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Marronage as a Past and Present in the Adam Bledsoe

Southeastern Geographer, Volume 57, Number 1, Spring 2017, pp. 30-50 (Article)

Published by The University of Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.2017.0004

For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/650801

[ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 . ] Marronage as a Past and Present Geography in the Americas

Adam Bledsoe Indiana University

Chattel was a practice found throughout posits a placement of the maroon community at all of the Americas, lasting for hundreds of years the forefront of present and future discussions of and contributing to the assumed a-spatiality of U.S. rights. the populations of African descent present in the La esclavitud era una práctica encontrado a . While oppressed and seem- través de todas las Américas, que duró cientos de ingly dehumanized by the societies in which they años y contribuyó a la asumida a-espacialidad de found themselves, Blacks in the Americas found las poblaciones de ascendencia africana presente myriad ways to struggle against the imposition of en el hemisferio occidental. Mientras oprimidos a condition of non-being. One such method was y aparentemente deshumanizado por las socie- that of marronage. More than simply a reaction dades en las que se encontraban, los negros en to slavery and non-being, marronage was perhaps las Américas encontraron miles de maneras de one of the most creative and emergent methods of luchar contra la imposición de una condición de life-building found in the modern . Maroon no ser. Uno de tales métodos es el del cimarrón. communities, today, occupy national memories Más que una simple reacción a la esclavitud y el in various manners. This paper explores the his- no ser, el cimarrón fue quizás uno de los méto- tory and present-day understanding and exist- dos más creativos y emergentes de la creación de ence of maroon communities in two la vida que se encuentran en el mundo moderno. countries— and the . Whereas Comunidades cimarronas, hoy en día, ocupan las the history of maroon communities (known as memorias nacionales de diversas maneras. Este quilombos) were drawn on by the Black Move- artículo explora la historia y la comprensión hoy ment in Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s to make en día y la existencia de comunidades de cimar- claims for redistribution in wake of the fall rones en dos países: Brasil y los Estados Unidos de of Brazil’s Military Dictatorship, the spatial fig- América. Mientras que la historia de las comuni- ure of the maroon community is largely absent dades de cimarrones (conocido como quilombos) from the national memory and imagination of se dibuja en el Movimiento Negro en Brasil en los the United States. Instead, U.S. Black movements años 1970 y 1980 para hacer las reclamaciones de are more frequently associated with advocating redistribución de la tierra en consecuencia de la inclusionary politics or nationalist separatism. caída de la dictadura militar de Brasil, la figura By exploring the effects of the idea of the quilombo espacial de la comunidad cimarrón es en gran as a spatial entity in Brazil and acknowledging parte ausente de la memoria nacional y la imagi- the history of maroon settlements in the United nación de los Estados Unidos. En cambio, los mov- States, this paper argues that marronage contin- imientos negros EE.UU. son más frecuentemente ues, in the present, as a viable spatial praxis and asociados con la defensa política de inclusión o el southeastern geographer, 57(1) 2017: pp. 30–50 Marronage in the Americas 31 separatismo nacionalista. Al explorar los efectos demarcations of the space of les damnés de la idea del quilombo como una entidad espa- as invisible/forgettable at the same time cial en Brasil y el reconocimiento de la historia as the invisible/forgettable is producing de los asentamientos cimarrones en los Estados space—always, and in all sorts of ways” Unidos, este documento sostiene que marronage (McKittrick and Woods 2006, p 4). Put continúa, en el presente, como una praxis espacial another way, despite the fact that Black viable y postula una colocación de la comunidad populations remain spatially marginalized cimarrón en la vanguardia de las discusiones and their spatial capacities illegible, Black ­actuales y futuras de los derechos humanos en Es- signal unique possibilities in tados Unidos. our world. These potentialities are vital, as Black geographies can explore and reim- key words: Marronage, Black Geographies, agine the politics of place, while the real- American South, Brazil ization of freedom dreams can transform palabras clave: cimarrón, geografía del the world since they are based on place as Negro, América del Sur, Brasil a location of co-operation, stewardship, and social justice (McKittrick and Woods 2006, p 6). One of the iterations of Black introduction: marronage Geographies in the Western Hemisphere is as a black geography that of marronage. Slavery was a condition experienced Maroon communities, during the reign throughout all of the Americas. Whether of chattel slavery, were those settlements it took the form of the encomiendas, established by runaway slaves, who sought which forced indigenous and to escape their condition as fungible, accu- peoples of Central and to mulated property. Marronage was and is labor on plantations, or the Black chattel typified yb maroons “cultivating freedom bondage that typified , the on their own terms within a demarcated , and much of South America, social space that allows for the enactment slavery was central to the creation of the of subversive speech acts, gestures, and so- Americas and foundational to the soci- cial practices antithetical to the ideals of” eties in which we currently live. While marginalizing agents (Roberts 2015, p 5). slavery and the legacies of the assumed The settlements, “Known variously as inhumanity of Afro-descendant popula- palenques, quilombos, mocambos, cumbes, tions have wrought all kinds of devasta- ladeiras, or mambises. . .ranged from tiny tion around the globe1, the spaces created bands that survived less than a year to from the Black experience have also been powerful states encompassing thousands the sites of emergent forms of being and of members and surviving for unique existences all over the world. The or even centuries” (Price 1996, p 2). While subfield of Black Geographies attends largely populated by escaping slaves, these specifically to the spatial establishment of were not solely the purview of these emergent forms of being. Attention runaways. Across the Americas, maroon to these spatial articulations reveal the communities remained home to not only ways in which “the racialized production absconding slaves, but to freed Blacks, of space is made possible in the explicit , and poor whites 32 bledsoe

(Robinson 2000, p 138; 142). This meant topic. In this paper, I trace the ways in that early marronage had a long-standing which the understanding of maroon com- commitment to recognizing, promoting, munities can have an effect on the spatial and defending the humanity of everyone, imaginary and material struggles of Black regardless of race. The central quality of social movements in the Americas. Specif- these settlements—regardless of the num- ically, I take the case of Brazil and United ber of members or how long the commu- States to show that while both had signif- nity lasted—was protection against the icant maroon settlements in their early violence that typified slave society and the history, the popular spatial imaginary of valuation of Black life amidst a world that each nation deals with these communities saw Afro-descendant populations as com- in a very divergent matter. While Brazilian pletely devoid of humanity. maroon settlements play a fundamental In this way, maroon societies, in role in the discourses and concrete actions their very being, formed fundamental of Black grassroots politics in Brazil, the critiques of, and bulwarks against, one figure of the maroon and maroon settle- of the essential aspects of Western soci- ment remain largely absent from the artic- ety; the exercise of gratuitous violence ulations of Black movements in the United against Black populations. These “com- States. I argue that, while Black struggles munities stood out as a heroic challenge remain salient in both countries, the pop- to white authority, and as the living proof ular spatial imaginary—and the role that of the existence of slave consciousness maroon societies play (or do not play)— that refused to be limited by the whites’ comes to bear on the demands that move- conception. . .of it” (Price 1996, p 2). As ments make, the goals towards which they such, maroon communities were some strive, and the manner in which different of the earliest Black geographies found movements unite. in the Americas, forming unique The comparison between Brazil and in which the most wretched, beset upon the United States is a useful one, as both groups in society could form a new spa- are marked by Afro-descendant popula- tial being, despite dominant notions that tions that have historically influenced and such spaces were completely untenable shaped the territories and political climate (Roberts 2015). In short, maroon com- of their respective countries (see Du Bois munities were one of the earliest move- 1998; Graden 2006; Kelley 2002; do Nas- ments in the Americas to assert that Black cimento 1980a). Moreover, the current lives do, indeed, matter. political landscape of each country is very While maroon communities were much shaped by the competing agendas found all over the Americas, their place in of anti-Blackness and Black Geographies the popular histories of the Hemisphere (see Burton 2015; Vargas 2008). While remain uneven. While in a country like both Brazil and the U.S. have rich, estab- , maroons are central figures in the lished legacies of Black struggle, the spa- national history of liberation (see, for ex- tial and political praxes found within the ample, Jean Fouchard’s [1981] The Hai- various movements of each country are, by tian Maroons), other American nations and large, distinct. A comparison between remain largely ignorant and mute on this the two countries, then, is worthwhile in Marronage in the Americas 33 that it presents an opportunity to reflect “common sense” notions of space and on the different ways Blacks in the Dias- place, both of which function to discur- pora are spatially and politically marginal- sively and concretely fix certain bodies ized as well as the variations found within and populations in place or make them Black Geographies that Afro-descendant spatially superfluous altogether. Discuss- populations create to combat systemic ing these effects on Black populations, ­anti-Blackness and establish their own specifically, Katherine McKittrick argues ways of being. that “the production of space, particu- I begin by giving a brief description of larly within the discipline of geography Black Geographies as a methodology2 in and traditional spatial conceptualizations, order to explicate its role in the wider dis- fosters discourses that equate blackness cipline of Geography and reflect on how with subordination, the ungeographic, we can further conversations within Black and metaphor” (McKittrick 2006, p 8). Geographies through investigating their These dominant and dominating spatial various articulations. I then examine the arrangements have their origins in the history of maroon settlements in Brazil and the metaphysical and and their present-day articulations, before political economic events of Black slav- shifting to an analysis of the United States, ery, yet continue into the present through its maroon settlements, and the dearth of ­always shifting discourses and physical, attention paid to maroons’ legacies in pop- material practices. As such, Black Geog- ular Black movements in the U.S. I close raphies pay close attention to the histor- by looking at the Gullah-Geechee commu- ical and contemporary aspects of Black nity in the U.S. whose existence calls to marginalization, reflecting on issues like mind maroon settlements through their incarceration (Shabazz 2015), juridical history and current territorial praxis. This domination (Delaney 1998), the racial- paper ultimately reflects on the political ized aspects of prevailing political eco- and spatial potential that modern-day nomic arrangements (Gilmore 2007), and iterations of marronage have, and con- the oppressive aspects of social sciences siders the influence that notions of mar- on Black communities (Woods 2002). In ronage could have on social movements addition to this attention to anti-Black today. Far from an erstwhile Black Geog- oppression, Black Geographies pay close raphy, I see maroon communities as not attention to the many ways in which only present today, but as viable futures ­Afro-descendant communities seek to cre- for Black struggle, as these spatial expres- ate their own sense of place and establish sions assert the value of Black life in their their own spatial praxes. very being. Beyond leveling critiques, Black Geo­ graphies “locate and speak back to the geographies of modernity, transatlantic black geographies slavery, and ” by establish- Within the discipline of Geogra- ing “philosophical, material, imaginary, phy, a growing number of authors have and representational trajectories” that called attention to the exclusive result in “multiscalar processes, which of geographical literature, as well as the impact upon and organize the everyday” 34 bledsoe

(McKittrick 2006, p 7). As a corpus different ways marronage gets expressed within the discipline of Geography, then, in the Black Geographies of Brazil and the Black Geographies touch on a range of United States. spatial creations and relations, including the blues (Woods 1998), prison activism marronage in brazil (Gilmore 2007), the spatial philosophy and praxes of Malcolm X (Tyner 2006a), In Brazil, maroon communities were anti-police violence political organizing called “quilombos,” a word of African or- (Alves 2014), and the future potentiali- igin that came to have significance across ties of “decolonial poetics” (McKittrick the whole of South America’s largest col- 2013). This body of literature reflects the ony. The ubiquity of quilombos was the fact that there can exist numerous forms result of the fact that ex- of Black spatial expression and pays at- tended throughout the entirety of the co- tention to multiple scales, discourses, lonial and national (Moura 1993, and concrete action. Marronage, as a phe- p 5–6). Found wherever there was slavery, nomenon, touches on all of these factors, quilombos represented some of the great- as well. est fears held by the slave-­holding elites Marronage is an open socio-spatial of Brazilian society (Fiabani 2005). The relation, involving “a societal transforma- reality of quilombo communities was so tion resulting from the struggle to institute formidable that a 19th century Brazilian a distinct concept of freedom” and entail- slave owner described the settlements ing a “total refusal of the enslaved condi- as “a plague spread to every corner and tion”, its legacies, and its attendant spatial without remedy. . .[where] neither ad- assumptions and practices (R­ oberts 2015, venturers nor discoverers could pene- p 7; 13). In its attempt to create a fully trate” (Moura 1993, p 5 my translation). autonomous community (Roberts 2015, This quote evidences one of the central p 4), marronage must attend to multi- features of quilombos—the ability for ple scales, relations, and expressions of these communities to defend themselves anti-Blackness, and ultimately establish against systemic, racist violence. The “ad- wholly new ways of being in the world. venturers” and “discoverers” mentioned This focus on autonomy makes marron- in the quote were those actors whose ac- age unique to the practices and literatures tivities led to the usurpation of indigenous of Black Geographies, as it entails not and the enslavement of Blacks in only critiquing dominant spatial arrange- the mines and plantations of pre-abolition ments, but also creating entirely new spa- Brazil. That quilombos were spaces that tial relations that do not draw on modern prevented the spread of these relations is spatial praxes as the norm. Comparing indicative of the significance that quilom- different legacies of marronage and Black bos had for the oppressed sectors of soci- struggle can allow us to better understand ety. Quilombos provided an alternative to the complexities within Black Geogra- the brutality and domination that typified phies and the ways in which marronage pre-abolition Brazil. fits into hemispheric expressions of Black That quilombos were so common fur- politics. I now turn to a discussion of the ther meant that “the black maroon, the Marronage in the Americas 35 quilombola, therefore, appeared as a sig- from the violence and domination that nal of permanent rebelliousness against typified slave society. By bringing together the system that enslaved him [sic]” runaway slaves, free Blacks, indigenous (Moura 1993, p 11 my translation). While peoples, and poor whites, quilombos cre- quilombos were widespread across the ated territories that were fundamentally at Brazilian landscape, they were all unique odds with the hierarchies created in West- in their composition, spatial extent, and ern society and imposed on the Brazilian subsistence practices. Mountain ranges, landscape. These communities showed swamps, forests, and arid plains all com- that the most oppressed components of prised quilombo topographies, while Brazilian society were both willing and Clóvis Moura names seven “fundamental” able to create ways of life that rejected the types of quilombos: agricultural, extrac- violent ordering to which Brazilian elites tivist, mercantile, , pastoral, ser- sought to subject the masses. In short, vice, and predatory settlements (Moura what all quilombolas sought was a radi- 1993, p 32–33). Nevertheless, it is true cal break with dominant Brazilian society that some quilombos remain more famous and the creation of a new way of relating than others, even in the present. Specifi- to the world. By demonstrating that the cally, Palmares is generally held up as the “invisible” sectors of society could create quintessential quilombo. Palmares, lo- viable territories, quilombos ushered in cated in the present-day states of Alagoas some of Brazil’s first Black Geographies. and Pernambuco, was founded some- During the late 20th century, Black Brazil- where between 1600 and 1606, lasted ian activists drew on this legacy of strug- until 1695, and is estimated to have had gle to articulate their dissatisfaction with upwards of twenty-thousand inhabitants the ingrained of Brazilian society, at its peak (Kent 1965, p 173). Aside from to demand explicit rights in the new Con- its longevity and high number of mem- stitution of 1988, and to create a common bers, Palmares is famous for its military of territorial struggle among the prowess and ultimately tragic end. Facing oppressed sectors of society (Covin 2006). constant aggressions from both Dutch and Portuguese militaries, the people of Pal- marronage’s significance in mares were forced to constantly defend 20th century brazil their territory, such that from 1672–1694, the quilombo was facing a Portuguese In the late 1970s and 1980s, the Brazil- military expedition every fifteen months. ian Black Movement—a coalition of dis- In 1695, Palmares was defeated by a Por- parate social movements and activists— tuguese force of six thousand soldiers who mobilized against the country’s Military laid siege to the quilombo for forty-two Dictatorship, which had seized power in days, thus ending the existence of the fa- a 1964 coup d’état. The Military Dictator- mous community (Kent 1965, p 162). ship prided itself on the idea of the Racial Despite the variability present among Democracy—the notion that Brazil was a the different quilombos, what remained land of racial tolerance and harmony.3 The constant throughout all of them was the government sought to propagate this no- intransigent insistence on living life free tion to the extent that it forbade discussion 36 bledsoe of race or racial inequality under penalty that lived and died fighting anti-Black vio- of sedition (Alberto 2011, p 249). Despite lence (Rios 2012, p 53–54). By commemo- the government’s insistence on domesti- rating the struggles of those that gave their cally and internationally projecting the lives fighting racial domination and con- image of a racially harmonious nation, structing autonomous Black spaces, the Brazil’s Black Movement sought to ad- Movement demonstrated the continued dress the realities of racial violence in the relevance of Black resistance and creativ- country. In their efforts to create momen- ity amidst a racist society. Like Palmares, tum behind their demand that Brazil, as a Zumbi, and Luiza Mahim, the Black Move- nation, confront its systemic racism, the ment argued that Black Brazilians needed Black Movement drew on figures of Black to continually fight the racist elements of struggle to whom Brazilians could look society. Quilombos and quilombo leaders and with whom they could identify. provided a legacy on which Black Bra- The Movement attempted to unite zilians could draw nearly a century after Black Brazilians behind a common iden- slavery had been abolished. tity rooted in the memory of slavery and A new kind of national Black identity resistance to its continuing effects (Rios was formed in Brazil during this time. 2012, p 55). Rejecting the fallacy of the This identity at once called attention to Racial Democracy, which they saw as the inherent racism of the Racial Democ- serving to silence discourse on racial ine- racy and Brazilian society and created a quality, this movement argued that Brazil language around which Blacks from all remained steeped in racism. The Move- around Brazil could organize. Brazil’s ment demonstrated these problems by Black Movement used a variety of meth- pointing to the empirical violence faced ods and media through which to defend by Afro-Brazilians, such as police harass- and valorize Black life. From the “black ment, access to and treatment within the protests,” which sought to take back workplace, access to education, and po- public space and make the lived realities litical representation. Not content to sim- of Afro-Brazilians visible to the country ply critique the problems faced by Black (Rios 2012, p 43), to the focus on rural Brazilians, the Black Movement sought Black communities who evidenced unique to celebrate Black struggle and highlight forms of subsistence and governance both the potential for, and reality of, Black (French 2006, p 341), to the demand that political subjectivity. They drew on the the newly emerging Brazilian government spatial figure of Palmares—Brazil’s most recognize the legacies of structural racism famous quilombo— to re-define Brazilian in the country, Brazil’s Black Movement history and who they considered true na- of the late 20th century made Black life a tional heroes. By acknowledging Palmares central issue in Brazilian society. Abdias as a quilombo community and historical do Nascimento—a leading figure in the figures like Zumbi (Palmares’ last leader) Black Movement—named this approach and Luiza Mahim (a Muslim slave leader “quilombismo,” which he defined as the and participant in the famous 1835 Malê “erection of a society founded on justice, ­Revolt) as Black heroes, the Black Move- equality and respect for all human beings; ment celebrated territories and individuals on freedom; a society whose intrinsic Marronage in the Americas 37 nature makes economic or racial exploita- legislation that granted territory to erst- tion impossible” (Nascimento 1980b, while quilombo communities (do Rosário p 160). For Nascimento, quilombismo Linhares 2004, p 823). The result was a took account of the violence and destruc- transitory article in the constitution pro- tion done in the name of progress and mo- viding legal procedures for certain com- dernity and rooted itself in the liberation munities to gain territorial recognition as of those peoples that suffered as a result “remanescente do quilombos.”4 This ulti- of this devastation (Nascimento 1980b, mately led to the creation of the Palmares p 148). In short, quilombismo signified cre- Foundation, whose job it was to recognize ating spaces of life and freedom through and title communities whose ways of life the active agency of those considered sub-­ were reminiscent of the quilombos of the human. 20th century quilombismo was the past.5 While far from a perfect piece of continuation of the Black Geographies legislation, today this institutionalized initiated centuries prior. This required program has led to 244 communities paying attention to the plight of indige- gaining territorial recognition as of 2016, nous groups as well as recognizing that while close to two thousand more wait to Brazil defined itself on de-valorizing the have their territory acknowledged (mon- country’s African heritage (Nascimento itoramento.seppir.gov.br). More impor- 1980b, p 141–142). Above all, this meant tantly, the quilombo identity—brought establishing spaces and subjectivities that back to national dialogue by the Black not only celebrated, but propagated Black Movement—is a common spatial trope on life. Through the organizing efforts of the which Black communities in Brazil cur- Black Movement and placing the language rently draw. of quilombismo in national discourse, the Central to the idea of the quilombo is idea of the quilombo came to have signif- the self-liberation and autonomy of Black icant effects for Brazilian Blacks as Brazil communities. Communities identify as transitioned to civilian rule. quilombos insofar as they see themselves existing in unique relation to the world around them. Whether it is a rural com- quilombos in brazilian munity that farms, forages, and builds and social their houses with wooden frames, or an movements urban community living in cement-block Following the end of the Military Dic- houses that fishes and sells its catch in tatorship, Brazil’s constituent assembly, local markets, communities seeking to convened in 1986, contained a minority of take control of their own existence often members from Brazil’s Black Movement. draw on the idea of quilombismo. As such, Despite their small number, these activists it is not uncommon for communities that successfully demanded that the new Con- have not entered into the process for gov- stitution recognize the territorial rights ernment recognition as a quilombo to of Black communities. While initially in- draw in the language of quilombismo and sisting that the new government allocate to self-pr­ oclaim that they are quilombos. lands to rural Black populations, members For example, the community of Gam- of the Black Movement had to settle for boa de Baixo in urban Salvador, , 38 bledsoe often couch their struggle in the legacy quilombo territories receiving titled land. of quilombos. As a fishing community Perhaps more importantly, it was the na- with a predominately female leadership, tional employment of this term which Gamboa de Baixo evidences an ethics has given Black Brazilians a common of quilombismo by resisting the state- language of struggle. The quilombo iden- sponsored and localized violence that tity has effectively united groups from all plague the city of Salvador (Perry 2013). around the country under the belief that Despite using the language of, as well as Black Brazilians are competent spatial evidencing the praxis of, quilombismo, actors and have a right to a dignified life. Gamboa de Baixo is not legally recognized In short, the popular spatial imaginary of as a quilombo. Still, the legacy of quilom- Brazil, and Black Brazil more specifically, bos remains salient here, and informs has lent itself to the placement of autono- Gamboa de Baixo’s concept of struggle. mous territorial struggle and land reform The decision to draw on the history for Black communities in the national of quilombos shows that Black Brazilians spotlight. Comparing the case of Brazil to continue to see their struggle as one which that of the United States reveals the ways began centuries ago and which persists in which unique spatial imaginaries result into the present day. Furthermore, the leg- in diverging politico-spatial struggles, de- acy of quilombos and their commitment to spite the presence of Black Geographies self-sustenance on multiple fronts demon- and struggle. strates that present-day quilombos under- stand that they, themselves, must fight early marronage in the against the structural violence they cur- united states rently face. It also shows that these com- munities remain committed to actively cre- Maroon communities were a mainstay ating and defending spaces in which Black of the North American landscape. Across life is valued on its own terms. In short, the , maroon com- identifying as a quilombo—regardless munities existed in a number of forms. of whether this is a legal claim or not— Like the quilombos of Brazil, the maroon evidences the desire to create a world communities of the American South away from the racism of Brazilian society. demonstrated a wide range of ingenious The ideal of quilombismo forms the lan- methods to protect their freedom from guage of struggle for Black communities slave society. Establishing houses in trees, from various backgrounds. As Black Geog- tree stumps, treetops, swamps, caverns, raphies, quilombos continue to be viable and even underground caves known as spatial alternatives for Black Brazilians. “dugouts,”6 American maroons showed It was because of the Black Movement’s themselves able and willing to adapt to assertion of the history of quilombos and a number of different scenarios (Diouf their insistence that such communities 2014, p 98–99). Like the case of Brazil, still existed that a law was put into place marronage in the United States came into in the Brazilian Constitution that recog- being insofar as there existed populations nized the existence of such communities whose humanity was effectively denied by and has led to hundreds of autonomous the prevailing legal, social, cultural, and Marronage in the Americas 39 political structures. As Cedric Robinson (Diouf 2014, p 176). Escaping initial at- notes, “It would be through the historical tacks, the maroons relocated to another and social consciousness of these [en- part of Bas du Fleuve which was near the slaved] Africans that the trade in slaves Détour des Anglais plantation. The ma- and the system of slave labor was infected roons worked along with the slaves from with its contradiction” (Robinson 2000, Détour des Anglais, with the maroons p 122). Or, the societal insistence that cutting timber and tending to the slaves’ Blacks were not human led to the contra- gardens while the slaves stole domestic diction resultant from the unquestionable animals, powder, and ammunition for the humanity and spatial ambition of those maroons (Diouf 2014, p 171). By 1784, same Blacks. Unsurprisingly, then, the Bas du Fleuve had succumbed to a num- first maroon settlement appeared in North ber of raids by Spanish militias and atten- America when the first enslaved Blacks dant free Blacks and slaves (Diouf 2014, arrived on the . These particular p 182). Despite the seeming brevity of Bas maroons escaped from a botched Spanish du Fleuve, the mobility and adaptability colonizing effort in the in 1526 the maroons demonstrated in working (Robinson 1997, p 13). Maroon settle- symbiotically with local slaves and estab- ments existed across much of the North lishing multiple settlements evidence the American landscape, including , ingenuity present in Black Geographies , the Carolinas, , and Lou- and the lengths to which maroons would isiana. For brevity’s sake, I will focus on go to protect their autonomy. a few notable cases of marronage in the The communities of Belle Isle and Bear United States. Creek, also founded in the 1780s, existed Among the most well-known maroon in the southern part of Georgia and South settlements in the United States were Carolina on both sides of the lower Savan- Bas du Fleuve in , Belle Isle, nah River (Diouf 2014, p 187). These two and Bear Creek—the latter two existing settlements were populated by the same in Georgia and . Bas du inhabitants—the maroons left Belle Isle Fleuve was formed and destroyed in the after their increasing population led to 1780s in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. robberies of local plantations with the in- The settlement was peopled by over one tent of replenishing necessary provisions hundred individuals from over twenty (Diouf 2014, p 190). This reality led to the different plantations (Diouf 2014, p 157; organization of a militia in 1786, whose 182). Originally, the settlement remained express intent was to destroy the maroons’ unmolested from authorities due to an settlement. After leaving Belle Isle, the agreement the maroons made with a maroons eventually moved to Bear Creek. local plantation owner who allowed them In Bear Creek, the large contingent of to plant his land in exchange for cutting maroons that had fought for the British timber (Diouf 2014, p 159). Eventually, during the put their local militias, slaves, and free mulattoes military knowledge to use (Diouf 2014, were employed to hunt the maroons, who p 194). At Bear Creek, the maroon commu- had made their presence known through nity protected itself with a four-foot high raids on local plantations and storehouses breastwork, a creek obstructed with felled 40 bledsoe trees to prevent from navigating its they needed very little interaction with depths, and a sentry that kept watch over the outside world. These isolated parts the area (Diouf 2014, p 197–198). The of the Swamp were so independent from militarized nature of Belle Isle and Bear the outside world that some of those born Creek made the settlements unique to the and raised there never saw a white per- maroon landscape of the United States, son. Often, they never encountered any- however, this uniqueness served to protect one from outside the maroon community the same core value for which all maroon (Diouf 2014, p 218). While solitary, life communities struggled. This value “was in the Great Dismal Swamp offered pro- more than a refusal of slavery, it was the tection from the violence experienced by right to self-determination” (Diouf 2014, both slaves and free Blacks in dominant p 208). U.S. society. While Bas du Fleuve, Belle Isle, and Moses Grandy, a slave who worked the Bear Creek all existed in the late 18th cen- canals around the Great Dismal Swamp tury, perhaps the most famous settlement so that his master might cut and transport in North America existed until the end of timber, exemplifies someone who found the . The Great Dismal Swamp, safety in maroon communities, away from located in both Virginia and North Caro- dominant society. After hiring himself out lina, came into being as early as the early to different masters and earning a suffi- 1700s and was divided into two distinct cient sum of money, Grandy bought his areas. One area was populated largely by freedom from his own master. Legally male maroons who sold their labor to the free, Grandy moved into the Great Dis- Land Company, for whom they chopped mal Swamp, where he built himself a hut, trees and made shingles and staves (Diouf writing, “I felt to myself so light, that I al- 2014, p 212). The other portion of the ma- most thought I could fly” (Grandy 2011). roon settlement was located “In the humid Clearly, life in the Great Dismal Swamp and waterlogged swamps, [where] the offered certain aspects of freedom that maroons settled on knolls and small the outside world could not. Marronage that two or three feet above water. in the Swamp lasted for over 100 years They were located far inland, surrounded before Black Union troops brought the by miles of marshes, a choice of setting news of abolition to the swamp-dwelling that clearly exposed the maroons’ efforts community. With legal slavery no longer at complete isolation” (Diouf 2014, p 221). practiced, many maroons left the Swamp The inland portion of the Great Dismal to live in the outside world. Swamp saw the maroons living in cab- Like the maroon communities found in ins elevated on stilts, with bows the rest of the Americas, North ­American and arrows, clearing small fields to grow maroon settlements were not solely spaces corn and sweet potatoes, raising fowl and inhabited by populations of African de- hogs, and gathering fruits, honey, bark, scent. Early marronage in the United roots, and herbs for medicine (Diouf 2014, States was typified by the presence of p 221; 223–224). The remoteness of the Blacks, poor whites, and indigenous peo- inner Great Dismal Swamp allowed the ples, such that, “by the beginning of the maroons there to farm at such a scale that eighteenth century, mixed communities Marronage in the Americas 41 of renegade colonists, Native , Diouf suggests that this historical elision and Africans were being molded. As the may be due, in part, to the fact that many slave trade increased the local African scholars and white Southerners have de- population, it also added new human re- nied the widespread existence of maroon sources to the maroon villages and guer- settlements. In addition to this, the lack of rilla bands” (Robinson 1997, p 14). These large maroon (a la Palmares) and various groups needed to band together, maroon wars in the United States may also as they all suffered different forms of sub- contribute to the national blind spot re- jugation from a similar power source—a garding maroon settlements (Diouf 2014, society rooted in slavery and undergirded p 2). The consequences of ignoring the by a hierarchical metaphysics. Marronage legacy of maroons is importantly demon- in the United States, then, was as much a strated in the discourses and concrete pol- Black Geography as was marronage an- itics of Black social movements in the U.S. ywhere else, in that those populations Among the articulations of Black deemed invisible and forgettable were struggle in the 1960s and 1970s, maroon able to create spaces that defended them communities were largely ignored as a against the violence that accompanies an past, present, or future space of struggle. a-political existence. Still, despite what A ­notable exception to this is the Black these communities were able to achieve as Panther Party for Self-Defense, which autonomous spaces, maroon societies re- mounted a movement rooted in an ethic of main largely ignored in the United States’ marronage. Their 10-Point Program, which popular spatial imaginary as well as the articulated the demands and beliefs of the imaginary of U.S. Black movements. Party, insisted on the ability for Black peo- ple to determine their own destiny through the establishment of their own governing 20th century u.s. black structures (Seale 1990, p 66; 69). As James movements Tyner states, “The Black Panther Party was While maroons in the United States are consonant with other ‘Black geographies’ recognized among specific academic cir- in rethinking the underpinnings of black cles and those with a general knowledge oppressions”, such that “the geopolitical and curiosity about the history and legacy thought of the Black Panthers. . .demon- of slavery and Black resistance, attention strates a particular that to maroon settlements is largely lacking is predicated on the respatialization and among the general U.S. population as well repoliticization of urban space” (Tyner as Black movements in the U.S. Clearly, the 2006b, p 116). Aside from this important United States has a rich, complex history outlier, marronage was generally neither of maroon societies. The Black drive for referenced, nor practiced in 20th century autonomy was not only present, but strong U.S. social movements. and formidable in the United States, just Other strands of Black struggle in the as it was in Brazil and other areas in the U.S., such as the Back to Movement Americas. Nonetheless, maroons remain and the Civil Rights Movement, couched unacknowledged in the popular spatial their demands in of national imaginary of the United States. Sylviane separatism and institutional inclusion, 42 bledsoe respectively. The Declaration of Rights of create the conditions for an assumed in- the Negro Peoples of the World, drafted by humanity, and, as such, allow for the in- the Universal Negro Improvement Asso- visibility of certain populations, remain ciation, championed the Back to Africa intact. agenda, stating that “we. . .demand Africa The aim of this paper is not to de- for the Africans at home and abroad” and nounce any of these movements, as their “We believe in the inherent right of the collective aims were and are for the libera- Negro to possess himself of Africa, and tion of an oppressed people, but rather to that his possession of same shall not be reflect on the differences found among the regarded as an infringement on any claim discourses and results of marronage ver- or purchase made by any race or nation” sus sovereignty and inclusion as guiders (UNIA 1920). This line of thought sought of social movements. Brazil’s Black Move- to remove Blacks from the U.S. and settle ment, for example, drew on the legacy of them in Africa, where they would ulti- quilombos to recognize systemic racism mately form a self-governed nation-state. and violence, create a common language The Civil Rights Movement, on the other of autonomous struggle, and establish hand, focused largely on integrating legislation regarding land redistribution Blacks into American society. Martin Lu- in Brazil. The territorial implications of ther King—a central figure in the Civil these factors have effectively created a Rights Movement—defined integration as nation-wide movement for land redistri- “the positive acceptance of desegregation bution, rooted in aspirations of autonomy. and the welcomed participation of Ne- Moreover, the language of quilombos has groes into the total range of human activi- nationally united Black communities seek- ties” while also labeling this integration as ing to control their own destiny. In this “the ultimate goal” of the movement (King way, Black communities in Brazil continue 1991, p 118). Both of these approaches, to discursively and concretely demon- while containing their own sets of values, strate the persistence of marronage in the fall short of creating the unique, open pos- present. On the other hand, land redistri- sibilities that marronage offers. bution, in the form of autonomous, non- The Back to Africa and Civil Rights sovereign spaces created by and for Blacks movements presented (and, in some cases, in the United States, is a relatively marginal still present) important critiques of soci- discourse and practice in our current mo- ety and suggestions for improving Black ment. Despite this fact, there are, indeed, Americans’ conditions, yet they ultimately communities still in existence whose way rely on prevailing practices of sovereignty of life evinces conditions of marronage. or nominal insertion into dominant soci- ety. Both of these registers—sovereignty present-day maroon and institutional inclusion—rely on the communities in the recognition of the prevailing power bro- united states kers in society; an arrangement that lim- its potential territorial arrangements and Like the case of Brazil, where present- expressions of freedom and subjectivity. day communities continue to practice mar- As a result, dominant power relations that ronage in their efforts to create unique, Marronage in the Americas 43 autonomous societies where racist vio- the continuation of territories where the lence and human hierarchy is not prac- centuries-long struggle against anti-Black ticed, the U.S. is also home to groups ­violence forms the core of the population’s with similar social and ­political practices. territoriality. Like the quilombo commu- Communities like the ­Gullah-Geechee nities in Brazil today, the Gullah-Geechee of the Southeastern United States—not provide an example of the fact that mar- to mention a whole plethora of other ronage is not simply a thing of the past—it populations whose cases are not as well remains salient in the present, as well. ­documented—continue to maintain a Today, the Gullah-Geechee’s land unique cultural, economic, and politi- claim—known to some as the Gullah cal existence in the American South. The Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor— ­origins of the Gullah-Geechee commu- stretches from Wilmington, North Caro- nity certainly have some similarities with lina to Jacksonville, Florida, comprising maroon communities discussed above. some 12,818 square miles (U.S. Congress For instance, the Gullah-Geechee were 2016; www.gullahgeecheecorridor.org). able to create their unique world due to a The large geographical expanse of this relatively high amount of independence corridor is accompanied by a great degree and isolation, even as slaves. This relative of variation among the different commu- independence was the result of the fact nities that comprise the Gullah-Geechee. that “Plantations were spread out, often In other words, there is no homogenous, literally , highly isolated” while singular “Gullah-Geechee” experience. “Field hands were left largely to their own Rather, the many groups that comprise devices and lived quite remote lives” and the wider Gullah-Geechee community “management [read: slave owner con- continue their legacy of struggle in various trol] was often distant rather than direct” contexts and manners, further evidencing (­Morgan 2010, p 29; 30). This isolation, the openness of marronage and the ma- coupled with the various customs, beliefs, roon commitment to remain autonomous and cosmologies—some brought from from myriad forms of oppression. The Africa, others undoubtedly cultivated in relative autonomy of these communities North ­America—held by the slaves, led has continued for generations. Traditional these groups “to the making of their [own] farming, fishing, hunting, and small-scale history” (Morgan 2010, p 39). Their way of marketing typify Gullah-Geechee eco- life meant the creation and maintenance nomic practices, while their language, arts, of distinctive cultural, religious, linguistic, crafts, religious beliefs, folklore, rituals, political, and gastronomic expressions that and sense of place and family also remain have persisted into the present. While these central to the community’s reproduction facts mirror the origins of maroon com- ( 2013; Matory 2008). With these munities of the past, I am more interested practices, the Gullah-Geechee are able in the ways in which the Gullah-Geec­ hee to practice subsistence livelihoods, pro- have preserved aspects of marronage in viding for their families while selling the the present. As discussed below, specific fruits of their labor for income, while also aspects of the current Gullah-Geec­ hee continuing their traditional linguistic, reli- lifestyle demonstrate a commitment to gious, gastronomic and cultural practices 44 bledsoe

(Derickson 2016, pp 40–41). This ability yacht clubs, residential subdivisions, and to materially provide for themselves, and gated communities have replaced much the possession of socio-cultural practices of the traditional Gullah-Geechee lands that reify a unique relations to community on these particular islands, displacing and the land they live on reveal the ways the communities through the privatiza- in which the Gullah-Geechee produce tion of lands and increased costs of liv- aspects of marronage in the present-day ing in such “developed” areas (Jarrett United States, as they evidence Black spa- 2003; Jenkins 2006). Another challenge tial self-affirmation and definition amidst to ­Gullah-Geechee life are Department an anti-Black society. These all-important of Natural Resources fishing regulations, practices, however, are threatened by a va- which limit the amount of fish the com- riety of competing land claims. munity can catch, a reality that limits the In the 20th century, resort, golf course, community’s ability to continue its sub- gated community, and wildlife preserve sistence practices. Still other issues facing development began threatening the con- the community manifest in the property tinuation of their traditional existence. In laws that the Gullah-Geechee face, which 1942, for instance, a Gullah community make it both legally difficult and finan- was given two weeks to leave their homes cially burdensome to maintain legal title on the Georgia coast so that the U.S. mil- to land, and contribute to property seizure itary could build a base for pilot training and sales (Derickson 2016, pp 41–43). The and anti-submarine flights. Under threat issues the Gullah-Geechee face make the of their property being bulldozed and continuation of their way of life difficult, burned, the Gullah quickly left the area. as the ability to reproduce their inimitable Despite promises that the Gullah would lifestyle through a presence on their tradi- get back their land after II, tional lands is challenged through the ac- in 1962, the former base and surround- tions of private and public interests. This ing area were converted into the Harris is a trend the community hopes to reverse. Neck National Wildlife Refuge. In spite Despite being treated as invisible ob- of several attempts to recover their tradi- jects, the various communities of the tion land, including federal lawsuits and Gullah-Geechee remain resolved to pro- petitioning the federal government for a tect their community and way of life from land lease, the Gullah have not succeeded the deleterious effects of outside forces. in taking back their stolen land at Harris While landforms like marshes once pro- Neck (www.npr.org). Other threats to the tected certain Gullah-Geechee group Gullah-Geechee way of life has come from from the pressures of outside capital and a variety of “coastal developments” that assimilationist tendencies, the current in- have unfolded in the past hundred years. fluences from non-Gullah-Geechee actors While islands like Cumberland, Jekyll, Os- means that new forms of territorial and sabaw, and Sapelo have also experienced cultural preservation must take place. the effects of the creation of environmen- In addition to engaging the federal gov- tal and wildlife reserves, other areas, like ernment by demanding legal land rights, St. Simons and Hilton Head, have be- the Gullah-Geechee have also organized come overrun with resorts. Golf courses, things like the Gullah/Geechee Marronage in the Americas 45

Coalition. Formed in 1996, the Coalition’s which is, itself, defined by their ability to expressed goals are to advocate for the provide for and govern themselves de- rights of the Gullah-Geechee peoples; to spite existing amidst a society structured promote and participate in the preserva- by racist and capitalist hierarchy. Given tion of Gullah-Geechee history, heritage, these circumstances and the Gullah-­ culture, and language; to work toward Geechee’s resolve to staunchly defend Sea Island land re-acquisition and main- their way of life, it is accurate to identify tenance; and to celebrate Gullah-Geechee this community as a purveyor of a maroon culture through artistic and educational existence. While rarely cast in terms of means (Goodwine 2016). Another impor- marronage, the Gullah-Geechee and its tant organization is the Gullah/Geechee community goals parallel the drive for Fishing Association. This Association aims self-­determination evidenced in the his- to protect the rights of Gullah-Geechee torical and contemporary quilombo and and African American fishermen, to pass maroon communities mentioned above. down traditional fishing methods with It is this fact of self-de­ termination and its future generations, and to restore access attendant connection to modern-day mar- to the areas and factories needed to sus- ronage that make the Gullah-Geechee an tain the seafood industry in the Gullah- anomaly in the U.S. spatial imaginary. Geechee community and southeastern Quet, the Queen Mother of United States (www.gullahgeecheena- the Gullah-Geechee Nation, describes tion.com). Both of these organiza- the difficulties with which outsiders pro- tions work to protect the ability of the cess the existence of her people, noting ­Gullah-Geechee people to reproduce that statements such as, “We don’t really their way of life—a way of life in which know if they have a real culture” have an Afro-descendant population creates accompanied discussions on the Gullah-­ a society unique from a world steeped Geechee (Griner 2015). Questions about in anti-Black violence. Above all, these the uniqueness of Gullah-Geechee cul- measures serve to protect the Gullah-­ ture, as well as an assumed defunctness of Geechee territoriality, preserving the the people, accompany conversations on spatial relations and understandings that the Gullah-Geechee for many Americans. define the Gullah-Geechee way of life. Ignoring the present-day ramifications The stated goals of the Gullah-Geechee of the historical, cultural, linguistic, and remain similar in nature to the underly- economic legacy of the Gullah-Geechee, ing aspects of quilombismo, described by is, in Quet’s words, “a way to make sure Abdias do Nascimento in the context of people think we’re legend, and that we’re Brazil. Like quilombismo, the history and something of the past, that you only find present-day actions of the Gullah-Geechee Gullah Geechee in a history book” (Griner demonstrate a commitment to justice, 2015). Because the history and legacy equality, respect, freedom, and a society of maroon communities and marronage resistant to economic or racial exploita- is relatively absent in the United States, tion. The Gullah-Geechee’s dedication to it is unsurprising that a group like the these values comes across in the varied Gullah-Geechee, who evince a modern- efforts to protect their plural way of life, day marronage, would cause intellectual 46 bledsoe consternation among those presented maroon societies are in a unique position with their situation. It may seem to some to be included in emerging discourses of that the Gullah-Geec­ hee simply cannot Black life. In thinking through what Black exist, as the United States appears to many struggle can look like today, we would do as a place devoid of maroon subjectivi- well to learn from communities that ex- ties. This approach is a dangerous one, hibit qualities of moder­ n-day marronage. however. An inability to recognize the im- In this paper, I have drawn on the case of portance of marronage in our present mo- the Gullah-­Geechee as a diverse popula- ment means an inability to grapple with a tion that maintains aspects of a maroon way of life that actively seeks to struggle community in the present-day. This is against the violence of racist domination. not to suggest that marronage in the U.S. solely applies to the Gullah-Geechee, nor that other communities must emulate conclusion: the importance them in order to evidence a maroon sub- of marronage today jectivity. Rather, it means that we must Clearly, despite the undeniable pres- pay attention to and struggle alongside ence of Black Geographies in the U.S. populations who seek to create a future and Brazil, there exists much variability not defined by racial domination, in which among these geographical expressions. In all life is valued and protected. comparing the Brazilian and U.S. cases, I As we move forward, finding ways to have attempted to illustrate the different physically, discursively, and ethically as- ways that Black Geographies can mani- sert that Black lives do matter, we must fest themselves based on divergent spatial pay attention to those communities whose imaginaries and historical ideals, thereby very being ensures that Black lives are val- helping us reflect on the stakes of varied ued and protected. This means acknowl- historical understandings and spatial edging the victories and shortcomings of and political struggles. Moreover, I have past maroon communities, who defended sought to touch on the potential rami- themselves against the most naked of anti-­ fications of engaging with, or ignoring, Black violences. It means looking to inter- the realities of marronage in Black Geog- national cases, like that of Brazil, where raphies. By not recognizing the legacy of marronage is still invoked as a viable polit- maroon societies as integral to our Ameri- ical subjectivity amidst the quotidian rac- can landscape and not tying these commu- ism of dominant society, and linking our nities’ struggles to the centuries-long fight experiences with Black struggle and crea- for autonomy by oppressed Black actors, tivity in the wider . Moreover, it we run the risk as geographers, activists, means paying attention to the communi- and citizens of being party to a structural ties in the United States whose existence violence that has the potential to devas- are currently defined by a maroon ethics, tate Black communities. In our present yet remain largely unacknowledged be- moment, with Black-led social move- cause of the silence which meets the topic ments once again at the fore of American of marronage in North America. The ethics grassroots politics, communities like the of marronage, while emerging during the Gullah-Geechee and the spatial figure of days of slavery, continue to have a central Marronage in the Americas 47 importance to the world we live in today, that offer a distinct approach to existing in given the violence that Black populations the world. continue to face. Marronage has this con- tinued importance precisely because of acknowledgements its variable and open nature and its fun- I would like to thank LaToya Eaves and Brian damental commitment to valuing all life, Williams for their work on this special issue, as including that of populations deemed well as Hilda Kurtz, who has been suppor­ tive non-existent. In this way, marronage, as and generous throughout the process of pub- a political subjectivity and ethic, tran- lication. I would also like to thank those that scends time and place, remaining relevant ­offered constructive feedback on this paper in in the present, in potentially innumerable its early form at the 2015 SEDAAG ­Conference iterations. Marronage, as a Black Geogra- in Pensacola, Florida. Finally, two anon­ ymous phy, truly does offer an alternative way of reviewers helped improve this paper and life that redefines notions of cooperation streamline­ its arguments. Any shortcomings and social justice through spaces of Black or errors are entirely my own. self-determination. We must recognize the past, present, notes and future of the ethic of marronage here 1. Here I am talking about the effects of in the United States, and assist those whose slavery as both a political economic as well as way of life continues that legacy. Given an ontological arrangement in society. In short, the rich history of struggle and creativity slavery has not only affected the material re- present in groups like the Gullah-Geechee, alities of Afro-descendant populations in the those concerned with defending Black life Americas through continued forms of margin- from the structurally racist expressions of alization such as dispossession, physical and American society might have something to psychological violence, and entrenched pov- learn from such a community. In recogniz- erty, but has also led to assumptions of Black ing this fact, we, as North American schol- non-being, natal alienation, and a priori dis- ars, activists, and citizens can reflect on honor (Wilderson 2010, pp 13–15). While the present and future Black struggles and en- present-day empirical instances of slavery’s gage with the possibilities that marronage effects remain salient today, this “ontology offers us, as a politico-spatial praxis. Fur- of slavery” remains the purview of the figure thermore, engaging with the potentials of of the Black in modernity, fixing assumptions marronage here in the United States will of inhumanity and lack of spatial capacity to further connect Black struggles in the U.S. Black peoples (Wilderson 2010, p 18; 315). with those overseas, where conversations Invariably, these metaphysical and concrete ar- and political organizing around marron- rangements are co-constitutive. age is already taking place. As we struggle 2. While a methodology, Black Geographies to realize a new society in which Black life is appropriately understood as an epistemology, does, indeed matter, we can take cues from as well, given that Black geographical expres- those whose lives actually express such a sions spring from Black populations’ knowledge praxis. Ignoring this reality runs the risk of and critique of the modern world. contributing to the continuing erasure of 3. The Racial Democracy continues to in- Black political alternatives—alternatives fluence popular ideas of race relations in Brazil 48 bledsoe today. This idea is underpinned by the notion would place a dead tree stump above the chim- that Brazil is absent racism and racial prejudice ney in order to hide the smoke; others cooked as evidenced by the high rate of racial “mixture” with hickory or bark, which does not emit and that formed the founda- as much smoke as other woods; still others in- tion of the nation. This term was first coined stalled underground pipes that ejected smoke by ­Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre in his at a safe distance (Diouf 2014, pp 99–101, landmark (1933) Casa grande e senzala. This 104–105). topic has elicited much conversation on the na- ture of race and racism in Brazil. Recent works references cited that have touched on this topic include Terms Alberto, P. L. 2011. Terms of Inclusion: Black of ­Inclusion (2011) by Paulina Alberto and Intellectuals in Twentieth-Century Brazil. “­Hyperconsciousness of Race and Its N­ egation” Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina (2004) by João Vargas. Press. 4. “Remanescente” is a word that does not Alves, J. 2014. From Necropolis to Blackpolis: have an easily-identified translation in English. Necropolitical Governance and Black Most often, the word is translated as “remnant” Spatial Praxis in , Brazil. Antipode or “residual.” In this sense, “remanescente do 46 (2): 323–339. quilombos” would mean a community that is Burton, O. 2015. To Protect and Serve left over from a previously existing quilombo. Whiteness. North American Dialogue 18 (2): 5. Since this legislation was first passed 38–50. in 1988, several changes have occurred as far Costa Vargas, J. H. 2004. Hyperconsciousness as what government agency takes charge of of Race and Its Negation: The Dialectic of titling quilombo communities. As it currently White Supremacy in Brazil. Identities 11 stands, the Palmares Cultural Foundation (4): 443–70. grants quilombos cultural certification, an ———. 2008. Never Meant to Survive: Genocide acknowledgement that allows communities and utopias in black diaspora communities. to then begin the process of territorial titling, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield which is now handled by the National Insti- Publishing Group Inc. tute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform Covin, D. 2006. The Unified Black Movement (INCRA). in Brazil, 1978–2002. Jefferson, N.C: 6. Sylviane Diouf suggests that these McFarland & Co. ­dugouts—also known as caves or dens—may Delaney, D. 1998. Race, Place, and the Law, have been uniquely North American maroon 1836–1948. Austin, University of creations. These constructions were under- Press. ground houses that were completely inconspic- Derickson, K. D. 2016. The Assassination uous to the untrained eye. Minimal dimensions of Clementa Pinckney. 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13–47. Athens: University of Georgia Tyner, J. 2006a. The Geography of Malcolm Press. X: black radicalism and the remaking of Moura, C. 1993. Quilombos: resistência ao American space. New York: Routledge Press. escravismo. São Paulo: Ed. Ática. ———. 2006b. ‘Defend the Ghetto’: Space Perry, K. K. 2013. Black Women against the and the Urban Politics of the Black Panther Land Grab: The Fight for Racial Justice Party. Annals of the Association of American in Brazil. Minneapolis: University of Geographers 96 (1): 105–18. Minnesota Press. United States Congress. 2016. Amending the Price, R. 1996. Introduction: Maroons and Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to Their Communities. In Maroon Societies: extend the authorization for Gullah/Geechee Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas, ed. Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. Richard Price, 1–30. Baltimore: The Johns Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Hopkins University Press. Publishing Office. Rios, F. 2012. O Protesto Negro No Brasil Universal Negro Improvement Association. Contemporâneo (1978–2010). Lua Nova: 1920. Declaration of Rights of the Negro Revista de Cultura E Política 85: 41–79. Peoples of the World. Roberts, N. 2015. Freedom as Marronage. Wilderson, F. 2010. Red, White, & Black: Cinema Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. and the structure of U.S. antagonisms. Robinson, C. J. 1997. Black Movements in Durham, NC: Duke University Press. America. New York: Routledge. Woods, C. 1998. Development Arrested: the ———. 2000. Black Marxism: The Making of blues and plantation power in the the Black Radical Tradition. Chapel Hill: Delta. New York: Verso. University of North Carolina Press. ———. 2002. Life After Death. The Professional Seale, B. 1991. Seize the Time: The Story of the Geographer 54 (1): 62–66. Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Baltimore: Black Classic Press. Secretaria de Políticas de Promoção da dr. adam bledsoe is a Postdoctoral Igualdade Racial da Presidência da Fellow in the Center for Research on Race and República. “Programa Brasil Quilombola.” Ethnicity in Society and a Visiting Assistant http://monitoramento.seppir.gov.br/ Professor of Geography at Indiana University paineis/pbq/index.vm?eixo=1 Bloomington. Email: adbledso@indiana Shabazz, R. 2015. Spatializing Blackness: .edu. His research interests include critical architectures of confinement and Black spatial theory, critical race theory, and social masculinity in Chicago. Urbana: University movements, with an emphasis on the African of Illinois Press. Diaspora in the Americas.