The 1970s marked a turning point for Black activism in Brazil. Numerous movements emerged to discuss Black culture, resistance, and identity in the country-among them, the creation of the Unified Black Movement (Movimento Negro Unificado - MNU) in 1978. The call for a pure Brazilian music also began during this period, notably with the founding of the Quilombo Black Art Recreational Guild and Samba School (Grêmio Recreativo de Arte Negra e Escola de Samba Quilombo) in 1975, by composer and singer Candeia (Antônio Candeia Filho). This initiative aimed, in some way, to return to a place where Black issues were seen as intrinsically Brazilian, rather than simply part of the Afro-diasporic context. This dissertation will examine the practical and intellectual foundations for defending a vision of nationhood tied to the idea of national tradition. As a nationalist, Candeia also refused to incorporate the influence of American music in his discourse and production-a dominant trend during the first half of the 1970s-despite the increasing politicization of Black identity through the North American Black Power paradigm. From this perspective, the composer aligned himself with other samba artists and stood against the spread of a distorted view of the Black man and Black identity in Brazil. He understood this movement in its entirety and not only rejected the U.S.-based invention of Blackness but also questioned the relationship Brazilian Black youth had with that conception, in favor of a Brazilian Blackness that stood outside the two prevailing international paradigms of the time. In seeking to build an idea of being a Brazilian Black person-with a focus on resistance-he foundation of Quilombo reflects a moment when samba schools were beginning to slip out of the control of the original samba musicians who had founded these institutions, marking yet another erasure of Black history. This dissertation, therefore, presents a discussion around Black art, its importance in shaping Brazil s history, and how this was carried out through music that upheld the resistance of the Brazilian Black community, reclaiming past events so that this narrative could be written through Black intellectualism.