CIBS Fellow Ariane Ribeiro Santana

          Tell us about yourself!

I'm a 24-year-old History major born in Rio de Janeiro. I earned my degree at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil) and am currently a second-year M.A. student. I had the opportunity to start researching as an undergraduate, and my focus was women and gender in the Beat Generation, a movement that is largely based in the United States. For that reason, I always knew I wanted to come to the U.S. for graduate school. 

 Why did you choose Black Studies?

Although Brazil holds one of the most racially mixed populations, and the debates by Brazilian scholars surrounding race and ethnicity are absolutely brilliant, my undergraduate curriculum did not include a lot of Black Studies. We did see how race and racism affected the history of Brazil, of course, especially through histories of slavery and resistance, but for the most part, the historiography in the curriculum was largely European and male. Much like the erasure of women in the Beat Generation led me to my undergraduate research, my questioning of where were Black people in the Beat Generation led me to my current research on Amiri Baraka (who was a Beat poet for a brief period).

                              Why did you choose UK?

UK's history department is one of the strongest in terms of African American and Africana Studies, which gave me the confidence to pursue this field I had had little training [in] until then. Black Studies, and Black Studies at UK specifically, have both been very fulfilling to me for a few reasons. Reading about struggles similar to my own but at the same time also about Black pride and the joys of being Black makes me feel more connected to Blackness. This is heightened by my being in a department with brilliant Black people as part of the faculty, something that is very inspiring to me. Black Studies also constantly challenges me to rethink antiracism strategies in the present, broadening my views on what it means to be Black in the US, in Latin America, and everywhere else. 

                             What is your favorite course?

I don't think I have a favorite course overall, since I've taken so many classes that have picked my brain in very interesting ways, but the most eye-opening ones have been outside my comfort zone. Decolonizing Archaeology (ANT) and Amiri Baraka's Many Lives (ENG) have both been classes outside of the history department that I've had the opportunity to take and made me reconsider a lot of ideas. The first one made me reflect on Indigenous peoples and their role in history, as well as how archaeology and history work so closely together they run the risk of falling into very similar pitfalls of positivism that are based on white supremacy; the latter forced me to pay attention to the form of Baraka's writing, whereas history tends to hyperfocus on the content of it. They were both challenging in their own ways, but I wrapped them up feeling like I had broadened my horizons.

                         What are you working on now? 

Currently, I'm working on my M.A thesis on Amiri Baraka, his trip to Cuba in 1960, and how seeing postrevolutionary Cuba helped radicalize him into becoming a Black Nationalist and, later, a Third World Marxist. It is very much transnational research that I, as a Black Latina, feel connected to. I am also looking into going on to the PhD next Fall, so hopefully I will have the opportunity to broaden the scope of my research then. Additionally, I am working on Dr. Nikki Brown's project Documenting Racial Violence in Kentucky by transforming the Chicago Tribune's annual lists of lynchings into spreadsheets for easier access by scholars and the public at large. 

Photos

Top: Johnathon Davis with Ariane Ribeiro Santana

Bottom: Winn Williams, Kip Cornett, Ariane Ribeiro Santana, Jill Rappis