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Abstract
In Brazil, the concept of racial democracy has consequently erased and ignored both Afro-Brazilian identity and literature; the existence of both is debated, and within a racial democracy discourse, the use of these labels implies an element of resistance. For Afro-Brazilian women writers who face multiple antagonisms of racism and sexism, the level of invisibilization only continues. Within Afro-Brazilian literature, poetry has lent itself to be a constructor of identity and a space of resistance, creating what this work argues is an existence through resistance. This is reflected in the work of contemporary poet Mel Duarte, a slammer and author of Negra Nua Crua (2016). This research aims to analyze Duartes works, using selected poems from her book and performances, to argue that like Afro-Brazilian poets before her, Duarte continues to incorporate elements of resistance in order to construct her existence as a black Brazilian woman.