Biography

I am a PhD student in Sociology at Texas A&M University. I was born and raised in Xique-Xique, a small town in the state of Bahia, Brazil. My academic journey began at the State University of Bahia (UNEB), where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Portuguese Language and Literature in 2019. My undergraduate thesis, A Unidade do Núcleo Familiar como Elemento de Construção Identitária no Romance Ponciá Vicêncio [Family Unity as an Element of Identity Construction in Conceição Evaristo’s Novel Ponciá Vicêncio], explored the central role of the family in shaping identity within Black communities.

In 2022, I completed a Master’s degree in Sociology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Drawing from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, my research examined how Black gay men in Bahia use art as a form of activism to cultivate queer consciousness and challenge social marginalization.

Currently, my doctoral research focuses on the process of identity construction in Quilombos—communities formed by escaped enslaved Africans in Brazil during the 16th century as acts of resistance against slavery and white oppression. My dissertation investigates the impact of Eurocentric ideologies within these communities and the strategies they have developed to resist oppression, affirm their cultural identity, and sustain collective memory.