Link:http://bpe.org/btr/index.html


Para tradução para Português feita pelo tradutor automático de google.com, copie e cole este link na sua janela de browser:http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fforcv.forumup.org%2Fabout598-forcv.html&langpair=en%7Cpt&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

Atenção: A tradução feita pelo computador não é perfeita, mas apresenta uma idea geral do conteúdo do tema abaixo. Obrigado(a).


"Sampadjudu ku Badiu: anôs ê kul"(Sampadjudu and Badiu: we are cool). If there are top 3 things that made the singer Heavy H popular among Cape Verdeans, these lyrics are certainly one of them. People from Praia to Santo Antão were echoing these 7 words for months and months when the singer first released that hit.

Still today when that song gets played in Cape Verdean clubs or parties, it looks like suddenly everybody gets high. People throw themselves into free style dance while repeating the lyrics as they comes up. Ummmh! Why is that hit so popular among Cape Verdeans? Why do people instantly get high in the presence of that those lyrics? Besides its captivating drum beats and rhythms, why that song seems to become the anthem of unity and harmony among Cape Verdeans? I don’t know what was the magic formula Heavy H put into it, but one thing is clear: the lyrics "Sampadjudu ku Badiu: anôs ê kul" touched one of the unspoken taboo few other artists or scholars dared to talk about before: the badiu and sampadjudu controversy. But Heavy H was smart enough to present himself as the Jesus Christ of that dilemma by bringing the solution: anôs ê kul.

Before moving on, let's clarify the origin and meaning of the word badiu and sampadjudu. Badiu, according to Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, "is the language of the population of the Sotavento Cape Verdean Islands. The word has historical roots on the Portuguese word vadio, which refers to the runaway slaves who escaped from their owners and lived in deserted places in the interior of Santiago island." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badiu). Therefore, when used towards people in informal context, it represents the people of the Santiago Island and somewhat Maio.

On the contrary, the website answers.com states that "sampadjudu, also sampadjudo are languages of the population of the Cape Verde Islands outside Santiago especially Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Sal, Boa Vista, Fogo and Brava. The dialect of Maio is similar to Badiu that is mostly not when Sampadjudo is designated.

The origins of these words have two explanations:
• são para ajudar (Port. they came over to help)
• Sampaio Ajuda (Port. Name)"
(http://www.answers.com/topic/sampadjudu)

However, the popular wisdom and word of mouth among Cape Verdeans is that word sampadjudu comes from the Portuguese phrase são palhudos, expression the colonizers used towards the people from Windward (Sotavento) islands, Fogo and Brava. In other words, that term was used to refer to these people because they used to lay down on straws on their free time. Thus, the term is informally used to identify people from the region and islands mentioned above.

Nevertheless, one needs to be aware of the fact that the terms badiu and sampadjudu have sometimes been and still used with negative connotation toward the people they represent.

On the other hand, “Sampadjudu ku Badiu ê kul.” But there are a lot of misconceptions and bias about badius and sampadjudus that still need to be brought to light, discussed and put aside so the unity among Cape Verdeans become stronger and stronger. We don’t want the issue of Badiu and Sampadjudu to continue to divide our country anymore nor our Diaspora where the need “pa nu fika mas unidu” is urgent and crucial to solve the issues we face and to develop as community and immigrants.

So, while being frank and honest on this issue, let’s talk about it with an open mind and in a constructive way so the hidden biases and misconceptions underneath them be brought to the table and put aside.


Link:http://jassstewart.com/index.htm

are you doing a monologue?

The Sampadjudo vs. Badiu issue is certainly a topic that needs to be debated more often because it is an issue that resonates with Cape Verdeans, especially the ones from the old country. The roots of this issue goes back to the slavery days in Cape Verde.

Initially called Vadius by their slave masters, the Badius, were the Cape Verdeans who refused to be slaves to the portuguese exiles that populated CV in the 15th century. These portuguese exiles were the low class elements of portugal, banished by the then portuguese crown. They were poor, some were criminals, others were captured soldiers from other countries, et cetera. Many of them were illiterate yet their racial sense of entitlement compelled them to see themselves as the betters of the Africans, many of whom were literate and some still were techonologically advanced persons. These would not voluntarily be slaves to the portuguese. So they ran away and formed semi-independent enclaves deep in the mountainous country sides of the Santiago island, the biggest and most populous of the ten Cape Verde islands.

Life in the mountains

To this day, visitors marvel at how some Santiago island people are able to make homes and live in the seemingly inacceissible ills of Santiago mountains. This was by strategic design going back centuries. The more inaccessible the mountainous enclaves of the run away slaves seemed, the less the resolve of their owners were to re-capture them. They lived in armony amongst themselves for centuries. Later on, some branched out to the cities, thus forming a citified elite. They called the ones who remained isolated, "badius di fora" or country badius, sort of like the way citified Jamaicans perceived the "marroons", the Jamaican version of badius. Likewise, the way northern-bred African Americans perceive their southern counterparts epitomized by the state of Alabama, e.g. oh you so bema, kinda resembles the CV country vs. city folk rivalry. So that pretty much summs up the historical context of the badiu.

Furthermore, equally important are the etymological origins of the terms "badiu" and "sampadjudo"

Beginning with the word "badiu", whatever word that begins with a V in portuguese, ex: Vadiu, meaning vagobond in english, is morphed into a B, in the Cape Verdean language. An example would be, Vaca, which means cow in portuguese, it is spelled and pronounced with a B, Baca, in the Santiago variant of Kriolu. Another example is Vida, meaning life in portuguse, in Kriolu it is spelled Bida.
Now, the etymological origin of the term "sampadjudo" is not definitively known. The one theory that surmises that "sampadjudo" is a derivative of the phrase "sao para ajudar" is not very convincing, though it's a probable origin. "Sao para ajudar" is a portuguese phrase that translates in English more or less as "they're the help". This is a probable origin considering that sampadjudos were the proxies or agents of portuguese colonialism in Africa. Most of the overseers in colonial Guinea Bissau, Angola, and Sao Tome were sampadjudos. They were peculiar intermediary colonial figures, a step above the Africans and a step below the portuguese. In short, oppressed and oppressors at once could describe the social predicament of sampadjudos back in the portuguese colonial era, thus explaining their peculiar racial identity.

Color Complex

It's important to know that color is another taboo topic in Cape Verdean circles, but nonetheless, it is a real issue and it should de discussed. Sampadjudos, that is, the CVs, from the barlavento islands(st_antao, sao_vicence, sal, sao_nicolau, and boa_vista) and the ones from Brava and Fogo(sotavento) are by general perception light skinned, whereas, badius, the natives of santiago, are generally perceived as being dark skinned. The reason for the first being light and the latter being dark has to do with the mixing the exiled portuguese underwent with the Africans and the latter having had lesser amorous contact with the aforementioned europeans.

Light colored badius (there are many) are called sampadjudos in informal conversations. Interesingly enough, a dark complexioned sampadjudo, when in praia is often refered to as a sampadjudo preto or black sampadjudo. The light skinned sampadjudo is just refered to as sampadjudo, period, with no accompanying adjective. So, basically, light-skinneness is associated with sampadjudos and dark-skinneness with badius. The former do not perceive themselves as being black or African. The latter do.

Sampadjudos and Badius in the CV diaspora: different politics, different reactions

Since Cape Verde is a very poor and drought ridden country, immigration has been a fact of life. Cape Verdeans historically have had to emigrate to Europe, mainland Africa or the United States, or starve if they didn't. In the American immigration context, specifically, the first pioneering Cape Verdeans, who mostly came from the islands of Brava and Fogo, the sampadjudo ethos, that is, the sampadjudo mentality, has worked against them. Note that it's stated above that Sampadjudos don't as a norm perceive themselves as being black or bona fide Africans. At best, a sampadjudo sees himself as a racial intermediate between the African and the European, or in some cases, as a "dark caucasian". The badiu, by contrast, doesn't have this perception. Orgulho de badiu or Badiu Pride is basically black, that is, African pride, albeit in a Cape Verdean sense. In other words, whereas, the sampadjudo distances himself from his African-ness and sometimes pathetically denies it, the Badiu embraces it.

American racial dogma impact on the Sampadjudo

Thousands of miles away, a different continent, different race perceptions, the Sampadjudo found himself in a hostile racial terrain. America has always perceived an individual with any known trace of black African as being black. To the bright yellow skinned sampadjudo from Brava (most of the first CVs who came to America were from the island of brava) this form of racial category didn't make sense, he is not black, he reasoned. But to the Americans, both the white and the black ones, the sampadjudo which came to symbolize CVs in general, was unquestionably black. Still, the sampadjudo didn't acquiesce. He didn't want to see himself as others perceived him.

Americans ridicule and mock sampadjudos

Americans who were acquainted with the CVs, especially the black ones, attempted another way to convince the sampadjudo that he's black - through ridicule and mockery. Any CV who's acquainted with African Americans in New England know how these are prone to ridicule and mock Cape Verdeans regardless of whether they are sampadjudo or badiu because in their minds, all CVs are the same as the old time illiterate ones. The Badiu, who most of the time doesn't think like the stereotypical sampadjudo has to constantly explain himself and defend the old time behavior of CVs. It becomes tiresome.

Some sampadjudos, especially the older and lesser educated ones, resent the fact that some Badius identify with the African Americans and get offended when stupid remarks are made about Americans of African descent. Again, the badiu, especially the educated type, finds himself explaining to others what they should know, but don't. Thus enter the new dynamics of knowledge politics where the sampadjudo who back in the old country, especially during the colonial years, was the perceived better, becomes envious of the badiu who through education and adherence to American codes become their defacto betters, at least in the minds of Americans. This is only reason the author of this post has heard Americans continuously say that "the ones from the Santiago island are usually better educated".

sometimes I really get disapointed by your BS, you write well, but your qualities stops there. your writings is full of sophisms and fallacies.

Furthermore you try to lower capeverde with sentences like; "Now, since Cape Verde is a very poor country, immigration has been a factor of life.".
Look, even rich countries sent immigrants abroad. england sent 10 million immigrants to the americas, ireland 5 million, germany some 5 million too, italy sent immigrants in the americas too. So this phenomenon is not just linked to the poverty of capeverde. you should show more respect and balance in your statements. Don't belittle capeverde.

then you statement on education in capeverde, is so "risible" (you have your place in a circus). The highly respected schools were and are in barlavento. The lyceum of mindelo and the liceu of sao-nicolao are the ones that were the fame of capeverde and from where the intelegiencia was educated. Also, stop sophisms, if santiago seems to have more educated people than elsewhere it is "maybe" just because santiago has 50% of the population of the archipelago, which implies that 50% of the cv educated people come from praia. Nevertheless these educated santiagenses have to be formed in mindelo because the good schools are there

Well, you see, st_antao, you have a very poor grasp of history and critical theory. That's the reason you can not grasp the truths of that post. Some would even say that you epitomize the stererotypical sampadjudo mentality described in that same post.

for me, you epitomise those who have nothing to tell.

Reply on the fact that 50% of the population lives in santiago, then (logic) this implies that 50% of the educated people comes from there. Can you reply on that point?

Then can you explain why good cv schools are in mindelo? the santiagense who are educated have to go to mindelo, if they want quality formation...can you reply?

if you don't reply to those very easy questions, then I will be convinced that you are the dark side of "affirmative action"

Genética "separa" Barlavento e Sotavento

11-01-07

A população das ilhas do Barlavento é mais semelhante aos Europeus do que os habitantes do Sotavento, confirmou uma investigação do Laboratório de Genética Populacional da Universidade da Madeira, Portugal.




O estudo, coordenado por Hélder Spínola, analisa desde 1999 o padrão genético dos países de língua oficial portuguesa. Em Cabo Verde, a investigação envolveu 120 pessoas.

Os habitantes do Barlavento têm um maior número de haplotipos (a constituição genética de um cromossoma) comuns a Portugal, o que é justificado pelas diferenças de povoamento entre os dois grupos de ilhas.

A investigação afirma ainda que a base genética da população de Cabo Verde, com um número elevado de alelos (formas iguais do mesmo gene), resulta de uma mistura entre vários povos africanos e caucasianos, vindos da Europa.

Os cabo-verdianos, comparados com os outros povos da África Subsaariana, estão muito mais próximos dos norte-africanos, partilhando alelos encontrados frequentemente na população portuguesa, mas também marcadores de ADN característicos dos povos que nasceram à volta do Mar Mediterrâneo.

O estudo defende também que existe alguma semelhança entre a população da Guiné-Bissau e de Cabo Verde, mas os crioulos têm mais haplotipos comuns a Portugal do que os guineenses.

Esta investigação representa também um contributo para o estudo das doenças dos povos de expressão portuguesa. Os dados permitem ter uma ideia da maior ou menor relação entre a genética da população e doenças como alergias, a artrite reumatóide e a diabetes de tipo 1. Desta forma é possível desenvolver medidas preventivas, como a redução dos factores de risco.

Point 1: 50% population: most CVs in America are not from Santiago. Santiaguenses make-up less than 20 percent of CVs in America. The majority of CVs in America hail from Brava, Fogo and the other islands. Yet still, in spite of their statistical disadvantage, Santiaguenses are still perceived as being better educated. Why? Re-read my post and you'd see why.

Point 2: Mindelo Schools are better and santiaguenses have to go there for a quality education. Only a moron whose grasp of post independence CV history and politics is dysmal would make such an off the mark statement, because Santiaguenses haven't been going to Liceu in Sao Vincente for more than 33 years. Since 1975, Liceu Domingos Ramos, located in Plateau, Praia, has been THE premier High School in Cape Verde. And for so long the only post secondary education institution in Cape Verde, the Escola the Formacao de Professores, or teacher's college, was in Praia, Santiago.
So, as you can see, you are more than three decades off the mark. You need to get in-sync with the current times. Read-up on the present and rely less on what your grandparents tell you.

The Sampadjudo vs. Badiu issue is certainly a topic that needs to be debated more often because it is an issue that resonates with Cape Verdeans, especially the ones from the old country. The roots of this issue goes back to the slavery days in Cape Verde.

Initially called Vadius by the portuguese owners and mullato capeverdean born masters, the Badius, were people from santiago who manage to escape from their portuguese owners. The portuguese owners were captains, priest, exiled jews escaping the inquisition and a little number of low class portuguese. The portuguese archives shows that the portuguese crown sent 1000 low class portuguese to capeverde because they wanted cape-verde to be a european archipelago and were concerned that by the 16th century, the mullatos were ruling the country. They were poor, some were criminals, others were captured soldiers from other countries, et cetera. The main part of the portuguese population who settled in cape-verde were the jews from portugal and spain. The jews organise the slave trade and internarried with african womans. Their offsprings continued the slave trade. Very interestingly, the origins of the badius and rbelados doesn't come from so far, it started in the 18th century, when the spanish who were ruling portugal reintroduced slaves in capeverde. These slaves ran away and formed semi-independent enclaves deep in the mountainous country sides of the Santiago island, the biggest and most poor and prone to malaria outbreaks of the ten Cape Verde islands.

Life in the mountains

To this day, westerner visitors (on their neo-colonial travels) marvel at how some Santiago island people are able to make homes and live in the seemingly inacceissible ills of Santiago mountains, like primitive africans, this is what neo-colonial westerners want to see when they go to africa. This was by strategic design going back to the 18th century. The more inaccessible the mountainous enclaves of the run away slaves seemed, the less the resolve of their owners were to re-capture them. They lived in armony amongst themselves for two centuries. Later on, when slavery stopped completly in capeverde some branched out to the cities, thus forming a citified elite, of course elite is by local standarts, they didn't even know how to write. The santiagenses who were living on the cities called the ones who remained isolated, "badius di fora" or country badius, sort of like the way citified Jamaicans perceived the "marroons", the Jamaican version of badius. Likewise, the way northern-bred African Americans perceive their southern counterparts epitomized by the state of Alabama, e.g. oh you so bema, kinda resembles the CV country vs. city folk rivalry. So that pretty much summs up the historical context of the badiu. The term badiu as been use pejorativelly by the other capeverdeans to talk about the santiagenses, even if at the origins it was the vadios (=vagabundos) who escape to the mountains in the 18th century that were called like that.

Furthermore, equally important are the etymological origins of the terms "badiu" and "sampadjudo"

Beginning with the word "badiu", whatever word that begins with a V in portuguese, ex: Vadiu, meaning vagabundos in portuguese, is morphed into a B, in the Cape Verdean language. An example would be, Vaca, which means cow in portuguese, it is spelled and pronounced with a B, Baca, in the Santiago variant of Kriolu. Another example is Vida, meaning life in portuguse, in Kriolu it is spelled Bida. Nowadays, this separates north and south portugal, in lisbon people tell "chuva" (rain) and in porto people tell "chuba".
Now, the etymological origin of the term "sampadjudo" is not definitively known. The one theory that surmises that "sampadjudo" is a derivative of the phrase "sao para ajudar" is not very convincing, though it's a probable origin. "Sao para ajudar" is a portuguese phrase that translates in English more or less as "they allways help". This is a probable origin considering that sampadjudos were the proxies or agents of portuguese colonialism in Africa, not fully portuguese and not fully african. Nevertheless the sempadjudas were included into the portuguese ethnicity. Most of the overseers in colonial Guinea Bissau, Angola, and Sao Tome were sampadjudos, which explains the fact that criolo is spoken in mainland africa. They were peculiar intermediary colonial figures, a step above the Africans and a step below the portuguese. In short, oppressed and oppressors at once could describe the social predicament of sampadjudos back in the portuguese colonial era, thus explaining their peculiar racial identity. The world sempadjuda fits well with the word "morabeza", morabeza is the welcoming and the eagerness of sempadjudas to help others. Today it symbolises capeverdean way of life no matter if you are a sempadjuda or not.

Color Complex

It's important to know that color is another taboo topic in Cape Verdean-american circles, but nonetheless, it is a real issue and it should de discussed. Sampadjudos, that is, the mixed-race CVs, from the barlavento islands(st_antao, sao_vicence, sal, sao_nicolau, and boa_vista) and the ones from Brava and Fogo(sotavento) are by general perception light skinned, whereas, badius the un-mixed capeverdeans, the natives of santiago, are generally perceived as being dark skinned. The reason for the first being light and the latter being dark has to do with the mixing the captains, priest, jews and exiled portuguese underwent with the Africans slaves in the 16th century and then after the 16th century, when slavery was marginal, having more amorous contact with mixed race capeverdeans.

According to maica, (kakau), light colored badius (there are many, 50% of santiago population) are called sampadjudos in informal conversations. Interesingly enough, a dark complexioned sampadjudo, when in praia is often refered to as a sampadjudo preto or black sampadjudo. The light skinned sampadjudo is just refered to as sampadjudo, period, with no accompanying adjective. So, basically, light-skinneness is associated with sampadjudos and dark-skinneness with badius. The former do not perceive themselves as being black or African. The latter do.

Sampadjudos and Badius in the CV diaspora: different politics, different reactions

Since Cape Verde is a very poor and drought ridden country, immigration has been a fact of life. England, Ireland, Portugal Spain, Germany went trough the same process of immigration in the 19th century sending millions of immigrats to americas. Leke the aforementioned european countries, Cape Verdeans historically have had to emigrate to Europe, mainland Africa or the United States, or starve if they didn't. In the American immigration context, specifically, the first pioneering Cape Verdeans, who mostly came from the islands of Brava and Fogo in the 19th century alonside other portuguese islanders from azores. The capeverdean arrived in the usa during the south-european immigration wave which shows that they are somehow part or extension of the south of europe. The sampadjudo ethos, that is, the sampadjudo mentality, has worked against them. Note that it's stated above that Sampadjudos don't as a norm perceive themselves as being black or bona fide Africans. At best, a sampadjudo sees himself as a mixed-race portuguese intermediate between the African and the European, or in some cases, as a "dark caucasian portuguese". The badiu, by contrast, doesn't have this perception because he is not mixed race and therefore has no legitimacy to claim that he has european origins. THe badiu can only claim to be an african. Like anyone they have "Orgulho" or Badiu Pride is basically black (they don't have the choice), that is, African pride, albeit in a Cape Verdean sense. In other words, whereas, the sampadjudo distances himself from his African-ness and sometimes pathetically denies it, the Badiu embraces it because they don't have the choice as they are native africans.

American racial dogma impact on the Sampadjudo

Thousands of miles away, a different continent, different rules, different race perceptions. Unfortunatly, the Sampadjudo found himself in a hostile racial-hatred terrain. White-America has always perceived an individual with any known trace of black African as being black. To the bright yellow skinned sampadjudo from Brava (most of the first CVs who came to America were from the island of brava) this form of racial category didn't make sense, he is not black, he reasoned in respect to capeverdean rules and not the american rules because they are a fresh-immigrant community. Obviously the first capeverdeans to arrive in the USA were behaving according to capeverdean racial rules and not the americans ones that they didn't know. But to the Americans, both the white and the brainwashed-black ones, the sampadjudo which came to symbolize CVs in general, was unquestionably black according to white-america standarts. Still, the sampadjudo didn't acquiesce, because the capeverdean racial rules were different. He didn't want to see himself as others perceived him, he didn't want to be brainwashed by the american racial rules and wanted to continue to be genuinely capeverdean. The fact of having a different racial perception is a strong ethos of the cape-verdean identity, this shouldn't change, because if it does then capeverdeans will dissapear and will be absorbed inside the afro-america indentity and capeverdean-americans will disapear.

Racist Americans ridicule and mock "brave" sampadjudos

Americans who were arrogantly acquainted with the CVs, especially the black ones (just freed from slavery), attempted another way to convince/brainwash the sampadjudo that he's black - through ridicule and mockery. Any CV who's acquainted with jealous African Americans in New England know how these are prone to ridicule and mock Cape Verdeans regardless of whether they are sampadjudo or badiu because in their minds, all CVs are the same as, the 19th century ,old time illiterate ones. The Badiu, who most of the time doesn't think like the stereotypical sampadjudo (why?) has to constantly explain himself and defend the old time behavior of CVs. It becomes tiresome for badius to be different. Badius are eager to be integrated into the african-american community, they are eagger to leave capeverdeanness. Why?

Some sampadjudos, especially the older and lesser educated ones, resent the fact that some Badius identify with the African Americans and not anymore with capeverdean-americans. They get offended when stupid remarks are made about Americans of African descent. Again, the badiu, especially the educated type who are a minority, finds himself explaining to others what they should know (brainwashing?), but don't. Thus enter the new dynamics of knowledge politics where the sampadjudo who back in the old country, especially during the colonial years, was the perceived better, becomes envious of the badiu who through education and adherence to American codes (and distance from the true capeverdeaness) become their defacto better material for american brainwash, at least in the minds of Americans . This is only reason the author of this post has heard Americans continuously say that "the ones from the Santiago island are usually better educated" because it is more easy to brainwash them and make them forget that they are capeverdean. The sempadjuda, is proud to be a capeverdean and will refuse american brainwash. True capeverdeaness, that what the sampadjuda resistance carry.

For those of you who are not Cape Verdeans you should know that the Badiu is a strong figure in the Cape Verdean folklore. The following folksy aphorisms resonate in Cape Verde to this day about The Badiu. (1) He's a self sufficient person, the popular maxin goes. (2) He's a hard worker and never goes hungry. (3) His health, the adage in Cape Verde ditactes, when compared to the health of the sampadjudo, is perfect. Many a times in informal settings a badiu when explaining the reason for his good health, attributes his being a badiu as the reason for it. The sampadjudo, in contrast, is perceived as being weak, prone to physical illness.

(4) Moreover, in the sexual realm, the badiu is generally perceived as having better stamina than the sampadjudo. The phrase "two minue man" is commonly attached to sampadjudos in informal individual speechs. "What do you think I am, some kinda of sampadjudo? I'm a badiu, I go for the distance." This is a remark the author of this post has heard badius make in reference to their virility.

In addition, the badiu perceives himself as being the only bona fide, that is, authentic Cape Verdean. The sampadjudos, because they were proxies(agents) of portuguese colonialism, are perceived by many badius as being less authentically Cape Verdean. It's small wonder, then, that most of the independistas, the Cape Verdeans who fought for independence in Guinea Bissau, were Badius. Amilcar Cabral, the founding father of Cape Verdean nationality, was a badiu, and so were most of the ardent Cape Verdeanists in the colonial days. The Badiu never acquiesced to the supposed superiority of the portuguese colonialists.

In the present time, Badius are prominent in all facets of the Cape Verdean society. Some of the most successful and educated Cape Verdeans are Badius. The current Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. Jose Maria Neves, is a Badiu, and so are most of his Ministers. The former two term President, Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, also is a Badiu.

For those of you who are not Cape Verdeans you should know that the Badiu is a strong figure in the Santiago folklore but ignored in the other islands. The other islands in capeverde use the badiu stereotype to ridicule each other, the worst insult in the other cv islands is to be compared to a badiu. The following folksy aphorisms resonate in Santiago to this day about The Badiu. (1) He's a self sufficient person, the popular maxin goes. (2) He's a hard worker and never goes hungry because he he had to live in the mountains whithout food. (3) He is subject to the common african cliche about being physically fit, runs faster and jumps higher than sempadjuda and he dances very well

(4) Moreover, the worst african cliche/stereotype that apply to them is in the sexual realm, the badiu is generally perceived as having better stamina than the sampadjudo. The sempadjuda has a very deep catholic values, the catholic religion asks for abstinence and fidelity when it comes to sexual realm, the badiu is not fully catholic and kept this african proudness of promiscuous sex.

In addition, the badiu perceives himself as being the only bona fide, that is, authentic Cape Verdean but are the first to want to forget that they are capeverdeans once they arive in the usa and are keen to exchange their original capeverdean culture to the afro-american culture. The sempadjudos, because they were mixed-race proxies(agents) of portuguese colonialism, are perceived by many badius as being less authentically Cape Verdean. It's small wonder, then, that most of the hundreds independistas, the hundreds Cape Verdeans who had to fight for independence in Guinea Bissau, were Badius and never realised that guinea-bissau was not part of capeverde. Amilcar Cabral, the founding father of Cape Verdean nationality, was born in guinea bissau, his father was a badiu and his mother was a guinean, and so were most of the ardent hundreds of Cape Verdeanists in the colonial days. The Badiu never acquiesced to the supposed superiority of the portuguese colonialists because in that system he was the underdog. The portuguese only recognise as proxies those who shared the same blood than them, the sampadjuda was half-portuguese which in portuguese racial rules meant that the sempadjudas were part of the portuguese people, this explains why the sempadjuda indentifies with portugal.


In addition, the badiu is perceived by the sempadjuda, (1) as less capeverdean because they are the descendents of the "vagabundos" slaves who escaped to their portuguese and mullato master and kept a lot of their original african culture, this makes the badiu very africa oriented and less authentical capeverdean. A badiu is as much authentical capeverdean as the un-mixed capeverdean whites. The capeverdean whites are fully oriented to portugal and the badiu is fully oriented to africa, this makes them less authentical capeverdeans, or one-sided capeverdeans. The sampadjuda is oriented by both sides of his origins which makes him an authentical capeverdean.
(2) there is also insulting stereotypes about badiu. As maica did explain the insulting one for the sempadjudas, I will explain the insulting stereotype about the badius. They are not very clean and the streets of praia their capital are dirty and smell very bad. Then the racist sempadjudas explain this by telling that they kept their african culture and are not very eagger to cleanning.

In the present time, Badius are prominent in all facets of the santiago society. Some of the most successful and educated santiagenses are Badius. The current Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. Jose Maria Neves, is a Badiu, and so are most of his Ministers. The former two term President, Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, also is a Badiu. It is very difficult to be elected in cape-verde if you are not from santiago, because they represent 50% of the population. The population of the other islands had the right to emmigrate to the usa in the 19th century, and to africa in the 20th century, which increased the proportion of the badius in the capeverdean population. The badius who were the underdogs of the portuguese colonialism, were allowed to immigrate only after 1975. Badius represent around 10% of the 500,000 capeverdean diaspora. Sempadjuda represents 90%.

st_antao, the badiu is proud of what he is. He's proud of being an African and having an entire continent as a point of historical and cultural reference. You don't have a point of reference, you are not a fish nor a fowl. You get rejected from both the Africans and the Europeans. You are a tragic figure. The Badiu feels sorry for you. You symbolyze the stereotypical sampadjudo, the french call you noir and the portuguese call you preto. So the reason for which you dislike the badiu, because he's an African, is the precise reason why you are rejected by the portuguese and the french. And also, the badiu will quickly remind you of your very unglamourous roots. He will call you a bastard product of rape. A lot of the portuguese who were banished to the cape verdes were wanton rapists. Your very existence is proof of that. And yet you romanticize them, which speaks volumes about your pathetic character.

Maica, the mixed-race capeverdeans are proud of what they are. He's proud of being a mix of European and African and having two entire continents as points of historical and cultural reference. This brings plasticity and adaptability, you are not a fish nor a fowl, that's adaptability and it is a chance. We get rejected from both the Africans and the Europeans, because racism and intolerance is common to all human beings. we are welcomed by both european and african, by those who are tolerant, and that's what matters. The Badiu feels sorry for us, because they are just rejected by the whites. That's true, I symbolyze the stereotypical sampadjudo, the french call me "noir" or "arabe" and the portuguese call you "bastard preto" but so far I am the one who knows better what is my identity, (if I was at the orders of the french or the portuguese I would no it). So the reason for which One could dislike the badiu, it is because he's an African, is the precise reason why the mixed-race are rejected by the portuguese and the french; it is intolerance. And also, the badiu will quickly remind you of your very unglamourous roots. He will call you a bastard product of rape ("rape" his a polution of the afro-american experience, in capeverde, the rape were very little, don't mixe two different histories). A lot of the portuguese who were banished to the cape verdes were wanton rapists, the majority of portuguese in capeverde were administration , priests, jews, business mans, the majority were just making their lifes in a hostile environment. Your very existence is proof of that, portuguese were able to create everywhere they went pacified mixed race nations, macau, sao-tome, mallaca, goa, diu, capeverde, curacao. And yet I romanticize them, which speaks volumes about my pacified unified culture.