Representações da negritude Amazônida através do programa de rádio ampliando vozes no médio solimões

Abstract

This dissertation aimed to understand how Amazonian Blackness was represented in the productions of the grassroots communication collective *Ampliando Vozes*, active in the municipality of Tefé, in the Middle Solimões region (Amazonas state). The study sought to analyze both the media content produced—news and radio programs broadcast between 2022 and 2024—and the perceptions held by the collective's members and collaborators regarding the construction of these representations. The research employed a qualitative and interdisciplinary approach, grounded in the frameworks of grassroots communication, cultural studies, and the analysis of representations. Methodologically, the study drew upon dialogic ethnography (based on João Pacheco de Oliveira, 2003; Florêncio Vaz Filho, 2013; and Guilherme Figueiredo, 2022), oral history (drawing on contributions by Verena Alberti, 2013), and discourse analysis (following Eni Orlandi, 2009). These approaches made it possible to link the discourses conveyed in the media products to the lived experiences of the individuals involved in the communication process. The theoretical framework engaged with authors in the fields of communication and grassroots journalism—such as Mário Kaplún (1985), Elaine Tavares (2004), and Paulo Freire (1987)—as well as with cultural studies and reflections on identity and representation, particularly those of Stuart Hall (2006; 2016), Kabengele Munanga (2020; 2023), and bell hooks (2019). To understand the Black presence in the Amazon, the work drew upon the studies of Patrícia Sampaio (2011; 2014; 2024). These contributions allowed for an understanding of Blackness as a historical, political, and relational construct, shaped by contests over meaning within the Amazonian territory. The results indicated that Amazonian Blackness was not presented as a homogeneous or fixed category, but rather as a multifaceted field of meanings spanning historical, territorial, cultural, and political dimensions. The *Ampliando Vozes* productions served both to make historically marginalized Black subjects, practices, and narratives visible and to create spaces for learning that fostered recognition, identity strengthening, and critical awareness among participants and listeners. Furthermore, it was found that radio functioned as a pedagogical and political tool for grassroots communication—capable of mobilizing emotions, building a sense of belonging, and challenging historical invisibility—even within a context marked by structural challenges regarding the consolidation of Amazonian Blackness in the Middle Solimões region.