national reality. Although the formation of differentiated modalities of activism and of a regional culture with its own characteristics from the African heritage has already been patented, fruits of a peculiar geography, history, and context, "African-Gaúcho culture" as a scientific concept is in a process of construction and delimitation, but the term has already gained expressive popular acceptance. In the words of Paulo Romeu, a member of the African community interviewed by researcher Patrícia da Silva Pereira, the term "is being used more, in the popular sense. People are identifying themselves more, saying that it is African-Gaúcho. [...] We have an African worldview. We understand ourselves as Brazilians, this whole mixture of Brazilians, this whole mixture that we have of the African-Gaúcho, this mixture with Italians, Germans, Slovaks, Indians, Indians from the Andes, who are mostly Indians. This African-Gaúcho thing is very different from the African that is there in the northeast of Brazil." The confrontation with groups from other cultures highlights the specificities of local black groups, specificities that become the basis for collective mobilizations. For Silva Pereira: In Íris Germano's view, See also Black movement in Brazil Afro-Brazilians History of Rio Grande do Sul Notes References Bibliography Rio Grande do Sul society Afro-Brazilian