Group Works to Connect Portuguese-American Communities
PALCUS
The New Bedford Standard-Times
Cristian Hernandez
Boston University Washington News Service
April 15, 2009
WASHINGTON—Nearly 20 years after its founding, the Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the U.S. is still working to connect Portuguese-American and other communities with Portuguese roots—from Brazil and the Azores, for example—all over the country.
The organization, widely known as PALCUS, lobbies for Portuguese-American issues in Washington and has board members from various regions, including two from the South Coast Region.
“We are in the South Coast region gathering around the community and bringing local organizations together and asking what the issues are,” said Alda Petitti, the organization’s treasurer, who works in New Bedford as an accountant. “We want to bring our resources to them.”
But despite its successes in community outreach, the non-profit organization still faces challenges when trying to connect Portuguese-American communities to each other.
“We are basically trying to be an advocate for the entire community whether you live in Colorado or Fall River; we are trying to be inclusive,” said John Bento of California, the chairman of PALCUS,
The biggest challenge, he said, was trying to be both a national organization and one that represents geographically fragmented communities that have different histories. He said the group also faces the challenge of generational differences.
“PALCUS can do a better job setting up a vision that can work nationally and regionally. There needs to be a diverse but clear agenda that can include more communities,” said Frank Sousa, director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Sousa noted that there are more than one million Portuguese-Americans in the country; and that in the South Coast region, 40 percent of the population has Portuguese ancestry.
Manuel Geraldo, PALCUS’s vice chairman, said board members and directors try to look at national issues that may be affecting more then one community in the country. But some issues, he said, affect only some areas, and PALCUS tries to rally politicians to make positive changes in the community.
The organization is currently working to stop the deportation of residents who are not citizens and have been convicted of crimes.
“We are not sure if this is in the best interests of the residents,” Geraldo said. “Most of them are Americans, they know very little about their culture and may not know anyone in the Azores. They may not even speak the language.”
PALCUS has been working to resolve the issue for more than two years, writing letters to officials and arranging meetings with Portuguese embassy officials to discuss possible solutions.
Associate director Paulo Araujo serves as the face of the organization in Washington. “I serve as a link between the community and the board as well as the U.S. and the Portuguese government,” he said.
Members of the organization’s executive committee and the board come from places with large concentrations of Portuguese-Americans, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Odete Amarelo of Fall River is on the board and has been working with PALCUS since 1994. She said she acts as a resource for the South Coast community that may have issues to bring to the main office.
“I try to look at issues at the national level but focus on local issues and see how I can participate,” she said.
Amarelo, a native of the Azores, worked for the Fall River school system for more than three decades advocating for children who do not speak English. She recently retired and now teaches Portuguese at Bristol Community College.
Recently Amarelo and Petitti have been busy working on the deportation issue and just finished obtaining federal funds for a Portuguese language program at Rhode Island College.
President Bush had vetoed the bill authorizing money for the program, but after PALCUS rallied support within the community and brought the issue up with politicians in Washington the program received the funds
Preservation of Portuguese culture is a priority for PALCUS.
“One of our missions is to educate people about culture and language as well as creating education opportunities in communities,” Geraldo said
Geraldo has been part of PALCUS since 1994 and said he is proud of the time and effort he puts into his work with Portuguese-American communities. His father, who migrated from Portugal at the age of 21, came from a farming town and moved to the United States to get an education.
PALCUS has a college internship program that places college students of Portuguese descent in the offices of members of Congress, the U.S. embassy in Lisbon and various government agencies. Interns are provided with a stipend.
PALCUS chairman Bento said that one of the organization’s current initiatives is setting up branches or the organization at the college level.
Recognizing the achievements of prominent Portuguese-Americans is also a priority for board members and directors.
“It’s a way for people from different communities all over the country to connect. It enables people who want to share successes to do so and it allows Portuguese-Americans to be honored on a national and local level,” Petitti said.
Each year PALCUS hosts a fund-raising gala to honor Portuguese-Americans. Past honorees include television broadcaster Meredith Viera and singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado.
“It’s important because we don’t always give ourselves the credit we deserve,” Bento said. “We want to set up a link to prominent Americans. Most people don’t know that Tom Hanks is half Portuguese. ”
Meanwhile, PALCUS has been having a series of mixers aimed at creating networking opportunities with fellow Portuguese-Americans.
Board members say they are confident that PALCUS will continue to grow and become an even better advocate because it does more than just talk about problems.
“I have seen a lot of Portuguese organizations,” Bento said, “and all they do is talk. When I saw PALCUS I thought, now here’s an organization that’s actually doing things, not just talking.”
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