“Ribeirão das Trevas”? O skate dando um ollie nas narrativas dominantes sobre a cidade de Ribeirão das Neves / MG

Abstract

Ribeirão das Neves is a city in Minas Gerais with approximately 334 thousand inhabitants and 60% of the self-declared black population. Conceived to be the dormitory city of the poorest who migrated in search of work when Belo Horizonte became the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Neves, as it is better known, also became the city of penitentiaries. In a total of six chains, it includes the first with public-private management in Brazil and the first model penitentiary in the country, inaugurated by Getúlio Vargas when he was president. Constantly the target of news about violence and poverty, the city was also known for the pun “Ribeirão das Trevas” published in the Official Gazette of the State and on the website of the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais. This pejorative description became an official narrative about the municipality and became imposes it as a barrier to dwellers, who suffer from the stigmatization and social exclusion it entails. However, the city designed by the government to always be the same, houses other narratives created by, for example, a collective of black educating skaters: Just Crew Skateboard. That not only occupied the bandstand in the square and turned it into a track, but that for 20 years has trained young people in this sports practice; teaching them how to build their own skateboards and obstacles; and reconstruct their identities through the experience of friendship, giving an ollie about the dominant narratives about their city. They became educators of each other, of the population and of the city, teaching looks of light instead of darkness, and building others narratives possibilities of a Ribeirão das Neves. This master's dissertation is supported by the CAPES scholarship and aims to analyze how Neves 'young skaters are overcoming the “darkness” narrative and becoming, in the light of Nilma Lino Gomes' readings, an educating skater movement. Using Image Ethnography as Sympathy as a methodology, we investigate how they challenge the city's stigma by presenting a narrative that values life and sociability.