Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 21 Issue 5

with local issues administration. Indeed, the association's trajectory is permeated by situations of great tension, such as police violence. It stands against all types of behaviour considered inappropriate or unjustified. The ACMJ also engages - through its members - in the protection of the neighbourhood and its residents, while developing strategies of security in a community level, as well as individual and collective practices of sustainable social life. Therefore, ACMJ is credited as an agent that pursues dialogue and constant contact with other institutions to fight segregation (cf. Queiroz, 2019). Regarding the Public Security Police (PSP) and their respective activities in neighbourhoods that meet the same conditions produced by urban marginality, the different voices in communities speak of police violence, brutality, collective humiliation, and assassinations. They denounce, as corroborated by the European Union Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI, 2018), Commission's report; the presence of a racist supremacist extreme right wing infiltrating the structures of the police corporation in Portugal. The times I witnessed police activity in the area in 2018 and 2019, actions were ostensible. I once witnessed a police van (nicknamed as carripana ) speeding through some of the neighbourhood narrow and crowded streets. Exceptionally, in 2017, a couple of police officers had accompanied the cortege on the day of Kola San Jon 's festivity in Cova da Moura , without incidents. During fieldwork in Portugal, I paid attention to the process brought by the Public Ministry against a group of seventeen PSP agents: the Alfragide Police Station 6 During the victims and witnesses of police aggression’s testimonies, at Sintra Civil Court, some of them had several complaints. Some young men testified that right after the violent episode occurred at the Alfragide police station, when leaving home early to work, or sometimes, when arriving home at night, they would cross paths with one, or two of the accused agents, in uniform and patrolling the neighbourhood, as if nothing had happened. Some went so far as to declare that they had undergone psychological treatment because they feared for the integrity of their lives. Regarding our study, we should highlight the recent harassment of PSP agents to the group of Kola San Jon and companions during the celebration of the festivities in 2018. The . Initial charges included crimes of racism and torture committed against six young men from Cova da Moura, later dropped by the Prosecutor who accompanied the trial. On May 20, 2019, I read in a Portuguese newspaper that an unprecedented judicial decision took place in Europe: eight Alfragide policemen had been convicted, nine had been acquitted and the victims would receive compensation. 6 https://www.publico.pt/caso-esquadra-de-alfragide. episode took place when the group was paying homage to the late Eduardo Pontes (1936-2015) in a small square of the same name located in front of Alfragide 's police station, on June 23 rd , 2018 (cf. LOPES, 2020, p. 412- 423). Throughout its trajectory, the population of Cova da Moura has developed an associative dynamic always stimulated within the AC MJ . As we know, other neighbourhood associations 7 Quite contrary to the disheartening landscape painted by the taxi driver during the trip from Lisbon airport to Cova da Moura in Amadora , that Saturday, Ju ne 3 rd , 2017, we had a most wonderful dinner at Lieve’s are also engaged in community practices, so that the capacity for mobilization has reached a state of maturity revealing unusual operational abilities and remarkable resilient skills by Cova da Moura ’s residents (QUEIROZ, 2019). In 2002, three neighbourhood associations came together and, supported by the Buraca Social Parochial Centre, they formed a Neighbourhood Commission willing to fight for the rehabilitation and requalification of the area. While doing fieldwork, I had access to a vast volume of research and publications on the history and trajectory of the neighbourhood and its associations. Talking to the current President of the Governing Council, Flávio Almada, about the production of academic discourse concerning the area, its population, and the association, he mentioned a number over a hundred dissertations and theses, which would be totally or partially related to the history of Cova da Moura and the migrant association. In one of the first meetings, I attended in 2017, one of the points defended by him, was the question of the association critically assuming its social role as a producer and holder of knowledge and practices. In this context, conducting fieldwork both in Cova da Moura more generally, and in the ACMJ more specifically, proved to be a complex task and often questioned by several subjects, who were generally curious and sensitive to understand the objectives and the reasons exposed in the research. In other words, the subjects of study, when approached, were armed with the most diverse questions and critical questions about the “true reasons hidden in the researcher’s intent”. 8 7 Residents 'Association (former Residents' Commission) and the Alto da Cova da Moura Social Solidarity Association (ASSACM). 8 Godelieve Meersschaert, Belgian psychologist and activist, resident in Cova da Moura since 1980s, and co-founder of ACMJ. . We had had such great discussion about traditional culture, that she was willing to show us the people of Cova da Moura and ended up introducing us to some people that same night. A curious fact: it was at that occasion that I had the pleasure of witnessing, for the first time, a woman playing the gaita (an eight bass Volume XXI Issue V Version I 5 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2021 C © 2021 Global Journals Kola San Jon De Cova Da Moura : An Instrumental Case of Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding in the African Diaspora in Portugal