Claire Andrade-Watkins grew up minutes away from Brown's campus. Andrade-Watkins, an associate professor at Emerson College and a visiting scholar at Brown's Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, lived in Providence's Fox Point neighborhood — an experience she shared at the opening convocation of Cape Verdean Heritage Weekend, which celebrated Cape Verdean culture in the local community.
"Cape Verdeans make up a large part of Brown's working community, and it usually goes unnoticed," said Samantha DeAndrade '12, the convocation's programmer. The weekend is one of many series the Third World Center sponsors annually.
The weekend's aim was to "promote the awareness and presence" of Cape Verdean culture, DeAndrade said.
The weekend held four main events: an opening convocation, a Cape Verdean student and alumni mixer, a presentation and discussion about local Cape Verdean communities and a workshop on styles of traditional Cape Verdean dance.
The weekend's opening convocation focused on a specific issue that hits close to home for the local Cape Verdean community — the gentrification of nearby Fox Point.
It is important to understand that "Brown sits on Cape Verdean territory," DeAndrade said.
She said that as Brown expanded, it took over the Cape Verdean community. "We are sitting on top of what used to be a neighborhood," she said.
In Andrade-Watkins's speech in Andrews Dining Hall, which drew around 170 attendees, including faculty, students and local residents, she described a once-vibrant Cape Verdean community in Fox Point. But as the years went by, she witnessed the incremental destruction of her neighborhood — symbolized by a house becoming a parking lot.
"Things were torn down, and people were getting scared," she said, calling what happened to the neighborhood a case of "urban genocide."
Andrade-Watkins said that, as a little girl, she prayed for the destruction of her community to end. "What happened, Mr. Brown?" she said. "Why do you still have your house, and I don't?"
Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn '12 said it is important to recognize the history that Brown has with the Cape Verdean community.
"We should encourage that in the community of color, Cape Verdean culture is respected," Cutipa-Zorn said.
The convocation, which was organized by the Cape Verdean Steering Committee, also included a musical performance by the band Fidjus di Fazenda and a performance by Victorious Dance Group, which incorporated different styles of traditional Cape Verdean dance. Drummer Tony Fonseca also performed, inviting guests to form a circle and participate in making Afro-Caribbean beats with tambourines and cowbells.
The convocation concluded with samples of Cape Verdean food and an exhibit featuring the works of local artists.
"This is what history's about. If you don't catch it, it's gone," Andrade-Watkins said.
