Power, Silencing, and Anti-Racism Education

Michel-Rolph Trouillot and Teaching the History of the Afro-Americas

Abstract

This article examines Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s contributions to history education, particularly his analysis of power and silencing in historical production. Drawing on Silencing the Past, the discussion highlights how certain voices, subjects, and events have been excluded from official narratives and school curricula. Using a pedagogical experience in basic education as a point of departure, the text demonstrates how addressing themes traditionally omitted from the curriculum can foster identity recognition and a sense of belonging among Black students. Trouillot’s reflections are connected to Brazilian Laws 10.639/2003 and 11.645/2008, understood not merely as legal mandates but as instruments for epistemological and political reorientation in the teaching of history. The article advocates for collective pedagogical practices in which teachers and students constitute themselves as agents in the production of historical knowledge, challenging Eurocentric frameworks and promoting a democratic, plural, and antiracist education — especially regarding the Afro-Americas.