Afroconto and Quilombo do Sopapo:

the extension articulating university and territory mediated by black literature

Abstract

Storytelling with black characters has been used to combat racism and strengthen Law No. 11.645/2008. This paper aims to present an experience report of the university extension activity “Afroconto e Outros Contos”, from the Psychology course at UFRGS together with the Quilombo do Sopapo Cultural Center, in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, in the period from 2024 to 2025. The methodology used is the telling of children's stories with black representation. From the perspective of three project scholarship holders, in which they chose a children's book to reflect on their different theoretical backgrounds (International Relations, Speech Therapy and Psychology), we follow the learning constructed in this black territory of Porto Alegre, the Quilombo do Sopapo. The coordinator of the Cultural Center also presents her reflections on this partnership between the university and the community. The results demonstrate exchanges of knowledge. On the one hand, the scholarship holders recognize that the experiences at Ponto de Cultura enriched their academic trajectories, both through storytelling as an anti-racist practice and through the learning they learned in the forest. For the students from public schools who listened to the stories, it was clear that the black students' eyes were shining as they recognized themselves in a place of authority.