deterritorialization, expelled from its old housing centers and pushed to the outskirts, seeking to "lead blacks to become aware of their social condition. [...] The whitening strategy had failed in its 'promise' of integration and the discourse of racial democracy proved to have no practical foundation. It remained the construction of a new alternative, now based on the affirmation of black identity." Palmares became a national reference and was the author of the proposal for the creation of Black Awareness Day. Also emerging was the Espaço Afro-sul Odomodê, a music and dance group with an important trajectory, interested in the dissemination and valorization of Afro-Brazilian culture and its origins, as well as developing social work with young people in street situations. In the early 1980s, the Unified Black Movement set up an arm in Rio Grande do Sul, with several Working Groups active in the state's interior. Other forms of affirmation have come from the official recognition of quilombola communities, of which there are more than 160 scattered throughout the state, even within urban centers (urban quilombos). In Porto Alegre there are at least eight remaining communities: Machado, Família Lemos, Família Flores, Alpes, Família Ouro, Fidelix, Família Silva, and Areal. These communities constitute centers of resistance against oblivion, as well as having developed cultural expressions of unique characteristics, giving visibility, as Paulo Sérgio da Silva stated, to "a little-known face in the treatment of social issues in Rio Grande do Sul." However, as occurs in other areas, the recognition of these communities has been marked by controversy, difficulties, and conflicts. In recent years, collectives have also claimed their African heritage through the visual arts, such as Raízes da África, Quilombos Urbanos, and Frente Negra de Arte. Individual personalities have emerged, such as Maria Lídia Magliani, Carlos Alberto de Oliveira, Pedro Homero, Zé Darci, Silvia Victória, João Altair, and Pelópidas Thebano, often working with themes related to religious traditions and myths, but also to feminist, labor issues, among others that do not have a direct relation with ethnic themes. Since 2012, the Sopapo Poético considered one of the most popular and frequented circles of literature, poetry, and music in Porto Alegre, has been in monthly activity. According to musician Vladimir Rodrigues, one of the founders of the event, it arose from the perception of the need to create a space to gather and share black culture. There are readings of texts,