POPULAR EDUCATION PROCESSES OF BLACK AND PERIPHERAL YOUTH

meanings and contributions of the Emancipa Network of popular courses in Belém – Pará

Abstract

The debate on black and peripheral youth has been imposing itself in the academic and political scene, with a varied number of productions on various types of violence, racism, exclusion and inequalities, and on processes of organization, art, culture and others generated by young people, as strategies of living in the peripheries, denouncing and fighting for rights. Understanding these processes is essential to think about the role of young people in facing structural inequalities and oppression, citizenship and defense of democracy. This article aims to contribute to the debate by analyzing the meaning of popular courses as a proposal for popular education and political organization of/with youth, assuming the struggle for the right to education and its relationship with the struggle for other rights. The methodology is a case study of “Rede Emancipa Belém de Educação Popular”, a extension project linked to the Rede Nacional Emancipa. The project works with seven units in peripheral neighborhoods, involving approximately 100 undergraduate students and 400 young people preparing for Enem. The proposal's principles and strategies are discussed based on Freire's thinking and the perceptions of the young people involved about their living conditions, rights and expectations and the role of the course. Data come from documents, conversation circles, applied forms and participant observation. The results show the vulnerability of young people, their expectations about education and their contribution and sense of opportunity and social inclusion. It is concluded that the project's strategies are important in the construction of collective awareness and politicization of inequalities and violations and also in the construction of meanings of struggle and collective values ​​of freedom, solidarity, mobilization, equality, law, social justice, etc., demonstrating the potential of work in the political formation of youth.