Lost Lives, Preserved Memories: Grief and Resistance in the Black Brazilian Community

Yara Gomes de Freitas; Kaline da Silva Lima; Frederico Rafael Gomes de Sousa

doi:10.1590/1982-4327e3604

##article.authors##

Yara Gomes de Freitas Universidade de Fortaleza https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1323-6393
- Conceptualization
- Data Curation
- Formal Analysis
- Funding Acquisition
- Investigation
- Methodology
- Project Administration
- Resources
- Software
- Supervision
- Validation
- Visualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Kaline da Silva Lima Universidade de Fortaleza https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6127-5815
- Conceptualization
- Data Curation
- Formal Analysis
- Funding Acquisition
- Investigation
- Methodology
- Project Administration
- Resources
- Software
- Supervision
- Validation
- Visualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing
Frederico Rafael Gomes de Sousa Universidade de Fortaleza https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0879-0934
- Conceptualization
- Data Curation
- Formal Analysis
- Funding Acquisition
- Investigation
- Methodology
- Project Administration
- Resources
- Software
- Supervision
- Validation
- Visualization
- Writing – Original Draft Preparation
- Writing – Review & Editing

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-4327e3604

Keywords:

grief, blackness, memory, resilience, racism

Abstract

The invisibility of grief within Black communities is reinforced by historical stereotypes. Therefore, this study aims to understand the grief of Black people who have lost family members. Qualitative exploratory research was conducted with ten Black individuals who had lost family members. The interviews followed a semi-structured script and were analyzed using IRaMuTeQ software. The results, with an 84.30% utilization of the textual corpus, produced five Descending Hierarchical Classes: (1) Losses and Justice; (2) Resilience and Grief: Family and Race; (3) Memory and Resistance; (4) Love and Gratitude; and (5) Grief and Struggle. It is concluded that Black grief is multifaceted, marked by racism and social pain, exacerbated by police violence and medical neglect, and characterized by limited space for emotional validation and identity resistance.