cape verde

As a military commander for the African Party for the Independence of Guinee-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGCV), Pedro Pires thought he understood what it meant to be a revolutionary. He had spent time with revolutionary leaders in Algeria, Cuba and the Soviet Union.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is opening two exhibitions celebrating the 50th anniversary of Cape Verde’s independence from Portugal in collaboration with the vibrant Cape Verdean community on the South Coast of New England.

Manuel Da Luz Gonçalves received corporal punishment in the 1960s for speaking his mother tongue at a Catholic seminary in what was then called Cape Verde.

Boston’s Irish and Cabo Verdeans share a history of Catholicism, three-decker living and colonizing Uphams Corner. Most significant to the menfolk might be the celebratory pints at nearby Dublin House. You can now add soccer star Roberto “Pico” Lopes to that affinity.

For decades, the Ernestina transported goods from New Bedford to the islands and back as well and brought generations of Cape Verdeans to Massachusetts to work. In 1982, the Cape Verdean government gifted the Ernestina-Morrissey to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Badly in need of repair, the schooner was taken out of service in 2004.

Cape Verde’s democratic structures are in good health 43 years after the West African archipelago won its independence from Portugal, the nation’s ambassador to the U.S., Carlos Veiga, told an audience at Bridgewater State University Oct. 25.