Go fix your hair nigga! a body-map story told by gabriela, a black mother

Abstract

Maternity invokes extreme complexity. This article discusses the experiences of internalized, interpersonal and institutional racism that shape the lives of black mothers in the process of caring for their black children using Body-Map Storytelling, a methodology developed in South Africa. The story told by Gabriela, aged 31, mother of two children, revealed two core themes: 1. The everyday experience of being a black woman; 2. Being a black mother, in practical terms. Body mapping provided Gabriela with an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on life and becoming black. The study identified a number of challenges in the daily exercise of educating children in a country with racist practices like Brazil, revealing strategies that seek to combat the impact of a social imaginary that inferiorizes black people.