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Shaded by a tree from the burning late-morning sun, Coelho and Rejane Soares, the bloco’s harmony director, reminisced about the parades they had put on in the past.

“She brought something to Rasa that no politician would bring: self-confidence,” said Rejane Oliveira, her niece and disciple.

Uia held meetings and debates, dug up information, traveled across the state for conferences and seminars, and brought her niece, Rejane Oliveira, under her wing in the fight for land.

Rejane remembers Uia pacing out the boundaries of Rasa with a representative from the government’s agrarian reform institute, which has been processing the community’s claim for 16 years.

“She brought something to Rasa that no politician would bring: self-confidence. Self-confidence came from her, the fight for land, the question of rights,” said Rejane, who lives in a nearby quilombo and is Rio state’s representative in the National Coordination of Black Rural Quilombo Communities.