Articles

Breastfeeding is hard.  But, it comes with so many great benefits to mom, baby and society.

Breastfeeding is hard. But, it comes with so many great benefits to mom, baby and society.

Breastfeeding has numerous benefits to your baby. Breastfeeding can protect your baby from many viral and bacterial infections, such as ear, respiratory and urinary tract infections, and diseases such as leukemia, diabetes and childhood obesity. It can also protect your baby from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and may help your child become smarter; children that are breastfed do better on intelligence tests.

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Moises Rodrigues for State Senate

Moises Rodrigues for State Senate

On Saturday February 22nd, Moises Rodrigues made a stunning announcement that he was running for state Senate of Massachusetts.  The new mayor of Brockton, Robert F. Sullivan, was in attendance at Santana Restaurant And Function Hall along with many of Moises...

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Dana Barros partners with ACVB

Dana Barros partners with ACVB

Former NBA All Star and former Boston Celtic, Dana Barros, partners up with ACVB to bring the organization to the Dana Barros Basketball Club in Stoughton. League Commissioner Tino Brazao is excited about the partnership and the expansion of the league as each...

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ACVB 2019 Playoffs

ACVB 2019 Playoffs

The 2019 ACVB playoffs is under way with big games being played last weekend at North Middle School in Brockton, Ma.  The first match was an instant classic between the conference rivals Campana Lança and Bairro.  In their first meeting during the regular season,...

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Basketball with No Boundaries

Basketball with No Boundaries

On April 26, 2019, George Guyton left for Cabo Verde on a mission to conduct basketball clinics and bring much needed donations for youth in Cabo Verde. George is working with FCBB in Praia, (Federação Caboverdiana de Basquetebol), and ARBF in Fogo, (Associação...

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Amadeu Oliveira Is Fighting For Legal Reform

Amadeu Oliveira Is Fighting For Legal Reform

Amadeu is fighting for legal reform and to improve the accountability of the judges of Cape Verde who have much power and no one to answer to.  Amadeu Oliveira will be visiting the United States and has a 3 city tour to meet with the Cape Verdean citizens of the US...

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Community Day Basketball in Boston – ACVB

Community Day Basketball in Boston – ACVB

ACVB coordinated its first community event in Boston in collaboration with the City of Boston and BCYF.  The event was also help sponsored by DFA (The Depina Family Association) & MAPS (Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers). Boston Police Commissioner...

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Tony Barros inducted into LEC Hall Of Fame

Tony Barros inducted into LEC Hall Of Fame

Tony Barros is the first men's basketball player to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  Currently sitting second all-time in career points, Barros led the UMASS Boston Beacons to the program's first-ever conference championship in 2006.  Barros is amongst the all-time...

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Autism for Cape Verde

Autism for Cape Verde

A message from Elizabeth "Beta" Gomes: Dear Family and Friends, In October of 2016 I traveled to my home country of Cape Verde in hopes of learning more about the educational opportunities available for student with disabilities. However upon my arrival I was...

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Boston Children’s Museum Family Event

Boston Children’s Museum Family Event

Boston Children's Museum invites you and your family to try out their new exhibition! Bring your family on April 21st and enjoy unique entertainment for your kids, free food, and raffle prizes! In order to be eligible to participate, you must: -Live in Boston -Have...

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Building A real solution, in Brick and Mortar

Building A real solution, in Brick and Mortar

There are so many problems in the world these days. And they are the same problems that have been around for a long time. Turn on the news or listen to the stories on social media and you will hear the cries for help. Gun violence, Drug addiction, homelessness, mass...

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ACVB Week 3 Summary

ACVB Week 3 Summary

The third week of regular season for ACVB has proven to be another round of great performances by talented players and challenging matchups for a number of teams. Game summaries below: Volcanic  vs. 7 Stars: Avery Cardoza of the Volcanics led the way in their matchup...

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Isabel Gomes for Marty Walsh and Why

Isabel Gomes for Marty Walsh and Why

Isabel Gomes is a Cape Verdean business owner in Dorchester. English is not her first language but since I do not speak Kriolu or Portuguese that is the language the interview was conducted in. She has owned a hair salon for years, is part of a thriving Church in the...

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Veronica Maria Pimentel

Veronica Maria Pimentel

I recently had the opportunity to talk to the first Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician in the United States who was born on the Cape Verde Islands, Veronica Maria Pimentel. So what was Dr. Pimentel’s journey like? "I was born in Ribeira Brava, S. Nicolau and grew up on...

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A Box To Check

A Box To Check

Recently the Asian American community has become divided especially among new arrivals from China and Chinese who have been here for a few generations over one political issue in particular... data disaggregation. dis... desegregation... what? American state...

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More than Basketball

More than Basketball

I sat down with Tino Brazao, founder of Associação Cabo Verdiana de Basquetbol or ACVB, a brand-new Cape Verdean Basketball league as he cut out emblems with some volunteer members of the community, who helped press shirts and Jerseys for an upcoming event. “It’s more...

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The Center of the Map and the Beginning of the New World

The Center of the Map and the Beginning of the New World

I had the opportunity to interview Marcelino Bala, author of "The Importance of Cabo Verde in a Global Context" and a researcher of Cape Verdean history. Some of his amazing discoveries were printed in "Somos Primos" in October 2015, a publication focusing on Hispanic...

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A Farewell To Rudy Santos: By Ed Andrade

A Farewell To Rudy Santos: By Ed Andrade

Rudy Santos was my best friend. Like his father, Tony, who was a very popular figure in New Bedford, Massachusetts when I was a youngster. However, Rudy took it well beyond. Although, he never obtained a high political office which was his natural calling. Like a...

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Mistaken for Muslim, Boston’s Bloodlust

Mistaken for Muslim, Boston’s Bloodlust

A Cape Verdean friend of mine was out having a good time in Boston down by the Causeway. He went to a bar near Government Center with a cousin who happens to be a professional gamer. It was 90% white people. "I was a little uncomfortable but I wasn't going to let it...

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ACVB: International Project 2017 – GoFundMe

ACVB: International Project 2017 – GoFundMe

CLICK HERE TO DONATE Donations will contribute to basketball equipment and supplies to be donated to clubs and those in need in Cabo Verde, and also will assist with coordinating youth engagement clinics through basketball. ACVB is a community basketball league,...

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Fiery Blaze Scorches New Apartments

Fiery Blaze Scorches New Apartments

Fire rips through a 6 story building located at 1271-77 Dorchester avenue at the old site of where the Ashmont Tire building once stood.  The blaze was reported around 2:30 PM.  One person was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.  A laborer said that the...

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Shaming Rituals and Public School Lunch

Shaming Rituals and Public School Lunch

Khrystyne Bento walked into a meeting at the Jenks Junior High school in Pawtucket to talk about a pervading problem in the school system. The issue involves hunger, politics, and shaming of certain low income students. The issue at hand? Lunch. The superintendent,...

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Other American Dreams Report: The War on Context

Other American Dreams Report: The War on Context

Some of you may be wondering where I’ve been the last few months. My last article was about presidential pardons and we now have a US president whose cabinet looks like they may need one in eight years. Possibly four if the DNC can stop kicking itself in the knees. I...

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2017 A.C.V.B. All-Star Game Voting

2017 A.C.V.B. All-Star Game Voting

2017 ACVB All- Star Game Voting click here Voting for the 2017 ACVB All-Star Game has opened.  The game will be taking place at the Kid's Day Event sponsored by the league at Bridgewater State University on May 20, 2017 at 3pm. ASSOCIAÇÁO CABO VERDIANA DE BASQUETBOL...

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The Cape Verdean Devil: Part Two

The Cape Verdean Devil: Part Two

This story is about a man who is basically lethal with his hands. Any fight he got into on the street or in prison he would destroy the other person even though he seemed to be of a slight build. But there was something, if not heroic, in the narrative, at least...

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The Cape Verdean Devil: Part One – Negative News

The Cape Verdean Devil: Part One – Negative News

I haven't heard a lot of negative things about the Cape Verdean community until recently. Perhaps this is because I am not Cape Verdean, and so when I hear about street violence, and Cape Verdeans are involved, I really would not know that the victims or perpetrators...

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A Shooting Lost In Translation

A Shooting Lost In Translation

A Pawtucket resident (who is Cape Verdean) was caught in a crossfire shooting on the border line between Pawtucket and Center Falls. The shooting happened at the parking lot of a meat market on Lonsdale Street across from a local Burger King. The victim did not at...

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The United Community for CACD: Hopes for the Future

The United Community for CACD: Hopes for the Future

As we know from past articles, the Cape Verdean Community Development in Pawtucket Rhode Island had some problems in the past. Khrystyne Bento and Abdul Adil led a protest regarding lack of programming and misappropriation of funds. The CACD has worked to change all...

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Abdul Adil: CACD Pawtucket

Abdul Adil: CACD Pawtucket

A couple years ago the CV Network did a piece on the CACD in Pawtucket. As it turns out Abdul Adil was involved in the protest that took place. I asked him to speak on that a little bit. CACD, which stands for Cape Verdean American Community Development, was created...

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A Rising Star

A Rising Star

Janice Leao, Number 14, contesting a shot (pictured above) In the Cabo Verdean community, in the US and abroad, many athletes have risen to various levels of stature in their respective sports. Often times, female student-athletes do not receive the same level of...

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Abdul Adil: CV World Enterprise and The Youth

Abdul Adil: CV World Enterprise and The Youth

I had the opportunity to interview Dorchester Activist and the first Cape Verdean rapper. Formerly known as Justin he now goes by Abdul Adil after finding the Muslim faith. Abdul created CV World Enterprise in 1998. The problem that he saw with his community in terms...

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Associação Cabo Verdiana de Basquetbol

Associação Cabo Verdiana de Basquetbol

I, Tino Brazao, traveled to Cabo Verde in 2011 with a local Boston men’s basketball team, called Strela Negra, to participate in a Luso-African basketball tournament spearheaded by Rodrigo Mascarenhas of the Cabo Verde men’s national basketball team. The tournament...

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The Greatest Superbowl! Campeões 4 Evahhhh!!!

The Greatest Superbowl! Campeões 4 Evahhhh!!!

A lot of Cape Verdeans settled in the New England area so it is a given that many Cape Verdeans are Pats fans. Even those that have moved to other parts of the country still have family ties to this team, that seems to always make it to the Superbowl. This year,...

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Invisible Community Leaders

Invisible Community Leaders

I'm not sure that I would say I have something against politicians... it's more like I've been learning from them or I should say learning their strategy. For instance if I do a Kung Fu lion dance for a school I was teaching at for a ground breaking event, I would say...

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U.S.A. to deport 400 Immigrants to Cabo Verde

U.S.A. to deport 400 Immigrants to Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde has struggled in recent years with the handling of deportees being sent back to the island country.  Since the early 90's, over 1300 Cape Verdeans have been deported, majority of which came from the United States, followed by Portugal and France. Most are...

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“Dudley Street Diaspora” by Amber Torres

“Dudley Street Diaspora” by Amber Torres

There is a meta narrative that as neighborhoods gentrify, they become safer. The neighborhoods become better, cleaner, more community centered. In many ways this seems to be true. But Amber Torres' "Dudley Street Diaspora" a poem and video of the same name, describes...

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Honor The King Of Dreamers

Honor The King Of Dreamers

On January 16, 2017, the Associacao Caboverdiana de Brockton, Inc. (ACVB) hosted its 2nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. family event. The event took place at St. Edith Stein Church in Brockton. The community showed up in droves to understand the man and how...

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New Bedford Boys and Girls Club

New Bedford Boys and Girls Club

A friend of mine at Seed, Chan, and Associates, Jason Chan, posted that the Law firm is donating money to the Boys and Girls Club of New Bedford.  As the video played my CVN radar kicked in and I thought, that the Executive Director, Rob Mendes, is probably Cape...

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That was then this now: Crowds in China.

That was then this now: Crowds in China.

I was glancing through "American Cabo Verdeano" and the first thing I would like to mention is that it is broken up into very short sections. These are perfect for quick reading or for printing out and having students read them. It also means that you do not have to...

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Time to Dance

Time to Dance

Over Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to interview an 88 year old Cape Verdean woman from Onset. I am not going to share her name because in the future I plan to do a generational piece comparing her story with her niece and grand niece. She is of the older...

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Coloring the Cape Verdean Flag

Coloring the Cape Verdean Flag

A lot of what I hear covering Cape Verdeans is how they often feel that nobody has ever heard of their country outside of their community. In fact I guess I didn't really hear about Cape Verde myself until middle school. One day my younger son asked me, "What do you...

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Model Minority and Cabo Verde Centrism

Model Minority and Cabo Verde Centrism

Being half Chinese and therefore having many Asian Facebook friends, I see a lot of complaining about Asians being pinned as a model minority and the problems with this. But problems aside, there are good things about being a "model minority" as well. However,...

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Chinese Connection

Chinese Connection

I just biked home in the rain from a screening of Kenneth Eng's, "My life in China" at Northeastern, right down the street from the FFTG Radio show which has a Cabo Verde Network connection. It got me thinking about the Cabo Verde Chinese Connection. The first night I...

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Skin Tones and Body parts

Skin Tones and Body parts

The difference in what is favored by men across cultures has been talked about a lot, sometimes politically, (when it comes to skin tone) and usually in comedy or hip hop songs (when it comes to talking about women's body parts, especially when the more African...

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Brockton, Nantucket, Cape Verde, Pawtucket

Brockton, Nantucket, Cape Verde, Pawtucket

I recently attended an event in Brockton where Dr. Luis Filipe Tavares was speaking. He's the Cape Verdean "Ministro dos Negocios Estrangeiros Comunidades" which Google translates as "Minister of Foreign Communities",  but I think we would say something like foreign...

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Eyes opened by Cape Verdean Legend, Ed Andrade

Eyes opened by Cape Verdean Legend, Ed Andrade

I was fortunate enough to get a phone interview with Ed Andrade, co-founder of Cabo Video being just one of the many notches on his belt. I think I will have to do a whole series of articles based on what he opened my eyes to. But you can get a lot of the info...

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The Empowered Cape Verdean Woman

The Empowered Cape Verdean Woman

I recently went to a community event in Brockton. I have been to many such events in the Chinese Community. There were similarities, with the tables, the speeches, the food, the fee for coming in, and the politicians and fellow business men showing up to show support....

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President Fonseca Wins Re-election!

President Fonseca Wins Re-election!

Cape Verde’s President Jorge Carlos Fonseca wins “historic” re-election with results on Monday showing Fonseca taking 74% of the vote, according to the latest provisional results which cover 90% of the ballots cast.  Independent candidates, Albertino Graca took 23%...

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Categorizing Cape Verdean

Categorizing Cape Verdean

In America we are obsessed with categorizing race. A lot of times, during a conversation, in which something negative happened, physically or verbally someone will ask, "What were they?" Meaning what group were they from, what race were they from. There is also the...

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Customer Service Doesn’t Cost a Dime

Customer Service Doesn’t Cost a Dime

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communities of Cabo Verde, Luis Filipe Tavares, visited the United States in September of this year.  On Saturday, September 24th, Tavares held an Open Community Meeting at the War Memorial building in Brockton, MA.  The Cape...

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A Mayoral Watermelon Challenge

A Mayoral Watermelon Challenge

I have been hearing that the topic of prejudice and stereotypes within the Cape Verdean Community would be a good subject for an article. And reading Sergio Monteiro's Black Olive's Matter article made me realize that there is a lot to talk about in terms of the issue...

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Food For Work, Calories Famine, and Plantations

Food For Work, Calories Famine, and Plantations

One thing I am starting to hear a lot about is the famines and the drought on Cape Verde. Every country has some story about a time where food was scarce, but the way the geography Cape Verde Islands it seems like there is not a lot of good farm land and drought is...

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How deep is Cape Verdean-ness?

How deep is Cape Verdean-ness?

Although there are some cultural differences between groups of people who have been in the states for generations and people from the old country, some of the similarities can really boggle the mind at times. A second generation Cape Verdean friend of mine was working...

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MpD Rises To Power In Cabo Verde

MpD Rises To Power In Cabo Verde

The political party MpD (Movement For Democracy), is dominating mayoral elections taking place nationally at each of the municipalities in Cabo Verde.  According to the official website for municipal elections (www.eleicoes.gov.cv), MpD has accounted for 86.4% of...

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