American Caboverdeano

AMERICAN

CABOVERDEANO

By

Eduardo Alberto Antonio Andrade

* * * * *

PUBLISHED BY:

Edward Anthony Andrade on Smashwords

Copyright © 2012 Edward Anthony Andrade

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

This book is available in print at Americancaboverdeano.com,

Amazon and most online retailers.

Dedication

I could dedicate this book to all the women in my life, my wife Lola, Tri-City Peoples Corp. and Cabo Video but I must fervently dedicate it to the two people who had the most impact on my life – Ernest Thompson and Rebecca Doggett.

Acknowledgements

I have many people to thank for the basis of this book. Most of them are mentioned in the narrative but I need to name some of them. My wife, Lola, has constantly exhorted me to get the book done. She is convinced that it will succeed in a big way. The work of my editor, Barbara Bertschy, has been herculean. Often, she left me exhausted with the grammar corrections she directed me to make and, forgive me if I’ve missed a few. I am truly in debt to her. Many friends have lent encouragement after reading a draft: Ricardo Rosa, Evan Albright, Fred Waring, Richard Leary, Thomas D. Williams, Yvonne Smart, Edwardina Johnson, and Bob Bender.

Foreword

By Don Xavier - Businessman, Motivational Speaker, Author, Actor & Singer

Early in the 90’s while vacationing in Boston Massachusetts, I asked my cousin if there was any way that I could promote my music and acting career work in the local Cape Verdean-American community. My cousin, Jorge Fildago, a very influential person in the surrounding Boston Cape Verdean community, surprised me when he replied, Yes right away. He said there is a gentleman who started a program called Cabo Video that may be just the ticket. Ed Andrade, a descendant of Cape Verdeans in America, was the very person I was seeking.

This was amazing to me because at this time, the independence of Cape Verde was relatively unknown to the world. Many in the USA identified themselves as Black Portuguese. However, many others such as Ed, who were born in the USA, simply identified themselves as Black Americans.

As a young Cabo Verdean-Canadian Professional Actor/Singer, I was impressed and eager to meet Ed right away. I continued to press my cousin for more information and he revealed that Ed was actively working and identifying with the immigrant community through Cabo Video (now recognized as Cape Verdean Television). I discovered that the host of Cabo Video was someone with whom I had done some radio interviews with a couple of years back in the Cape Verde Islands; none other than a super-awesome journalist by the name of Valdir Alves.

I clearly remember when I was invited to do an interview on Cabo Video; I was excited to have this opportunity to promote myself and my work to the Cape Verde American community. For the interview, my long time friend, producer, arranger, artist, composer, and humanitarian, Ramiro Mendes, accompanied me. However, deep inside I could not wait to be introduced to Mr. Ed Andrade, business manager of Cabo Video’s operations.

Along with being a singer, songwriter and actor, I was an entrepreneur in the financial services industry. I discovered that Ed was doing most of the business activities that I wanted to perfect myself in such as soliciting for advertising, collecting funds, managing accounts, keeping financial records, and all aspects of TV production. Therefore, I became even more fascinated by this American Caboverdeano. As a strong believer in role models and mentors, I kept on researching as much as I could about Ed Andrade. I discovered that Cabo Video was just the tip of the iceberg. There were many other community events, festivals and celebrations credited to his name. Fortunately, we are blessed to have many of these events continue to this day.

As time went by, Cabo Video became "The" platform for me and many other Cape Verdean artists, entrepreneurs and community leaders to promote themselves and their work, thanks to Ed Andrade.

I especially remember doing an interview with Ed for Cabo Video in English. On this occasion, Lola Andrade, Ed’s wife, accompanied him to Canada where the interview was conducted in my very own home. It was so personal and a very special time. It felt like, where there was a Cape Verdean community, Ed was ready and willing to captivate the very essence of the culture and promote it to the world.

In 2011 during a telephone conversation about my self-help book, - Unleash the Magnet in You-, Ed mentioned that he had been writing his memoir and would appreciate any comments I might have, should I agree to proof read his work. I immediately said yes and that I would be honoured to read his memoirs and offer my feedback. Wow! And what a memoir it is!

On a flight to Los Angeles, California, I started to read the American Caboverdeano, The Life and Times of a Cape Verdean Activist. The story is so uplifting, motivating and full of important historical information that any Cape Verdean descendent would consider it priceless. Many people, me included, have wondered about the Cape Verdean-American stories from the very early days of the 1800s to the present time. I had always wished that someone would write a book like this one, even if it’s about Ed’s own life.

At first it was difficult deciding on what aspect of Ed’s life I would write about, and then it became clear to me that I should write about the side of his life that has substantially guided me to many of my successes. Ed is and will always be an American Caboverdeano who continues to lead the way on promoting our rich Cape Verdean culture. In my view, he is also someone who has lived a life of passion and has built a legacy.

Ed and I continue to be friends and he is someone who I look up to and admire so much for opening and keeping the doors open for so many Cape Verdeans. There are many personal and professional memories of my times spent with Ed. I am so honoured to be able to call Ed Andrade my friend. I thank him for this incredible memoir and I hope that he will continue to lead the way with his experiences through words and actions.

By Valdir Alves – Popular TV & Radio Personality

Ed Andrade is a living witness to the history of Cape Verdean immigration in the United States. That fact was apparent to me from the first moment when I became involved in the Cabo Video television program with Ed. I realized then the spirit of the transitional unifying link in Ed, from a Cape Verdean American to the man who now sees himself as an "American Caboverdeano" - with Caboverdeano being one word.

Cabo Video and the events promoted by Ed, such as the Onset Cape Verdean Festival, contributed to a new concept; that of immigrants awakening the spirit of Cape Verde and making known to the Cape Verdean Americans a new awareness of the Country born in 1975, a borderless island, sharing the warm music styles of mornas, coladeiras, cola Sandjon and batuque; the latter two genre hitherto unknown in America.

Volunteering himself body and soul as a bridge between generations of Cape Verdeans in America, Ed Andrade solidified Kriolo identity - dispelling the concept of Black Portuguese. He helped project the image of a country under construction, demystifying the message left by his elders of a land that has no bathroom and toilet-paper but a nation that travels the road of development and modernity. Ed Andrade uses his extensive experience as an American Activist and puts it into good service for the benefit of Cape Verde as an "American Caboverdeano."

By Ramiro and Joao Mendes (Mendes Brothers), Musicians, Lecturers

Americano Caboverdeano is a moving story of a Cape Verdean American whose personal struggles reflect the deep challenges faced by our people living in America in the mid 20th century. A memoir filled with vivid life stories of a child of first generation Cape Verdean immigrants, raised in New England, Americano Caboverdeano is a remarkable tale of triumph in the face of adversity.

By Ricardo Rosa, University of Wisconsin – Madison Department of Curriculum and Instruction

I think that work like this one is superb in assisting Cape Verdean - American youth in navigating the socio-political and economic conditions of the United States. I can foresee this life history being used as part of the curriculum in U.S. schools that serve Cape Verdean youth.

By Evan J. Albright, Author of Cape Cod Confidential & Long Time Newspaperman

Your writing voice is wonderful, and I am relishing every little story. You are capturing a world that in some respects is long gone, and it is important that it be written down somewhere.

Prologue

On July 5, 1975 the New York Times ran a small article on the front page announcing the Independence of the Republic of Cape Verde. Upon reading that article, I began my journey as a Cape Verdean American. I began to recognize my heritage in a major way and, with great pride, I adopted the attitude of a Cape Verdean American. Although I knew I was of Cape Verdean heritage, I had always identified publicly as a black American of black Portuguese heritage because Cape Verdeans were virtually unknown. Now I had a nation of my heritage that was part of the larger international community, and it was a great feeling. I had come home!

In 1980, I made my first visit to Cape Verde. I left the United States as a Cape Verdean American, but I returned as an "American Caboverdeano." I was changed. The trip caused me to realize for the first time how much I had inherited the personality and culture of Cape Verde during the course of my lifetime.

Years later, in 2009, I was awarded the honor of a school named for me in New Jersey: the Edward Andrade School for Social Change. I mentioned to a friend how humbled I was with the honor, and she said, You have a legacy! It was an unexpected comment. As I thought about it, I happened to see an old photo of me at age five. Looking at that photo, I wondered how I could have achieved any sort of legacy from where I started; therefore, it made me think of my past. Reviewing my life’s seventy-five years of experiences, I realized that as the child of first generation Cape Verdean Americans, raised by my immigrant grandparents, I had a beginning with no expectations, with no plans for a future, with few career options, and with limited opportunities. Yet, I became involved in extraordinary adventures; I benefited greatly from significant relationships; I reached an acceptable level of education; I achieved substantial public recognition; overall, I learned to make my way in a society that prizes individual effort; and, taking everything into consideration, I have led a unique life of noteworthy accomplishments. I realized that my legacy, if I have one, is not a school named for me but instead it is my life story – above all, my life as an activist.

My story begins in a segregated, working class, ethnic (Cape Verdean) Massachusetts community and, thus far, brings me to a diverse, middle class, Posh coastal Florida town. But, it’s not a tale of class differences or financial standings; it’s about the unexpected, the unpredicted, and the Who would have guessed? Many life-stories tell about going from a Log Cabin to the greatest heights in politics or in business, but my story fits in between those extremes; it’s about a common man of Cape Verdean heritage – a Caboverdeano, and, optimistically, it is unique.

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts.

William Shakespeare’s Play As You Like It

I am one such man who, in his lifetime, has played many roles, and many significant parts of my adult life can be categorized in the following areas: 1. My contribution to noteworthy improvements in my community, 2. My loving relationships with remarkable women, 3. My predilection for adventure, travel, knowledge, and above all, affinity for my ethnicity.

In my childhood days, I had no clear aspirations for a future or a career. I quit school in the ninth grade because I was an apathetic student with no direction, vacuously existing in my classrooms, believing that college was only for rich kids; I had no clue what a high school diploma meant for my future livelihood. Based on the high school dropout of students in the United States today (more than 50%), I believe there are many who feel as I once did.

After joining the Catholic Church as a teenager, and spending time with my godfather, Father Edmund, the pastor of Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, I became interested in joining the priesthood, but that ended quickly because I was more interested in girls.

While in the military, I was called the Million Dollar Kid because I intended to make a million after leaving the service. During my first job after the military selling magazines door to door, I had an opportunity to meet a millionaire for the first time in my life, and I was shocked with his ignorance; I had naively expected him to be brilliant. I was disappointed, and it made me reconsider my focus on making money. As a result, I became interested in completing high school and attending college. My change of focus because of disappointment was one of the many times in my life that my expectations were thwarted by disappointments.

When I met my mentor, Ernie Thompson, my life focus changed again, and I began my career as a serious-minded community activist. Until then, I was an uninformed, superficial participant, and casual campaigner in politics along with everyone else. Eventually, my activism became exclusively focused in the Cape Verdean community.

My relationships with women began at age seventeen with a beautiful American Indian woman, and I have been fortunate to have had several wonderful, life-changing, and life-lasting relationships with women since then.

I have traveled world-wide from China to Africa, and I have lived in several countries since I left home at age fifteen.

Perhaps my most important contribution of my life time has been the establishment of Cape Verdean Television, Cabo Video, the first widely distributed weekly program exclusively produced for Cape Verdean immigrants in the United States.

If my life has a theme, if it can be summarized to this point, if my memory is reliable enough to recall enough details--the whole story–-then, perhaps, it can be portrayed as providential, A common man lives an engaging life as a community activist. The standard hype in this country portrays success as the pursuit of accumulating wealth. The propaganda is that everyone has the potential to accumulate an abundance of monetary wealth; not everyone will do so; it is an illusion that can lead to frustration – Fool’s Gold. However, concentrating on living as a significant member of one’s community is obtainable and more realistic. I have been fortunate, for this has been a focus in my life, and my purpose in this memoir is to share it with others.

To help with the writing of my memoir, I began reading about authors of Western Literature that I neglected in college. Their literature explains the human condition, and it jogged my memory and helped me frame my narrative; That happened to me, was a response that I often had as I was engrossed in the time-honored literature. Of course, I did not have time to read the full breadth of what the authors wrote, and so I was selective and sometimes perfunctory with my readings, but I was pleased to be engaged in learning what I ignored in my youth.

It is interesting that the more I wrote about my past, the more I remembered. It was as if I was reliving many of my past experiences. My friend, Pat Swann, asked me, How did you remember all of those things? It was surprisingly easy and enjoyable. It is said, use it or lose it especially about the brain, and at my advanced age, writing my memoir was very useful for brain activity and retention of knowledge.

A Cape Verdean friend, Ricardo Rosa of the University of Wisconsin, upon reading a draft copy, commented that my memoirs could be useful in educating Cape Verdean youths. His comment made me re-evaluate my focus on my memoirs; therefore, I have included Cape Verdean youths in my thoughts as I share my memoirs. I hope my story proves helpful to them.

As I thought of the usefulness of my memoirs for educating Cape Verdean youths, it was apparent that Ricardo was referring to his community, the new immigrants, those whose arrival began in the 1960’s after the passage of the "Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965." As I thought about it, I realized there was a dearth of information within the total immigrant community about American born Caboverdeanos. Because my story is of an American born Caboverdeano, perhaps it can contribute to their enlightenment. Even the title, American Caboverdeano, is directed towards that view because it will resonate within the new immigrant community to create interest. But, although the title will be unfamiliar to most non-Cape Verdean readers, my story is for all people.

Because I have been in the unique position of gaining recognition in the new immigrant community through my work with Cape Verdean television, Cabo Video, perhaps my story can contribute greatly to ameliorate the lack of information within the total immigrant community about American born Caboverdeanos. If so, it will complement my greatest contribution during my career in television which was to meld together the differences between the two communities – immigrant and American born Caboverdeanos. I certainly hope that my memoir will play a part and encourage other American born Caboverdeanos to tell their stories.

In The Beginning

From a remote spot on the globe and at the cross roads for adventurers like Sir Francis Drake and explorers Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan, amongst others, my ancestors have contributed, through me and others, to social change and progress in one of the world’s super powers - America. Even an unknown, undersized land can contribute, if only in a small but unique way, to the progress of a major country. How did this happen?

At the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, during a time of great mass immigration, my paternal grandfather Alberto Andrade, my paternal grandmother Brazina Pina, my maternal grandfather, Jose Joao Vasconcellos Araujo Falcao, and my maternal great grandmother, Francisca Britto Baptiste, with her daughter, Carlota Leitao Britto Baptiste, arrived into the United States from the Cape Verde Islands, West Africa. They traveled aboard small schooner-type ships on a dangerous, arduous, 30 – 40 day ocean trip to escape from a small, virtually barren island and a difficult, limited life. Because of their determination for a better existence, they created the basis for my way of life in this vast and prosperous country of the United States full of wonderful benefits which I have enjoyed until the present. How lucky I am. The realization that I am their descendent, a Cape Verdean American, fills me with enormous pride; they are my heroes!

Although the passage to America has radically changed – it now takes hours to travel instead of days – I hope that the Cape Verdean children of immigrants have a respect and appreciation of their parent’s efforts to provide for them a better life in America. If, in any way, this book supports this idea, I will feel accomplished.

Portuguese Locate Ilhas Do Cabo Verde

It is speculated that the Portuguese Explorers, to their great delight, bumped into the uncharted Islands of Cabo (Cape) Verde. Although the islands were unknown to them, the explorers were familiar with the locale on the nearby coast of Africa whereupon approaching the islands in circa 1462, they declared Ilhas do Cabo Verde believing that the islands belonged to Cap Vert, Senegal, a cape approximately 350 miles east on the mainland. Although Cabo means cape and Verde means green, the Islands are neither green nor a cape. Cape Verde is an archipelago of ten islands; nine are inhabited; one island is entirely a volcano with occasional eruptions; several islands have mountains, although others are flat; and all but one is dry.

Because the islands were uninhabited when discovered, the Portuguese were fortunate to have the Islands as a detention center for their captives from the African mainland that they were making slaves. Cape Verde was a perfect location; it was too far from the mainland for the tribal captives to escape by swimming home; in addition, there was no fear that their brethren would attack the Portuguese. However, the island where they chose to establish an outpost, Sao Tiago, was huge enough for some captives to escape to the mountainous interior of the island safely hidden from their captors. As time passed, a mixed population of Africans with Portuguese nationals and other people from different countries created a new populace called Creoles or Caboverdeanos and a new language called Creole ( Cape Verdean: Kriolo).

The word Creole means a new language or new people. When different nationalities gather on islands with their native languages, their offspring create a common language between themselves – a Creole language. Cape Verdean Kriolo was created from ancient Portuguese syntax mixed with words from other African languages. The Islands remained a colony of Portugal until they gained their Independence on July 5, 1975. Complete information on the Islands can be found at www.caboverde.com

Note: An explanation for the use of the word Kriolo. In the past, this word has been spelled in Portuguese Crioulo. More recently, the Cape Verdean language has adopted the phonetic k in place of the hard c. Many Caboverdeanos in the U.S.A. prefer the original spelling. With due respect to them, I prefer to use the k.

My Cape Verdean Ancestors

Grandpa John

My maternal grandfather, John Filkins, was born either in Portugal or Cape Verde. His death certificate says Portugal, but some people said he was born in Cape Verde. Either way, he was born of Portuguese parents, and in 1890 emigrated from Cape Verde. His family says, while he was in school training as a pharmacist, he was more interested in girls and was neglecting his classes so his grandfather suggested that he continue his education in America. Grandpa John’s father was Luis Vasconcellos, and his mother was Maria Araujo Falcao. His father lived on the Island of Fogo, and his mother was from the Island of Brava. The men of Fogo often married women of Brava. The women of Brava were known to be attractive, and because it is the smallest Island, they preferred to marry someone from the bigger island of Fogo. It may be that it was equivalent to going to the city from the country-side although possibly Fogo was no more sophisticated than was Brava.

Grandpa John worked most of his life at the Parker Mills now called the Tremont Nail Factory in Wareham, Massachusetts. It was recognized as the oldest nail factory in the USA dating back to the 1800’s until it closed in 2006 with plans to make the property an industrial history museum. Grandpa had a good job because, along with decent pay, he had a year-round job in an area that had lots of temporary seasonal employment. He also ran a small store out of his house selling a variety of goods. Like many immigrants, he wanted to be an entrepreneur.

What I remember most about him is that he was laconic and into mysticism. I don’t remember hearing him say more than one sentence at a time, but I remember seeing magazines in the house from the Rosicrucians, a mystical and esoteric fraternity worldwide. With this mystical aura, he led his family to believe he had supernatural powers. He continued to live at the homestead in Oakdale (the Cape Verdean neighborhood of Wareham) when the rest of the family moved to New Bedford, 18 miles away, and would visit on weekends whereupon he would first seek me out, Eddie, write down these words and you must not tell. Then in a secretive pact, he would have me write certain words on paper. Later, he would announce to the family that he could predict what I wrote on the paper not having seen me. I liked being his accomplice and I also got paid for it. I have never revealed his secret before now. I guess it’s all right, all the participants have passed on.

Grandpa was also conservative, and I believe that he was a follower of the John Birch Society - a right-wing conservative group. I heard him saying that Representative John F. Kennedy was a Communist. His conservatism must have influenced me because the first time I ever voted was during the Nixon/Kennedy election and I voted for Nixon. Of course, I have always regretted it. He always owned a new Buick car or it seemed that way, and this was unusual for our neighborhood. I think that he felt superior in class to the neighbors because this was common behavior in the old-country for the Portuguese. This is not to say that he had a negative attitude towards his family. He treated me like a grandson, and I felt close to him.

One of Grandpa’s memorable characteristics was that he was a hypochondriac. He often complained about numerous illnesses he had – especially about his back. He used the word sciatica to describe his back pain. I still can hear his ubiquitous cough. If you greeted him with the common phrase, How are you John? You had to be prepared to hear a long series of his ailments. I don’t remember him having any medical treatment by a doctor or hospital.

Grandpa John Filkins’ original surname was Vasconcellos but it became Filkins in the United States. I discovered how his surname became Filkins from Vasconcellos while in Cape Verde--the city of Praia on the Island of Sao Tiago--when I heard someone call out what sounded like, "Sr. Filkin. I rushed over to the man and asked his name. Luis Filkin," or that represents what I heard and I asked him to spell it. He wrote FALCAO. I discovered that CAO was pronounced COWN, but when pronounced quickly it sounds like KAHN. In Portuguese and Kriolo the combined letters ao sounds like OWN in English. In fact, the name Falcao means Falcon (the bird) in English, and it sounds like Filkin when pronounced.

Upon my return to Massachusetts, I asked my Uncle Roy for his father’s original name, and he wrote; Joao Jose Vasconcellos Falcao. The mystery was solved. I had heard various stories about how John got his name, but it seems obvious that, when he arrived in the U.S.A., the customs person spelled the last name phonetically FilKAHNS or Filkins. The custom in Cape Verde is to include your mother's name after your father's when it is written. Therefore, he must have written his full name Joao Jose Vasconcellos Falcao and his surname in the U.S.A. became Filkins, and his first name Joao (pronounced ZHUWAN) became John. Whenever I meet a Filkins in Massachusetts, I know that we are related because of our made-up name. I am the only family member who made this discovery, and when I meet Filkins I inform them of their original name - Falcao.

Recently, I met the young Eric Filkins on Facebook. When I inquired of his parents, it turned out that he was the son of Cousin Leo Filkins of New Bedford, Massachusetts. I told him his true name, and he was excited because his friends often doubted that he was a Cape Verdean due to his fair complexion combined with the English-sounding Filkins name. Cousin Eric declared, Now I can tell everyone my real Cape Verdean name is Falcao.

This cousin is not the only person of Cape Verdean heritage who does not know their original and authentic surname. I have other cousins with the name of Andrews instead of Andrade. Their father (Uncle George) would insist to me that his name was correct, not mine. He was raised to believe that the American version of Andrade was Andrews. He, my father and two sisters became orphans at an early age after their mother died, and they became wards of the state. In the process, their names were changed, but my father was the oldest and he would not allow them to change his name. Therefore, my two aunts and my uncle became Andrews. Today’s youths of Cape Verdean immigrants are fortunate that they have their true name that is representative of their heritage.

Grandma Carlota

My maternal Grandmother, Carlota Baptiste Leitao, immigrated to the U.S.A. at a young age with her mother, Francesca Britto Baptiste. As the story goes, it is told that Grandma Carlota was an illegitimate daughter of a black mother and white father. Her father, in the Island of Brava, was Sr. Leitao, a