Cabo Verdean leaders preserve shared history, culture

They gather in a small room in the NAACP building off Cedar Street on a late Friday afternoon, as they have done so many times before. 

Their discussions usually center around events and logistics and assignments. They speak of parades and Recognition Week and festas. They assign tasks. They volunteer for responsibilities.

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But this afternoon is different. Today they talk about their shared heritage. Today, they talk about community.

The people seated around this horseshoe of a table are leaders in New Bedford’s Cabo Verdean community. They preside over committees. They direct youth organizations. They write history books. 

But no matter what they do or where they make their mark, they have one  thing in common: the same passionate drive to keep the pulse of their culture alive. 

Many speak fondly of the “warm, welcoming” Cabo Verdean nature, demonstrated in the familiar way they tease each other. 

“I really, truly love my community,” said Deneen Wiley, vendor coordinator for the Cape Verdean Recognition Parade Committee. “It’s a place I feel a belonging to.”

Ivan Brito, president of the Cape Verdean Recognition Committee Board, moved to New Bedford from Cabo Verde as a little boy. 

“New Bedford’s been home since then,” he said.

Brito said he saw what the elders before him accomplished in the community, and he wanted to build upon that.

“It’s a lot of work,” Brito said. “It’s a lot of commitment, but [it’s] something that, if you like doing it, you always can raise up to it and do what needs to be done.”

Bernadette Souza, youth leader and an active member of Our Lady of the Assumption parish, fondly recalled her time growing up surrounded by Cabo Verdeans in Bay Village. In this community, Souza said she never went without, and this remains true today.

“That is what Cape Verdeans are all about in this city,” Souza said. “We are all connected.” 

Souza said Dorothy Lopes, a former Catechism teacher at Our Lady of the Assumption, supported her when she was young. Souza’s involvement in Assumption Church and the community is her way of “giving her flowers,” or saying thank you.

“Dorothy gave me that attention that I needed,” Souza said. “And many others, many of them. That’s what the Cape Verdean community did back when and still today.”

Darlene Spencer, board president of the Cape Verdean Association in New Bedford, came to New Bedford when she was 11. She described her excitement when she moved to the city because it had amenities such as convenience stores and a hairdresser that catered specifically to the large Cabo Verdean population. 

“There were people that understood us, understood our culture,” Spencer said.

The desire to share the experiences that shaped them keeps them all going.

“Each island has its own dialect, and [its own] Creole, and it has its own personality,” said Jeanne Costa, historian, community organizer and editor of “The Making of the Cape Verdean.” “But we all come together as a group.”

Cabo Verdeans make up 10% of the city’s population and have played a prominent role in New Bedford’s history. Since the early 19th century, the Cabo Verdean community has woven its food, culture, music and dance into the city’s fabric.

As Cabo Verde approaches the anniversary of its 50th year of independence from Portugal on July 5, the local community leaders reflect on their purpose, their roles, their past and their future.

“We are the people that are constantly trying to make sure that we keep our history and our culture alive,” Costa said. 

The leaders said they are focused on preserving Cabo Verdean culture and history, engaging the community, particularly the youth, and bridging the gap between those born on the islands and those born in America. They also work to provide opportunities to excel for Cabo Verdeans in New Bedford.

“It’s been a process,” Costa said. “But we’ve been able to watch our generation, [to] watch each generation get better and better.”

Although they come from different backgrounds and cover a range of careers and passions, they all have one thing in common: their pride for being Cabo Verdean. 

“I’ve always been very proud of my Cape Verdean history, culture and the fact that my ancestors were born on an island,” said Diane Gomes, chairperson for the Cape Verdean Recognition Parade Committee.

50th anniversary and the parade

Each leader agreed that an essential part of Cabo Verdean culture in New Bedford is the annual parade.

Brito said the celebration is one of the oldest traditions for Cabo Verdeans, not only in New Bedford but in the United States. The parade, which is celebrating its 53rd year, is a testament to that, he said. 

Joana Gonçalves, whose role is eliminating barriers between Cabo Verdeans who were born here and those who were not, said the parade was one of the most important aspects of Cabo Verdean culture for her when she first arrived in New Bedford. 

“When I joined the committee two years ago, the first thing I said is, ‘I’m here for the parade,’” Gonçalves recalled. “I didn’t even know all of the other parts of the community, but I said ‘I’m here for the parade.’”

Because of the 50th anniversary, Gomes said the parade committee is being “bombarded” right now with organizations and groups that have never participated before. 

“I got a call from a New Bedford resident that actually works in Providence, and she said she watches the parade every single year,” Gomes said. “She always said ‘Oh, I should do that,’ but she never did. But now this year, because it’s the 50th anniversary, she said this is the time for us to really do it. To come to New Bedford, be involved and celebrate our culture.”

Although some traditions have dissipated over the years, the parade’s prominence, both in and outside of New Bedford, has remained strong. 

“The ones that were born and raised here, they always migrate back,” Gomes said. “They’re all making sure they come home for this 50th anniversary.”

She said she knows families who did not attend the parade last year, so more members could attend this year.

Gomes said she knows of one family from North Carolina where three or four usually attend. But “there’s 13 of them coming this year because they’re making sure they bring all the little babies – so the babies, the young ones, can experience the culture.”

Lasting legacy

As the leaders look to “hand off the baton,” they say their biggest concern is engaging younger generations. 

“A lot of them appreciate the culture, the food, the clothing, the music, the dance,” said Renee Ledbetter, president of the local NAACP chapter. “But if we don’t carry it on, and they don’t pick it up, then it drops. And when it drops, then we lose it.”

Busy lives and lack of direct exposure to the culture appear to be the reasons the younger generations are less engaged in leadership roles, they said. 

“It’s our responsibility to try to get them to understand where we’re coming from and why we are so involved,” Gomes said. “Why we have the service-oriented attitude, and why we feel like we have to do this.”

Ledbetter said the community needs to find a balance between engaging people and asking too much of them. 

“We sometimes expect too much from people for free,” Ledbetter said, as she recalled times when her phone was blowing up from different organizations she was involved in because “everyone thought they owned me.” 

“People need to understand that younger people want to be involved, but not to the extent of giving away their life,” Ledbetter said. 

Mary Ann Rogers, treasurer of the Cape Verdean Recognition Committee, said although she grew up in Dartmouth, she was exposed to the Cabo Verdean culture in New Bedford. 

“I always knew I was Cape Verdean,” Rogers said. “[My parents] always instilled the pride of being Cape Verdean.”

Wiley also said she stayed connected to her Cabo Verdean roots, despite moving, because of her parents. Now the next generation must pick up the baton.

“We’ve got to get them to feel it,” Wiley said.

Maintaining traditions and the language are two of the most important parts of the Cabo Verdean identity in New Bedford, leaders said. Spencer, of the Cape Verdean Association, said there should be a greater focus on ways to make both more accessible. Social media, podcasts and the internet are all resources Cabo Verdeans can use to learn about their culture, she said. 

“There are opportunities that didn’t exist even 10 years ago,” Spencer said. “You don’t have to leave your home potentially to even be exposed.”

She added that the Cabo Verdean culture “should be ingrained into every fabric in the city. Education, journalism, whatever sector that is.” She said this would take some of the burden off busy parents whose main focus should be raising their children.

Cabo Verdeans in New Bedford would then be able to express themselves in different ways but still maintain their cultural identity, she said.

“Everybody in the Cape Verdean community has a voice,” Spencer said. “I want the community to be able to say, ‘I have a voice, and I’m going to make some impact, wherever that is, as a Cape Verdean.’”

Crystal Yormick, a journalism student at Boston University, is a summer intern at The New Bedford Light. She can be reached at cyormick@newbedfordlight.org.