---

This text explores how Afro-Brazilians define their Africanness through Candomblé and Quilombo models, and construct paradigms of blackness with influences from US-based perspectives, through the vectors of public rituals, carnival, drama, poetry, and hip hop.

---

What Roots? Which Routes? Where is Africa in the Nation? History as Transformative Praxis Ritual Encounters and Performative Moments From Candomblé to Carnaval: The Transformation of Ritual into Public Performance and Discourse Aesthetically Black: The Articulation of Blackness in the Black Arts Movement and Quilombhoje Performing Bodies Performing Blackness Performing Self: The Quest for a Transformative Poiesis Centering Blackness: Hip Hop and the Outing of Marginality Uma Luta que Nos Transcende

---

CHERYL STERLING teaches African and African Diaspora studies in the Liberal Studies Program at New York University, USA. She is a Fulbright Scholar and is also the co-founder and editor of the on-line arts journal, AfroBeat Journal.

---