Becoming Black

José Eutrópio and Post-Abolition Black Agency

Abstract

Taking as a case study the biography of José Eutrópio (1886-1929), the article analyzes different aspects of Black daily life in post-abolition Brazil, such as the formation of family units, access to schooling, the challenges of survival amid the violence of racial discrimination, the political dimension of the construction of racial identity, and life goals based on dreams, hopes and fears. The story of José Eutrópio’s life speaks, in its own way, to the itineraries of many other black individuals, that illustrating the relationship between individual and collective realities, elucidating Black Brazilians’ strategies and agency and the interdictions that they faced during this period.