Liberdade nossa África: de Matadouro à Quilombo Urbano

Abstract

The Freedom neighborhood is one of the oldest in the City of São Luis. It is usually broadcast in the media for problems related to violence, social inequality, but also to be the cradle of many cultural manifestations. It also emerged in the early 20th century, in a small area called Campina and the with the arrival of the municipal slaughterhouse to the locality, the neighborhood is called Campina the Slaughterhouse. In 1967, in the management of the Mayor Epitácio Cafeteira maker, there is the transition of the name, from Slaughterhouse, becomes Freedom. In the year 2010, during the period of the Demographic Census conducted by the Institute of Geography Statistics, it was noted that the population residing in the neighborhood is mostly black, and in the questionnaires aplied by the enumerators, muchof it was declared black/brown, according to the name used by IBGE. Currently, the community seeks recognition of the neighborhood as an urban quilombo, due to characteristics present in the community and the struggle of militant groups for the preservation of black identity.