The article analyzes how the celebration of Brazil's Independence Day erased from national memory the black struggle for independence and abolition. The date of September 7, 1822, is marked by the proclamation of independence made by Dom Pedro I, but the article argues that this official narrative ignores previous popular movements that also fought for liberation.
A popular movement advocated, among its demands, the end of the monarchy and the abolition of slavery. These movements represented a different vision of independence, directly linked to the liberation of enslaved black peoples in Brazil.
The leaders of these movements were executed in public squares decades before September 7, 1822. Their deaths represented the suppression of a republican and abolitionist alternative that could have changed the course of Brazilian history.
The article suggests that the construction of the myth of Brazilian independence privileged the narrative of great figures and ignored the black popular struggles, creating an incomplete historical memory that persists to this day.
