Hello Everyone,

I finished reading the front page article about Cape Verde Islands in the Sunday New York Times June 24, 2007 written by Jason DeParle. Check the article out at the link below:

Border Crossings
In a World on the Move, a Tiny Land Strains to Cope

nytimes.com/2007/06/24/world/africa/24verde.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=15a20babee6f9767&ex=1183348800&emc=eta1

I have to say, I have very disturbing feelings about the way the writer portrayed Cape Verdeans . While migration is a fact of life for Cape Verdeans, I know that many of us are traditional, hard-working people with enormous pride.

I felt the article portrayed the ugly side of Cape Verde and it wasn't a balanced view. Where were the people who have immigrated to America and Europe who bring dignity to their adopted homelands? Where are the people who have helped to build the economies in the nations of their adopted lands? Instead, I was left with the view that Cape Verdeans , among other people of African and Latin ancestry are a major drain on their adopted countries and on the social services provided therein.

I only read about a drug criminal who was deported back to Cape Verde, who has AIDS, and has to steal and beg for his medication and who has no future prospects. Does he portray all Cape Verdeans? I think not!

I am appalled. I would like to have all Cape Verdeans , worldwide to write letters to the Editor to show a balanced perspective. We are doctors, lawyers, parents, students, children and human beings who are doing so much for our parents' country of Cape Verde , as well as thriving in our home of America and other countries of the world.

My cousin is a graduate of West Point, and he is now a Major Colonel and trains US Air forces in Iraq. He has fought in the Gulf War and now, he is giving his life to protect American interest. He is a first generation Cape Verdean. My Uncle lived with us in a crowded apartment in my formative years. But EVERYONE worked and everyone has helped in the economic development of America!

The Cape Verde Islands provides a wonderful climate of hospitality and of beauty within the islands. The friendliness of the people is well-documented. Many people from around the globe are now traveling to the Cape Verde islands and helping to establish eco-tourism there. I feel this kind of article only serves to frighten people away and to give an unfair perspective.

It is imperative that we send many letters to the New York Times so that our voices are heard. The world now sees Cape Verde Islands with a black eye. The entire world has one view of Cape Verde because of this article. Yes, the writer is a distinguished author, but he chose to write about one side. He chose which subjects to interview. He interviewed poor, ignorant people who are only one segment of our population. We need not alienate these people and let their plight hang in the balance. Nor should we let their situation represent the whole of Cape Verde and its people.

My sincerest wish, as a first generation of Cape Verdean immigrants is that you circulate my email and ask people to send in their letters. My father worked very hard in America and went to an IVY school at night to obtain his PhD at the age of 50. He is now a Professor, giving back by teaching other college students! My mother worked many factory jobs when she came to New York as a naturalized citizen. Her father was one of the Master Whalers of New Bedford. She worked until she was able to create her own successful business.

My mother pays her taxes in America. She employed Americans in her business. In Cape Verde , she built a small hotel in Sao Vicente. She helps the economy there by providing employment to people who work in the hotel. My parents are not the only Cape Verdeans who return to the Islands to provide support and much needed dollars and employment. Yes, this is migration. This Island's legacy is migration. But, let us show a fair and balanced view of what migration has done for the countries around the world as well as to contribute to the economy of Cape Verde. Aren't we one human family?!

Please, please, let our voices demand that another side of our hard-working, hospitable, optimistic and law-abiding Cape Verdean family be shown to the world! Do not be fearful to let your voices ring out. If Rosa Parks did not sit down, where would the world be today? If Martin Luther King did not march, where would the world be today? If Marian Anderson did not sing and break the color line, where would the world be today? Where, certainly, would we as human beings be today in a global world that threatens to close its borders, threatens to close it's heart?

Send a letter to the editor of the New York Times by e-mailing:letters@nytimes.com

or faxing (212)556-3622.

You may also mail your letter to:

Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York , NY 10036

Sincerely,
Aurora Maria Santos Brito
New York

Once again The New York Times Jabs a Spear Through Africa's Heart

This time the target is one of Africa's best, Cape Verde


"...I don't know about you, but when I think of Cape Verde (which is not very often) I picture a quiet African island. Reading The New York Times' profile of the country is eye-opening: it turns out to be a swirling way-point, a modern take on Ellis Island in the grand story of global migration."
(From Passing Through: Migration in Micro Posted by Josh Weissburg on June 25, 2007 (http://www.gii-exchange.org/blog/2007/06/global_migration_in_micro.html)

In the last 2 days I have received tons of Google alerts about this topic and similar reactions from newspaper websites, blogs and forums from all over the United States and the world.

Indeed, once again The New York Times has jabbed through Africa's heart with a spear. This time it targeted Cape Verde, one of in the best model of economic development in the continent by painting it as a dark picture to the rest of the world. However, I wasn't surprised when I read that article because the NYT has a track record (Read the article below) of being biased towards Africa. For a long time, this powerful media giant has portrayed Africa in a dark perspective and ignored most progress that has occurred on that continent. For example, the article ignores the fact that Cape Verde officially moved to the category of middle development countries ("A United Nations official today hailed the graduation of Cape Verde from the category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs)..." UN News Service (New York) 14 June 2007. allafrica.com/stories/200706141143.html). It also doesn't make any mention of Cape Verde's booming tourism industry in the last 5 years, which has made the country one of the top 10 emerging world destinations for tourism investors and tourists, and many other progress the country has made recently.

But it's unfortunate that a paper with the reputation of one of the best in the world and with such a wide coverage has such dark view of Africa and its countries. No wonder Africa has a hard time selling its development to the rest of the world and keep being perceived as an 'inferno.' Only future statistic on tourism and time will tell the extent of damage this media empire has done to Cape Verde. But for now, kudos to The NY Times for ensuring that Africa and Africans – in this specific case, Cape Verdeans- ‘keep seated on the back of the bus.’

'New York Times' on Africa: A tradition of pessimism continues

Afrol News Opinion, 4 June 2005 - One thing consistent about the 'New York Times' coverage of Africa the last one hundred years has been its paucity, its inadequacy, compared to other major regions of the world. By any standards, Africa has been the most ignored of the major regions of the world.

What is also consistent is that the little African coverage that escapes the gatekeepers and makes it to the pages of this venerable paper has been characterized by pessimism and cynicism.

A few articles by one of its former editors, now a special columnist for the paper, Nicholas Kristof, written within the last few weeks, provide a window into this history of Afro-pessimism, cynicism as well as distortion.

Judging by the headlines of at least some of his articles, this Times writer may have intended to draw attention to the problems ravaging Africa and Africans today. The writer may have even been trying to show sympathy with the continent, a friend attempting to twitch international public consciousness about Africa and the many problems plaguing the continent.

But, with friends like Nicholas Kristof, Africa does not need enemies. In his OPED pieces also published in 'New York Times' satellite publications like the International Herald Tribune the last few weeks, we see a replay of the old Western media theme which portrays Africa as the continent where nothing, or almost nothing, works.

- Africa is broke, Mr Kristof declares, and he invites the West to come and repair it. This is the kind of portrayal that pushes the continent and anything African to the margins of international public consciousness. There is no question that the international media has played a significant role in the marginalization of the continent.

Reinforcing that perspective which the 'New York Times' writer developed after a few days in the continent, he says, "Africa itself has largely failed," "So, it's time to rethink this continent." His assessment about the overall state of the continent is as bizarre as the solution he prescribes.

He seems to have very little faith in what Africans can do for themselves. That is probably why he subjects Eritrea, which is driven by an abiding faith in self-reliance, to a savage treatment. He sees salvation coming from the West, not from within Africa.

Then, for a good measure, using a series of sweeping, but unsupported statements, he condemns the continent on a region by a region basis. "Central Africa has been a catastrophe for up to a decade," and "West Africa seems caught in an expanding series of civil wars"; and the Horn of Africa regimes are starving their peoples.

He reserves some of that intellectual savagery for a few of the nations. For more bizarre reasons, he sees Africa's baby nation, as a representative of the older African states. He views Eritrea, which came out of a 30-year-old war of independence only a little over a decade ago, as the continent's "window into what went wrong."

He says Eritrean parents starve their children, the Eritrean government starves its people and rapes its women. All these sociological and political observations after a five-day visit to this Red Sea nation, known for its philosophy of self-reliance, for being on the forefront in the struggle for women's rights, for using every resource it can mobilize to help its IDPs and famine victims.

All these sweeping statements based on very little direct knowledge about a complex society with a long history. The question is: How do these wild assertions pass the fact checkers, the copy editors, and the editors of the 'New York Times'?

Other nations served up for such savage treatment are the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia.

However, good intentions aside, articles like those by Nicholas Kristof, soaked in pessimism, sautéed in cynicism and marinated in condescension about the African experience can only repel from, not attract people to Africa.

Who wants to have anything to do, much less invest anything, in a continent where the author is telling nothing works? In fact, Kristof's writing is a good example that reveals the role of the American media in the marginalization of Africa and the devaluation of anything African.

People wonder why such a central region of the world is the most marginalized in the world today. The answer is at least partially in the works of "parachute journalists" who go in for a very short time with little direct knowledge of the nations, their cultures, and peoples, yet make strong assertions of all three when they fly out a short time latter - sometimes measured in hours.

For example, let us look at this 'New York Times' writer who visited the Horn of Africa for a few days. In a stunning mix of self-righteousness and ignorance, he lectures African parents on parenting.

In Ethiopia, he says, his heart was broken when he saw "healthy parents cradling skeletal children." In his attempt to understand this big "puzzle," he says, "I asked how the family ate." He made the big discovery that in rural societies in the region "the man eats first, and then the children and the wife eat together." Then he offers his grand solution to this African problem.

"We [the West] need not just more food but, above all education so that ... families eat together and understand the need to look out for their youngest members."

In Eritrea, he meets a 14-month old boy "who came within a whisker of starving to death." However, he discourages potential donors from coming to the aid of this starving Eritrean child because his mother looked "healthy and plump" and "she was wearing a nice dress and had purple nail polish on her toenails."

It is a shame that such a journalist would go into societies that he knows very little about, and make so many unsubstantiated assertions based on a few isolated, out of context, bits and pieces of sociological facts.

The bottom line is that this kind of coverage only reinforces the distorted image of Africa that the international media has been cultivating in the minds of most Americans.

Some of those of us who have been watching the New York Time's coverage of Africa closely have been hoping that the paper will grow out of its past, characterized by a perspective that sees Westerners as the motive force in the history of the African people.

In its attempt to justify of the Scramble of Africa during the mid 1880s and support European colonialism of the continent, the 'New York Times' described the African as "incapable of developing or even retaining the benefits" of colonialism.

Ten years later, when one of those European powers, the Italians, successfully penetrated part of the Horn of Africa, the paper hailed the event as "a conquest of civilization and Christianity over barbarism and savagery, over unbelief, over habits of ferocity, over brutal ignorance of every human law, religion, social and civil."

In the 1960s, during a crucial era in the history of Africa, and the decades that followed it, the 'Times' continued to exhibit the same attitude towards the continent's effort to be free, especially through armed struggle, though the tone was a little restrained. As a result, African movements actively engaged in the decolonization process, through armed or peaceful means, from South Africa to Eritrea, from Algeria to Mozambique, had a hard time getting space or fairness on the pages of America's leading newspaper.

However, there is one silver lining in this unending stretch of media cloud: Nicholas Kristof serves as a good reminder that Africans should not let others, especially those who know very little about African cultures and history, define them who they are.

It looks the African story will continue to be distorted until the continent develops its own media resources strong enough to be heard [...] in both broadcast and print.

Link: afrol.com/articles/12907

By Asgede Hagos

Dr. Asgede Hagos is a Professor of Communication at Delaware State University (USA) and President of the Organization of Eritrean Americans (OEA).

George Carling is a reputed researcher and the contribution that him and other scholars have done in teaching the world about Cape Verde is much appreciated.

In fact, the NYT article was an informative on global migration. But the way Cape Verde was portrayed was biased on one-sided. Yes, what was said in the article happens with our Diaspora, but the bigger picture of Cape Verdean migration is one of success not one of parasitism, crime, prostitution, and chaos like the article makes it sounds. The bad side was highlighted but the good other side of the coin was unfairly left out.

It's good to be exposed to the world, but nobody wants negative attention. As Aurora Brito said and well, "the world now sees Cape Verde Islands with a black eye. The entire world has one view of Cape Verde because of this article." And that hurts not only the economy and tourism of the country but most importantly if influences negatively the perception Americans and other foreigners have of Cape Verdean immigrants living on their land. If we ought to be put in the international scenario, it should be in a fair and balanced manner, that is, both side of our immigration journey should be presented to the general public.

I have read with care and compassion the comments people have been circulating regarding the recent NYT article. As a non-Cape Verdean who feels a certain, unique affinity to the country and its people, there are particular emotions and reactions I cannot feel or understand in as profound a way as say Aurora when she speaks of her family and their story in America. However, I have been moved by the passion and desire to right a feeling of injustice among this community and encourage everyone to continue to speak their minds and create a more enlightened public perception of Cape Verde.

My initial reaction to the piece was one of ambivalence. Jason DeParle has recently done a number of articles on global migration patterns and the remmittance economy so I expected him at some point to tackle Cape Verde's past. I agree that he certainly sells the country short by including some of the more negative accounts, but to his credit he does indicate that migrants constitute a vital economic, political and cultural sector in Cape Verde. This situation is inherently complicated, given the clash of traditional and modern societies, developing and developed world, that Cape Verde and its migrants symbolize. Furthermore, he does acknowledge that migration was borne of necessity in Cape Verde, which I think is a critical point for the general public to realize. Cape Verdeans inhabit an inhospitable land and because of a need to help families and communities sought opportunity; opportunities that are difficult to uncover in their native land. This is a time-honored HUMAN tradition--and I think DeParle failed to illuminate this facet of the story. Given that he is interested in relating this to changes in the global economy, reactions to migrants in the developed world, and the stresses labor, in both the developed and developing world, will face, I can somewhat see why he didn't highlight this relationship, though it is still not excusable.

For the most part though, the piece struck me as striving for neutrality/ a decent journalistic objectivity I suppose, yet, given the "sexiness" of African poverty, this may have not have been as clear as it should have. This is regrettable of course since Cape Verde's presence in such a large media outlet has been limited and that such a portrait is the first article in close to 20 years is disheartening. It is certainly fair to petition the author to recognize Cape Verde's progress since independence--graduation from least developed country status to middle, it's status as one of West Africa (and Africa's) leading democracies and sources of stability, a recipient of an Millenium Challenge Grant, high literacy, low AIDS rate, and so on.

I wrote a letter to the editor that indicated the frustration I felt on the part of the Cape Verdean government's failure, or what I percieved as its failure, to properly invest in its greatest natural asset: it's youth. For a country with such a large youth population, to only recently institute a national university and to promote tourism yet not develop a entrepeneurial/business class to compete and eventually take over foreign investors is a shortsighted vision. In order for migration to be less an attractive an option, Cape Verde has to offer attractive opportunities. A country with little natural resources needs to figure out ways to develop and retain its brightest minds and generate a thriving educated middle class. Is this through industry and manufacturing? Through services, like IT? I don't know--but the nation is primed for it and I believe the country needs to better address it. DeParle completely ignored these issues.

I think a productive response to this would be to interview both Jason DeParle and Dr. Carling; allow for a conversation and open discussion regarding motivations, understandings, misunderstandings, etc. The Times only publishes letters for a week following an article's publication, so sadly, it appears like Cape Verdean voices have been silenced, through that medium, but I don't think we should seek to continue dialogue and engage this issue and the representation and understanding of the Cape Verdean people.

I am willing to contribute to any effort to help teach the world the positive side of Cape Verdean immigration.

Best,

Below is Dr. Viriato de Barros Comment about the subject in discussion:

"Any society, as far as medium exposure is concerned, is exposed to a negative perspective, and we, Cape Verdeans are not exempt from that. Fortunately we have had and continue to have enough positive, some of them very positive, exposures, in the media to make up for that kind of liability.

The Cape Verdeans in general have been traditionally raised in family environments and educated according to cultural and moral (which includes, of course, the religious) patterns and values that make of us what we are. And I am talking about the mainstay of the Cape Verdean traditional society, based on the family upbringing and on what has been taught in our schools.

But let us face the facts. A lot of things have changed and continue to change in the Cape Verdean society, both at home and in the Diaspora communities. Instead of reacting oversensitivity, we should take stock and go on struggling, as we have always done to preserve and fight for our values and for our dignity as a people. At home or in the Diaspora we are a nation. That is why we call ourselves Cape Verdeans, or Cabo-vedianos, wherever we are, and that is why the other nations have learnt to call us Cape Verdeans. For good or for bad. In Cape Verde we survive planting corn, beans, sweet potato, squash and sugar cane. But weeds are part of what grows in our lands. We have to know how to manage our crops. We have learned to do many things to overcome our difficulties. Maybe we can learn how to turn weeds into useful crops.

No single country owns the world (the planet). It is our world. And it is more and more One World.

The article in the New York Times about Cape Verde and the Cape Verdeans gives us a one-sided picture of Cape Verde, no matter how true the facts that have been exposed are. But it is just one side of our reality. Let us not be condescending about the negative aspects of our society. Let us not blind ourselves about what is happening in many respects both in Cape Verde and in the Cape Verdean immigrant communities and the interaction between the two sides of our reality. Instead, let us go on struggling for the so many reasons and goals that encourage us to fight. Forever Cape Verde! Viva Cabo Verde!"

Dr. Viriato de Barros

My first reaction when I read this article, was, "wow. Literally. What I concluded was that the author basically put on ink tired chiches and generalizations about an entire people. In the northeastern part of the United States, particularly New England, many people hold tired and pathetic chiches about Cape Verdeans. Many of these people can't even point out Cape Verde on the map. This guy is no different from. Actually, he's different, in the sense that he uses a defacto global outlet, NYTimes, to smear an entire nation, on account of a few people who didn't quite make it.

Master Montrond reaction
"Dear Sir/Madam:

It has come to my attention in a recent article in the New York Times about Cape Verde Islands which calls for an immediate response from all of us who have the social, political and a moral obligation to stand and be counted as a people and a nation with pride dignity. In every sector of today's society and in every corner of the world you can find a Cape Verdean who is established, productive and a contributing member of the ever complex global economy. We are a nation of people with great respect and intellectual capability. Given, there are those like in every country or race that are less fortunate or did not have the same opportunity in life. That is an exception and every ethnic group is not immune to this factor.

From sports, medicine, art, politics and many other disciplines you can find a Cape Verdean who is well accomplished. Cap Verdeans have advanced College degrees from Harvard, MIT, Holy Cross, Brown, Bentley, Princeton, Regis, Howard, Georgetown, UCLA, Loyola, Penn State, U Mass-Amherst, B C, B. U Northeastern to name a few in this country. This is a fact and a phenomenon that continues to grow in a positive direction. In Europe We have people in top Universities across the continent from Coimbra to the University of Moscow and everything in between. One of the most respected and recognized research institute in Europe “Carliska Institute in Sweden� employs a Cape Verdean with a PhD. Scientists, Doctors, Pilots, Inventors, Musicians, Educators, Professors, Businessmen and Entrepreneurs make up the fabric of every day Cape Verdean reality and contribute to this ever complex and interdependent world we live in.

We find ourselves in the most interesting time in human history. We are living in an era of abundance in technology and communication and yet we are plagued with biased ignorant views about our people. Cape Verde has never seen a better times in it’s history. Millions of dollars are being invested every day in all sectors of our economy by investors from Beijing to London. Our Country has been a dormant virgin territory with great potential and political stability along with it's friendly natured people and for this reason it has been called the new Caribbean for Europeans.

As you can see there is another side and a beautiful side to our capeverdianity. This side can only be seen through enlightenment and education. We must stand together in this cause to eradicate this view which has been casted upon us. We can't afford to be complacent and sit around and hope that they will do the other side of the story or shed a bright light upon us. Let us come together and turn the light on them. Let us unite and let our voices be heard around the world for the sake of our nation and our people. For our children and our grandchildren for our pride…..let us all stand and be proud to say we are Cape Verdean and descendants of Cape Verdeans. It is our duty and obligation to respond to this in the most positive way. I urge you to take immediate action and use all sources and powers that be to get rid of this dark shadow that is only there until we remove the branch that is coving up our “Morabeza�.

& ;nbs p; Mr. Jason Deparle seems to have written many articles on illegal immigration and is looking at Cape Verdeans with same lens he has done in the past writing about other ethnic group. He seems have distorted views on migration and immigrants. Maybe he is very republican and uses a limited scope because he only interviews 4 people to represent a Nation and people of pride and dignity. I have to say, I have very disturbing feelings about the way the writer portrayed Cape Verdeans. While migration is a fact of life for Cape Verdeans, I know that many of us are traditional, hard-working people with enormous pride. I felt the article portrayed the ugly side of Cape Verde and it wasn't a balanced view. Where were the people who have immigrated to America and Europe who bring dignity to their adopted homelands? Where are the people who have helped to build the economies in the nations of their adopted lands? Instead, I was left with the view that Cape Verdeans, among other people of African and Latin ancestries are a major drain on the countries and on the social services provided. I only read about a drug criminal who was deported back to Cape Verde, who has aids, and who has no prospects.



He depicts all Cape Verdeans? I think not! I am appalled. I would like to have all Cape Verdeans, world-wide to write letters to the Editor to show a balanced perspective. We are doctors, lawyers, parents, students, children and human beings with feelings who are doing so much for our parents' country of Cape Verde , as well as thriving in our home of America and other countries of the world. Please, get the word out in your paper. The Cape Verde Islands provides a wonderful climate of beauty: of the islands and of the friendliness of the people. People from around the globe are now traveling to the Cape Verde islands and helping to establish eco-tourism there. I feel this kind of article only serves to frighten people and to give an unfair perspective. It is imperative that we send many letters to the New York Times so that our voices are heard. The world now sees Cape Verde Islands with a black eye. The entire world has one view of Cape Verde because of this article. Yes, the writer is a distinguished author, but he chose to write about one side. He chose his subjects to interview.

He interviewed poor, ignorant people who are only one segment of our population. We need not alienate these people and let their plight hangs in the balance. Nor should we let their situation represents the whole of Cape Verde and its people. Please, please, let our voices demand that another side of our hard-working, hospitable, optimistic and law-abiding Cape Verdean family be shown to the world! Send a letter to the editor of the New York Times by e-mailing:letters@nytimes.com or faxing (212)556-3622.You may also mail your
letter to: Letters to the Editor The New York Times 229 West 43 rd Street New
York , NY 10036."


Sincerely,
Master Montrond

President/CEO
Boston Taekwondo
Natick, Framingham
Tel# 508-651-9706
Fax 508-651-2970

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