This article narrates the history of the quilombola community of Livramento, in Angicos, RN, from the late 19th century to the present day, showing how racism, resistance and ethnogenesis have shaped its trajectory. Initially linked to cotton farming, the community faced exploitation and limitations imposed by landowners. The loss of family farming in 2010 and the need to survive through charcoal production characterized a period of great vulnerability. From 2017 onwards, with anthropological support and the quilombola ethnogenesis movement in Sertão Cabugi, Livramento gained visibility and recognition as a quilombo community. In 2018, certification by the Palmares Foundation opened doors to public policies, such as the installation of a water well and desalination plant in 2024. However, the community still faces challenges such as land titling and ensuring food security.

Keywords: quilombo, racism, resistance, angicos, RN

Rio Grande do Norte, one of the 27 states of Brazil, presents a diverse economic landscape, with a strong presence in the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors, including expanding tourism. Despite economic growth, Rio Grande do Norte still has a relatively small share of the national GDP, reflecting the regional disparities typical of Brazil. However, the state stands out for its exports focused on products such as fuel oil, fresh melons, and cotton fabrics, and for a growing domestic tourism market, attracted by its beautiful coastal landscapes and tropical climate, making it an interesting destination for European investors and tourists seeking new opportunities and experiences in Brazil.

Based on data from the 2022 Demographic Census by Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE, Rio Grande do Norte has a population of approximately 3.3 million inhabitants. Regarding color or race, the population is primarily divided between "pardos" (mixed-race) and "pretos" (black), with a significant portion self-declaring as white.

Concerning the presence of traditional populations, Rio Grande do Norte stands out due to the presence of Indigenous and Quilombola communities, which, although representing a small percentage of the state's total population, have great cultural and historical importance. Their representativeness, when compared to the national average, can be considered relevant, although a more detailed analysis of the Census data is needed to precisely quantify this relationship. It's important to emphasize that the recognition and valorization of these communities are crucial for the preservation of cultural diversity and for the promotion of social justice in the state and the country.

This article summarizes the anthropological advisory¹ process for rescuing the history of the Livramento Quilombola community (from the second half of the 19th century to the present day). It is, in itself, an accountability document to the community, expanding on the document, "Historical Memory of the Livramento Quilombola Community." This document was the advisory's contribution to the community in the recognition process in 2017, which resulted in the certification of the Livramento Community, in Angicos, RN, as a "remanescent of quilombo" community on October 26, 2018, by the Palmares Foundation. Following this certification, the community gained access to certain social policies related to traditional peoples that occurred after the certification.

As a methodological resource, we use the testimonies and on-site observation during the advisory work to show the existential history of socio-environmental conflict in the Livramento Quilombola community. This article is an extension, also for use by the community itself, of the data obtained in the participatory diagnosis and in the open and directed interviews regarding the history, problems, impacts, racism, and solutions found by the community. Complementarily, we include information after the diagnosis carried out by the anthropological advisory team.

The moments spent in the community and the numerous contacts made virtually were of utmost importance for the successes achieved – starting with the anthropological advisory work carried out, initially, with three social actors: the anthropological advisory, the community, and the rural workers' union of Angicos.

The choice to respect orality as a historical tradition that provides the rescue of the community's history was intentional. There is no intention, in the advisory, to analyze the discourses; but, rather, to seek in them compelling evidence of who lived, saw, and can speak with the authority that time provides. In this sense, we rescued the speeches of the two oldest residents, they are direct and simple speeches, but revealing of a history of exploitation and resilience. The other subsequent speeches only confirm the discourse of the two residents. It is explicit, in these speeches, a historical socio-environmental conflict and examples of racism (structural/institutional and environmental) and a coordinated action to make the community invisible in its ethnic-racial specificity – and, as a consequence, hinder access to public policies that the State guarantees.

In a second moment, we show the process and ethnogenesis and its consequences for the community: visibility, recognition and territorial conquest. Thus, here we are bringing a Return of the historical memorial as part of the anthropological advisory at this moment, in which the Livramento community has public policies being implemented (water security) and scheduled (territorial and housing security).

We reiterate, once again, the character of this text: to be an extension of the memory of the advisory field - which resulted in advances for the population of Livramento - and its dual objective (revealed in degree of importance): 1st to be a useful text to the families of Livramento (especially the youth who study) to have on their cell phone and have their history shared among themselves and in moments of institutional articulation;² and, 2nd for this reason, the option not to use concepts or categories that so characterize an academic text (and, in practice, are distant from an understanding and interest of the main social actors – in this case – the quilombolas). For this reason, in a complementary way, at the end of the text, we show an iconographic record of the community with photos from the advisory and from the community itself, to show the participatory character of the construction of its history.³

The Cotton Cycle: White Gold and Black People in the State of Rio Grande do Norte

The cotton cycle in Rio Grande do Norte from the late 19^th century to the mid-20^th century had a trajectory that went from prosperity to decline (without ignoring the significant variations in planting and harvesting times over the decades). In the 20^th century, it peaked in the "sertão" (backlands) region of Angicos in 1929 with the installation of a cotton processing plant (the work of landowner and politician Fernando Pedroza). This economic context of development led to a population increase in the region. The plants were also in neighboring municipalities such as Pedro Avelino and were a source of expanding economy. This cycle was called the "white gold"⁸ period. This cycle experienced growth until the 1950s; however, it persisted among farmers until the 1980s – when it was ended by the boll weevil⁹ pest. Quilombola communities were able to take advantage of this cycle to work and, in some cases, gain access to their territories.

From the second half of the 20th century, cotton cultivation by small producers in the Northeast region¹⁰ faced a process of decline that culminated in the 1980s with the transfer of cotton cultivation to the Midwest region. This situation caused cotton to cease being an activity related to family agriculture and rural communities in the Northeast region. On the other hand, there are also experiences being resumed for small farmers by EMBRAPA with organic cotton.

In the history of the semi-arid region of Rio Grande do Norte, the cotton cycle has a fundamental importance in the emergence and consolidation of many quilombola communities. It was common for people to be able to have access to land to plant cotton in the meia system (the production was divided into equal parts). In these cases, families could build wattle and daub houses and practice small-scale agriculture – when the climate allowed or if there were dams and reservoirs in the area. This context favored the migration of quilombolas in search of work.

Here we deal with the history of one of these communities: Livramento, in Angicos, RN, in the Sertão do Cabugi region. The community occupies the current territory from the second half of the 19th century to the present day (2024). The history of Livramento is marked by three categories defining their life in collectivity: racism, the capacity for resistance, and the process of ethnogenesis (self-affirmation and recognition of their condition as a quilombola community).

In the history of Livramento, there is a clear division into two periods: before and after the ethnogenesis process in 2017 - which resulted in certification as a Remnant Quilombo Community. The periods are respectively from the second half of the 19th century to 2010 (marked by racism in labor relations involving the cotton cycle and family agriculture) and from 2010 to 2024 (from losing agriculture, resisting as charcoal burners, and finally being recognized as Quilombolas). Currently, the community has been benefiting from public policies due to its condition as a quilombola community.

From the second half of the 19^th Century to 1929: the relationship with the Neighboring Farm

The history of the Livramento community had its genesis and constitution due to work in cotton on the farm neighboring its lands. Since the end of the 19th century, there were already inhabitants in the territory of Livramento working on the Pedroza farm. After 1929, with the construction of a cotton processing plant in the region, more families arrived in Livramento. According to local accounts, the community's existence dates back to the second half of the 19th century. The testimonies reveal that those born in the 1920s were already grandchildren of the first residents. Added to this fact is the existence of a large house near the community - which evokes a past, if not of slavery, at least of much exploitation in the period after abolition. The word "exploitation" is always spoken by the residents.

From 1929 to 1950: the height of cotton

The year 1929 was marked by the founding, by Fernando Pedroza, of a vegetable oil factory installed in the then Village of São Romão, district of Angicos. The community of Livramento, in a certain aspect, benefited from working in the planting of cotton in the meia system (half of the production going to the landowner, Fernando Pedroza) to supply the plant. These conditions were essential for the arrival of more families in Livramento, resulting in a population increase with new marriages and births; and, thus consolidating Livramento as a Black community (cotton combined with small-scale family agriculture guaranteed food security). From this period, we use the testimonies of the two residents of the community who hold the local history in their memory: Cícero, 89 years old, and Tibúrcio, 79 years old. Here I will reproduce, in full, the interview with Mr. Cícero, 89 years old. The oldest in the community.

Photo 1 Cícero. Living Memory of Livramento.

Geraldo: _How did this community start?

Mr. Cícero: _I've lived here since the day I was born, I was born in 1929, on November 9th... We came here, to this place and my mother died of measles. All this time I've been here, working in production for the farm and living in one of those nasty houses. And we were forbidden from touching them... Now they promised some new houses... And up until this time, no one says anything anymore.... Here it's all one family, all born and raised here. I can't say how many hectares. ... I don't know the quantity. But I know the boundaries. All of Livramento is ours.

The speech of the oldest resident reveals a past of exploitation and racism in structural and environmental forms – affecting the quality of life of families – thus perpetuating a history marked by conflict over the possession of the territory of the Livramento quilombola community. Mr. Cícero's testimony is emphatic in recognizing historical racism as a characteristic in the relations between the families and the territory of Livramento with the other social actors who dispute local power.

Our second speech is from Mr. Tibúrcio, who was born in 1929. According to him, his father already lived and worked on the lands. His wife was born in 1936. She was a resident of a neighboring farm. But her speech reveals a historical racial conflict, when she said

Photo 2 Geilson and his father, Mr. Tibúrcio.

"Here, in our homes, we can't build our bathrooms. They say this land isn't ours; and we can't build anything. How is that possible if my father arrived here at 16 years old, in 1920. My grandfather, on my mother's side, already lived here. I am the child of my father's 3rd wife. I was born in 1945. I've worked since I was 12 years old, picking cotton. It was almost slave labor. I worked de meia (gave half of what was produced)."

The words of the two residents are part of a collective chorus of the residents of Livramento. Direct, lucid, and, essentially, contemporary arguments. Worthy of reflections to the various social actors and institutions about traditional knowledge.

Even after more than A CENTURY of occupation of the lands of LIVRAMENTO by BLACK families, the culture of local domination persisted – maintained by political harassment. Until the year 2017, residents were prevented (in the form of political harassment and political actions) from building masonry houses (and even a masonry bathroom was also an object of social conflict) by the "heirs" of the Pedrozas. The argument was that they did not own the land (had no document to prove it) and were not authorized by the "legitimate owners."

From 1980 to 2010: from the height to the decline of family agriculture

When the reservoir was good, a lot was planted and harvested. But now only the roçado (cleared area) in the winter season. The reservoir burst in the last winter and now we are without water (Mr. Cícero) For four decades, the community had its food security guaranteed by the agriculture provided by the dam that accumulated water from the stream that passes through the community. The surplus beans and corn were stored for future plantings and use in food throughout the year. This area suitable for agriculture also allowed for the planting of grass and the possibility of raising goats. It was a quiet life. The community remained isolated and living on its own. This cycle is broken with the winter of 2010; which was strong and broke the dam wall. To this day, it has not been repaired.

From 2010 to 2017: Living Off Charcoal

When we use the expression invisibility, we have as an example the period after the dam burst and the community was left without conditions to produce food (restricted to the few winter periods). Under these conditions, only work on neighboring sites and charcoal making remained. I emphasize that this activity is considered illegal and subject to legal complications. But it is a centuries-old tradition of the sertanejo (resident of the backlands) (it is nowhere near comparable to the impact generated by wind farms or transmission lines).

The arrival of anthropological advisory services in the Livramento community was a direct consequence of advisory work initiated in 2015 in the municipality of Afonso Bezerra to elaborate a diagnosis on the local quilombola communities. In this work, the communities of Cabeço dos Mendes and Curralinho were initially identified.

The year 2015, with the realization of an anthropological advisory to identify the quilombola communities of Afonso Bezerra, RN, generated specific actions that favored these communities. With the diagnosis in hand, the mayor at the time managed to replace the wattle and daub houses of the community with masonry houses through a partnership with the National Health Foundation (I emphasize that the communities were not yet certified).

In 2017, the anthropological advisory continues and seeks the certification of the communities as remanescentes de quilombos (remnants of quilombos). The success was in 2018 with the certification of Cabeço dos Mendes and Curralinho.

With the quilombola ethnogenesis movement in the Territory of Sertão do Cabugi, initiated in the communities of Aroeira (in the municipality of Pedro Avelino) and in the communities of Cabeço dos Mendes and Curralinho (in the municipality of Afonso Bezerra), visibility was given to the community of LIVRAMENTO, as a QUILOMBOLA community. Added to this situation, the kinship between the families of Curralinho and Aroeira was placed as further proof in favor of the families of Livramento.

In the year 2017, the community was visited by Anthropologist Geraldo Barboza de Oliveira Junior who explained to the community its condition as a Remnant of Quilombo Community. After this moment, there was an integration of the community's demands into the quilombola ethnogenesis movement of Sertão Cabugi. After this contact, the Community was encouraged to organize around its ethnic identity and seek its rights. In reality, the situation of the Quilombola Community of Livramento was – literally – framed in the condition of "social invisibility." I explain:

Location of Livramento

Based on the map above, we will perceive the process of invisibility of the community and the consequent limitation of its access to public policies relevant to quilombola populations and territories.

1. The lands of the Livramento community are in the municipality of Angicos.
2. The families were registered in the municipality of Fernando Pedroza (which was formerly a district of Angicos) in the Single Registry System (CadÚnico).
3. Of the 14 families, only 01 was identified in CadÚnico as Quilombola (until March 2018) in the municipality of Fernando Pedroza.
4. The electricity records of the houses were identified as being from a farm located in the municipality of Afonso Bezerra (?!).
5. There was no Association to represent the quilombola families of Livramento.
6. There are 19 houses, some with more than one family living at the same time. Only one resident, the leader, has employment as a health agent in the community itself.
7. There are no cases of alcoholism or related issues in the community.
8. Some residents own cars and provide transportation services for people and packages.
9. The agriculture practiced is on a small scale, in backyards; guaranteed with the reuse of domestic water and the "calçadão" cisterns (cisterns with paved areas around them) for use in horticulture and backyards. The household cisterns are supplied by tanker trucks.

This is a summary of the social and economic context in which the Livramento community found itself in 2017. Following are photos from the diagnostic period.

From 2017 to 2024: quilombola ethnogenesis and access to public policies

In the second semester of 2017, 02 meetings were organized in two quilombola communities in the region: the first in the quilombola community of Cabeço dos Mendes (October 2017) and the second in the community of Aroeira (November 2017). It is worth noting that in December 2017, the community of Livramento posted photos of its Christmas celebration on social media (Facebook), already calling itself the Quilombola Community of Livramento. A process of empowerment that was visibly a result of its insertion into the quilombola ethnogenesis movement of Sertão Cabugi. In January 2018, the third meeting was organized in the community of Curralinho in Afonso Bezerra. At this time, representatives of the Livramento community participated. There was a general recognition that everyone was, in some way, related to each other.

The quilombola meeting in 2018

On March 6, 2018, the Federal Government's website published a note titled "Communities of Sertão Cabugi (RN) Hold Fourth Meeting.¹¹" We reproduce the original text below:

"The 4^th Meeting of Quilombola Communities of Sertão Cabugi is scheduled for March 17. The event will be held in the Quilombola Community of Livramento, in Angicos, Rio Grande do Norte, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Quilombola leaders and members of the communities of Livramento itself and of Aroeira, in the municipality of Pedro Avelino; and of Curralinho and Cabeço dos Mendes, in Afonso Bezerra, are participating. The program is open to the public.

The meeting is part of a series that aims to mobilize the communities, with the definition of strategies for the struggle for self-affirmation. The initiative also aims to discuss and advance on the project of certification of the communities with the Palmares Cultural Foundation (FCP) and, consequently, in the process of land titling, under the responsibility of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra).

And so, in March 2018, the Fourth Meeting of Quilombola Communities of Serão do Cabugo was organized in the community of Livramento.

The participation of the Rural Workers' Union of Angicos is an important piece in this process. The anthropological advisory continued through a partnership with this union. As a result, there was (and there are still ongoing) a set of actions in favor of the legitimacy and visibility of the Community of Livramento as a COMMUNITY OF REMNANT OF QUILOMBO. Thus, we can list:

1. Creation of the Quilombola Association of Livramento;
2. Change and updating (true and ethical) of the addresses of families with the energy company. Moving from a "phantom" address (Such Farm in Afonso Bezerra) to the real address;
3. Incorporation of families into the Single Registry System (CadÚnico) in the municipality of Angicos; and
4. Demand for the recognition of their ethnic identity – QUILOMBOLA – before the Brazilian State, in this case the Palmares Cultural Foundation.

Updating the diagnosis in 2024

The current conditions of the community can be altered through public policies relevant to this social segment. The income of families comes almost exclusively from the pensions of the elderly and informal work of younger people and adults. Only one individual has formal employment: the community leader who is a health agent – working in the community itself. The removal of firewood and the making of charcoal is still the source of income for almost all individuals. The drought that affects the region eliminates other possibilities (such as agriculture and livestock) of obtaining income.

Achievements After Certification as a Remnant Quilombo Community

In the year 2024, the Livramento community counts articulations that, definitively, are signs of its real visibility as a quilombola community. We can cite the visit of the Institute of Development and Environment of RN - IDEMA, the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform - INCRA, of state government agencies such as the State Coordination of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality -COEPPIR-RN, the Secretariat of Water Resources, and a wind energy company.

1. The visit of IDEMA was to discuss the impacts resulting from the high-voltage power transmission line that passes near the boundaries of the Livramento territory.
2. The visit of INCRA was to address and include the territory of Livramento in the agenda of communities that should have their territory titled.
3. The articulation with the Municipal Government of Angicos and Caixa Econômica Federal approved a project for the construction of 25 houses for the families of Livramento.
4. The articulation with the Secretariat of Water Resources guaranteed the community the installation of a tubular well and a desalination plant.
5. The visit of the representative of the wind energy company did not generate major results due to the fact that there was no meeting with the local leadership.

¹The advisory service was initiated in 2017 and continues to this day, taking the form of quilombola socio-environmental activism by Antropos Socioambiental Consulting, where I was the facilitator.

²In practice, it will serve as a portfolio to present the community in institutional contacts and as pedagogical support in regional education.

³There is also the possibility of using it to develop a Free, Prior and Informed Consultation Protocol (FPIC Protocol) in light of the installation of high-voltage power grids and wind farms in the area near the community's territory.

⁴IDEMA - Institute for Sustainable Development and the Environment.

⁵INCRA - National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform

⁶Caixa Econômica Federal - Caixa Econômica Federal is a Brazilian federal savings bank that plays a key role in social programs, housing finance, and lottery administration.

⁷IFRN -  Brazilian Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology in Rio Grande do Norte, offering a wide range of technical, vocational, and higher education programs

⁸"The importance of cotton is revealed by the name 'Ouro Branco' (White Gold) given to a municipality in the Seridó region

⁹The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is an agricultural pest in the U.S., and the species was introduced to Brazil in 1983, causing damage to cotton plantations in the Northeast.

¹⁰Known as 'mocó cotton,' it has an excellent fiber quality due to the climate and soil conditions. This cotton grows and flourishes in the rocky terrain of the Caatinga biome.

¹¹https://www.gov.br/palmares/ptbr/assuntos/noticias/comunidadesdosertaocabugirnrealizamquartoencontro#:~:text=No%20dia%2017%20de%20mar%C3%A7o%20j%C3%A1%20est%C3%A1,das%20comunidades%20da%20pr%C3%B3pria%20Livramento%20e%20de

The trajectory of the quilombola community of Livramento, in Angicos, RN, is a testimony to the persistence and resilience of a people who, for generations, have faced obstacles and challenges imposed by racism and social inequality. The history of Livramento places us before a past marked by exploitation and forced labor, and a present in which the struggle for rights continues to be a constant. The certification as a remnant quilombo community, achieved in 2018, represents a crucial milestone in the struggle for recognition and visibility. From this achievement, the community had access to public policies that boosted local development, such as the installation of a water collection and desalination system, the construction of new houses and the possibility of land titling. However, the challenges for the future of Livramento are still many. The consolidation of water and food security, land regularization, the creation of job and income opportunities, and the fight against poverty and social exclusion remain priorities for the community. The search for a dignified and just future demands continuous and effective actions of public policies, with a focus on sustainable development and social justice.

Here's the translation of the final paragraph and heading:

"The history of Livramento is an invitation to reflect on the importance of strengthening quilombola communities, guaranteeing their rights, recognizing their history and culture, and building a more just and egalitarian Brazil for all. The achievements reached by the community are a cause for celebration and hope, and the commitment to the struggle for their rights must be constant and tireless."

Iconographic record

Photo 3 View of the entrance to the Livramento community.

Photo 4 Open-air charcoal kiln.

Photo 5 Charcoal: The main source of income for most families.

Photo 6 Vehicles used for transporting people and goods

Photo 7 Wattle and daub house in very poor

Photo 8 Detail of the adapted bathroom.

Photo 9 Fourth Regional Quilombola Meeting of the Sertão do Cabugí.

Photo 10 Geilson, Community Leader, and poster for the IV Quilombola Meeting of the Sertão do Cabugi.

Photo 11 Dam wall of the reservoir (before the breach).

Photo 12 Reservoir after the dam breach.

Photo 13 Slab cistern with a capacity of 50,000 liters of water for domestic use.

Photo 13 Water desalination (treatment) plant.

Photo 14 First brick house in the Quilombola Community of Livramento.