A escolha de Rita Gadelha

Abstract

At the Palace of Justice, we will celebrate the memory of magistrate Rita Gadelha de Sá, launching her biography. Our book does not defend theses. These are stories that are told; they are accounts of the past not recorded in the official history of Paraíba, which is why we used oral history as our research methodology. This book originated through testimonies from people who lived with Rita Gadelha or received help or guidance from her. Born in Santa Rita in 1929, Rita Gadelha was posthumously declared dead on July 31, 2008, at the age of 79. Writing her biography was a challenge, because some of her actions in favor of the excluded were not even preserved by the communities that received them, but her name remains in the hearts of those who benefited from her actions. I had contact with Rita Gadelha and through her testimonies it was possible to learn about her understanding of society, the political, social and legal spaces in which she circulated. Her biography is situated between the individuality of Rita's being and her political action, all in a contextualized manner. Rita Gadelha's political proposal was profoundly revolutionary from the beginning of her life, although moderate. Everything leads us to believe that Rita Gadelha woke up early to social ills. She was convinced that education, the exercise of citizenship and a good fight could break the cycle of poverty and alleviate the problems that afflicted the most penalized layers of society due to poverty and illiteracy.