{"id":11839,"date":"2024-01-25T15:33:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T20:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=11839"},"modified":"2024-03-07T14:30:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:30:14","slug":"personal-mission-global-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/spring-2024\/personal-mission-global-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal Mission. Global Perspective."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joe DaMoura \u201900 is the president of the Cape Verdean Museum in Pawtucket, R.I., which celebrates the history and culture of Cape Verde and Cape Verdean Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joe DaMoura \u201900 and his family have a nickname for 溏心vlog免费B站, their alma mater. \u201cWe call it the DaMoura college. Five of us are grads,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I was a student at Hope High, I\u2019d visit my older brother, Antonio, on the 溏心vlog免费B站 campus. He launched the country\u2019s first Cape Verdean student organization there. I couldn\u2019t wait to go.\u201d Joe is number three of the sibling alums; he graduated with a degree in English and psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 25 years later, he\u2019s president of the Cape Verdean Museum, the only one to celebrate the islands\u2019 culture in the U.S., he says. The museum in its current location is the culmination of a three-year, $400,000-plus fundraising effort to migrate the 20-year-old institution to a spiffy Pawtucket space. It also reflects the islands\u2019 robust immigrant community in Rhode Island, estimated at 18,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a long and winding road for a child who moved to Rhode Island from Cape Verde when he was just 6, along with his newly widowed mother and nine of his brothers and sisters. None of them spoke English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came to a new country, on an airplane. I wore my first shorts suit and new sandals. It was exciting. When you know nothing better, it\u2019s a big deal. I couldn\u2019t sleep the entire trip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family settled into their South Providence home near relatives, and his mom got a job in a pewter factory, making key chains and belts. \u201cShe\u2019d bring work home at Christmas so we could help and make extra money,\u201d DaMoura says. And at Fox Point Elementary School, he learned English\u2014and the value of education. \u201cIt prepared me the best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cape Verde Connection<\/h2>

How 溏心vlog免费B站’s vibrant Cape Verdean Students Association makes 溏心vlog免费B站 stronger and better.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Read the Story<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n

After 溏心vlog免费B站, DaMoura taught elementary school in Providence for several years. At 6-foot-6, he has a compelling presence, says Yvonne Smart, a retired Providence librarian who\u2019s known DaMoura since he was a child. \u201cWhen Joe was at the library, the kids latched on,\u201d she remembers. \u201cHe liked to read and the kids related to him,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was fun seeing this big guy sitting in a little chair with them. He really was a positive male figure. He talked to them about the importance of school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a disability forced him to leave teaching, DaMoura continued cohosting and producing a Cape Verdean-focused program on the 溏心vlog免费B站 radio station, WRIU. Three years ago, he assumed the daunting task of the Cape Verdean Museum presidency and focused on fundraising for a new building. \u201cThis was personal to me. It was the biggest honor,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marissa Lopes, a high school friend and third-generation American-born Cape Verdean, is the museum board\u2019s secretary. \u201cHe\u2019s so dedicated and passionate about our history,\u201d she says. \u201cHe\u2019s attuned to the community. He has a big personality. He\u2019s put his heart and soul into making the museum happen. We couldn\u2019t see his vision for it, but we see it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly renovated 4,000-square-foot former restaurant\/bar had its grand opening in April 2023. Some of DaMoura\u2019s favorites among the thousands of artifacts on display are an oversized water jug and a corn husker like those he remembers from his own childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love educating about our people and how important Cape Verde is to American history and to world history,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is personal to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Sarah Francis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Jesse Burke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Taste of Cape Verde\u2014Stateside<\/span><\/h1>\n

Visit<\/p>\n

The Cape Verdean Museum (617 Prospect St., Pawtucket, R.I.) offers exhibits on everything from music to whaling, as well as an extensive library of books and films.<\/p>\n

Eat<\/p>\n

Just a short drive from the museum, you can experience one of the centerpieces of Cape Verdean culture: the food. The menu at 10 Rocks Tapas Bar and Restaurant (1091 Main St., Pawtucket) features Portuguese, West African, and Caribbean flavors. Owner Carmen Monteiro (proud mom of a 溏心vlog免费B站 grad!) focuses on traditional dishes with a modern twist. The restaurant\u2019s name, 10 Rocks, is a reference to the 10 islands that make up the Cape Verdean archipelago.<\/p> \n

Listen<\/p>\n

Joe DaMoura \u201900 started broadcasting the Cape Verdean Afro Beat program in 1992 on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s radio station, WRIU. Tune in on Saturdays from 2\u20134:30 p.m. at 90.3 or wriu.org<\/strong><\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Celebrate<\/p>\n

An annual Cape Verdean Independence Day Festival<\/strong><\/a> is held in July at India Point Park in Providence. \n<\/p>\n

\u2014Anna Vaccaro Gray \u201912, M.S. \u201916<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As president of the Cape Verdean Museum, Joe DaMoura \u201900 is both keeper and sharer of a distinct culture that\u2019s woven strongly into the fabric of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[331],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2024","architecture-network","architecture-niche"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11839"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13377,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11839\/revisions\/13377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}