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The "journey" begins in Africa, between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, when they migrated to Brazil as slaves, about 4 million Africans from various ethnic groups / nations, with a large contingent, however, uncertain of women. Although, in the nineteenth century, the abolition of slavery was announced, it came unaccompanied by policies of social inclusion for african descent, who had no place in the everyday work of Brazil, taken by European immigrants. On the other hand, patriarchy, with all his force, kept women oppressed. Racial disparities coupled with the strength of patriarchy imposed hard boundaries to women, who used to overcome them, creating some very interesting strategies of survival and overcoming.
The journey of black women, and their descendants, who, in the diaspora context, (re) created an "imagined" Africa in Brazil, is a good example. Through the maintenance and transmission of sacred African oral traditions, they gave power to a religious-mythical world in which, as "mother of saint" assumed the highest office in the hierarchy - against both African tradition and Western, where men traditionally hold authority.
Outside the religious sphere, but sharing the refusal by passivity, young women, coming from the disadvantaged sections of the population, have also been working great "miracles." Through the joint (and informal) solidarity in networks of mutual support, they migrated from the country's poorest regions, mainly in the Northeast, to Rio de Janeiro, and can overcome everyday adversities. In search of better living conditions and social recognition, the young migrants and their networks also come across borders (geographical and subjective), without losing the marks of their cultural identity.