Critical commentary that rescues and shares the contribution of psychoanalyst Maria de Lourdes Teodoro in the Postgraduate Program in Education, at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul -- UFMS, in Brazil, in July 2020. Part of her article in Correio Braziliense, "Identidade e Autoestima", in which she refers to one of her visits to Quilombo Kalunga, in the State of Goiás, and talks about identity, feelings of belonging, bonding, language, etc. In the article, in the lecture and in the debate that followed, Maria de Lourdes Teodoro made a deep reading of racial conflicts in Brazil, with an approach anchored in her research and publications on identity and ethnic diversity. It was a unique opportunity to delve deeper these contents of a question dear to humanity.