern History, Gender History in Brazil, Research Methodology, Feminist Theory, New Theories in History Research, and Latin American History.

In 2003 Dr. Rocha left Brazil and lived in Pretoria, South Africa for two years. She moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2005, where she taught at the Institute of Gender Studies.

Since 2007, she has been a member of the Department of History and Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, campus Cave Hill, Barbados, where she teaches courses in Latin American and Brazilian History, Black Atlantic, and Research Methods.

Having chosen to study racial and gender relations in Brazil and Latin America, Elaine Rocha has published ten books, including 'O Início do Feminismo no Brasil. Subsídios para a História. Leolinda Daltro' (editor, 2022); 'Canal de Desvio. Um estudo da experiência de agricultores e índios no confronto com a Itaipu Binacional' (2021); 'Ideias fora do lugar. Representações e Experiências de Raça e Gênero' (editor, 2021); 'Mosaico: A Construção de Identidades na Diáspora Africana' (co-editor, 2020); and 'Milton Gonçalves: Memórias Históricas de um Ator Afro-Brasileiro' (2019). She also contributed with chapters and articles in academic journals and some newspapers and magazines.