THE USE OF BIOGRAPHIES IN TEACHING POST-ABOLITION PERIOD HISTORY: A BOARD GAME PROPOSAL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW NO. 10,639/2003 IN HIGH SCHOOL

Abstract

Law No. 10,639/2003 established the compulsory study of African and Afro-Brazilian topics in Basic Education. A significant achievement in the antiracist struggle, it is the result of actions within Black movements and, along with the National Curricular Guidelines for Education on Ethnic-Racial Relations and the Teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture, has brought changes to school curricula, teacher training, and teaching materials. However, despite the advances in recent years, there is still silence in teaching materials concerning post-abolition history regarding the biographies of Black personalities. When studied, these are often addressed with a negative bias or limited to the period corresponding to enslavement. In light of this, we sought to reclaim the life stories of Black personalities who lived in the early decades of the post-abolition period and the social context in which they were immersed. To this end, we developed an investigative-style board game in which the players must analyze clues – which are historical documents – to solve a case. This article aims to present one of the cases from the game Trajetórias: Histórias de Vida de Personalidades Negras do Pós-Abolição (Trajectories: life stories of Black personalities from the post-abolition period), along with the initial results of its application with third-year high school students in a public school The case addresses the life story of Maria de Lourdes Vale Nascimento and her political action for the rights of Black women. The preliminary results demonstrate the potential of games to promote antiracist approaches in History Teaching.