ABSTRACT
In this research, I reconstitute the experience of freeing Luiza, as she fought for legal freedom for herself and, above all, her children, in the last decades of slavery in Brazil. Therefore, I followed her trajectory and that of her six innocent children in particular: Ritta, Felippa, Jeronyma, Pedro, Francelina, and Aurelio -, cross-referencing a freedom suit, inventories, emancipation laws, and thousands of baptism certificates from Feira de Santana, Bahia, between 1871 and 1888. Using a qualitative and quantitative approach towards the sources, I was able to position their choices within a broader universe of those made by other black women at this time and observed that despite facing intersectional oppression of gender, race, and class, black women played a leading role on the front line of the fight for freedom.
Keywords:
Black women; Family; Friendship; Legal freedom