Embodied Politics From Below: Black Motherhood as Space of Resistance in Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas

In this contribution, I explore how mothers’ movements (re)appropriate the distinct urban spaces of favelas in Rio de Janeiro to claim agency and practice resistance. Mothers’ movements are a type of social movement mainly driven by mothers whose children—mostly sons—have been tortured, incarcerated or murdered at the hand of the police. While it is mostly young Black men from poor neighborhoods who are killed by the security forces of the Brazilian state, their mothers suffer from the loss in gender-specific ways. Organizing locally and autonomously, mothers of victims of state violence draw on the gendered image of the grieving mother that affords them a space in the political discussion about violence in favelas. Despite their social and spatial positionality that is characterized by multiple discriminations and oppression, mothers’ movements turn motherhood into a site of resistance. Trauma, resilience and resistance are thus interwoven in a complex manner; trauma is not always lethal but can also be a departure point for activism that creates purpose and hope and the making of bottom-up security. Yet, mobilizing the image of a strong Black mother who is ready to fight can also be constraining because it feeds into the cultural expectation of resilience and conceals the negative effects violence has on their mental and physical health. Thereby, mothers’ movements also perpetuate stereotypical and constraining images of gender and race.