“The sound of silenced voices”: mobilizations, connections and demands in the investigation of slavery in Brazil

Abstract The Truth Commission (CV), a mechanism created to help manage the political transition from dictatorship to democracy in Brazil, has been appropriated by lawyers and Black movement organizations in Brazil. This appropriation has allowed them to criticize slavery and question Brazilian society about the long-term effects of forced labor and about the persistence of racism towards Afro-Brazilians. In the present article, I seek to highlight how Black scholars connect personal knowledge and experience to theory for the purpose of reshaping the concept of slavery. I focus on documents and videos related to this scenario, as well as data taken from interviews and the direct observation of the activities I have researched. Slavery is defined as a crime. It thus emerges as a power that is capable of endangering the present and future of Brazilian society. The specialists I analyze here ascribe to a conception of time related to the tension established with the historiography of slavery, as well as situations related to the disappearance of individuals. In this way, they seek to construct a memory of slavery and demand historical reparations.