Deaf Culture in Altamira: Narratives, Education and Resistance

Abstract

This article presents a life story that addresses the construction of deaf identity, deaf culture, and the resistance movement of the deaf community in Altamira, Pará, Brazil, over three decades (1994-2025). The study aims to narrate my personal experience as a deaf individual in Altamira (Pará - Brazil), intertwining my trajectory with the history of the local deaf community and the struggles for rights, inclusion, and linguistic-cultural recognition based on the anti-capitalist struggles of the deaf community in associations that ensure the empowerment of these deaf people. Seeking to problematize the following question: What elements of my personal and professional history connect with the collective history of the deaf community in Altamira? This is an ethnographic study based on memories, analysis of public documents, collection of images, and information collected by the local deaf association. The research also incorporates data from other sources, such as news reports and ongoing academic research. This article reveals the evolution of socio-educational rights of the deaf community in Altamira, which with each achievement becomes more complex and diverse. The study concludes that the deaf community of Altamira built territories, resistance and empowerment, driven by collective action and the fight for recognition together with my activism for the empowerment and emancipation of myself and the deaf community.