Some Kind of Funny “Porto Rican”?
Documentary tells the story of a much misunderstood
community in our midst
By
Claire Andrade-Watkins
The title SOME KIND OF FUNNY "PORTO RICAN"? is derived from
an actual comment made many, many years ago. My beau's brother was
a student at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon learning
that his brother had met a Cape Verdean girl from Providence, the
Brown student replied, "Cape Verdean? Oh, there are a lot of
them around here; they're some kind of funny ‘Porto Ricans’"
(note: spelling of "Porto" is the way it was pronounced,
hence the spelling in the title). This is a classic example of the
(mis)perceptions of Cape Verdean Americans. Rich anecdotal stories
like this abound, adding texture and shape to the reflections, observations
and experiences -joyous and painful - of growing up in this close,
self-contained New England community.
The community of Fox Point was situated near the waterfront and the
Port of Providence. Clustered in tenements, families, relatives and
friends lived within shouting distance of one another. Once a bustling
port for loose cargo - lumber, coal, scrap iron - most of the men
from the Point "worked the boats" as proud members of the
Longshoremen's Union Local l329.
Three generations of Cape Verdeans were born and raised in this tight-knit
neighborhood that stretched along the waterfront. Uprooted by urban
renewal in the l970s, the disbanded Cape Verdeans scattered to other
parts of Rhode Island. Yet Fox Point remains "home" - at
least in heart and spirit - for Cape Verdeans who lived "down
the Point." SOME KIND OF FUNNY "PORTO RICAN"? chronicles
this community's history, music, ties to the old country, and maritime/seafaring
traditions, especially the longshoremen, who "worked the boats"
in the Port of Providence. The narrative vehicle for SOME KIND OF
FUNNY "PORTO RICAN"? is my childhood memories of family,
friends, textures and sounds of the l950s, l960s and early l970s in
the Cape Verdean Fox Point section of Providence, Rhode Island.
_________________________
Clustered
in tenements, families, relatives and friends
lived within shouting distance of one another.
_________________________
SOME KIND OF FUNNY "PORTO RICAN"? does not attempt to be
the definitive word on the "Cape Verdean experience.” What
the project endeavors to do is tell a story that is rich in human
experience and scholarly detail. The search for visual material for
this project has been an ongoing hunt for over twenty years.
I have gone door to door, following leads of family and friends, sometimes
crawling through basements and attics and in one instance prying 8mm
black and white footage of Brava, Cape Verde in the l950s from a reluctant
cousin's attic. Through a more cooperative uncle, I was given the
use of his 8mm family archive spanning thirty years of family events
and holidays. Other finds include priceless photographs, many going
back to the late l890s, journals, newspaper clippings, and a pristine
collection of beautiful 8mm color film of the Fox Point community
in the late l950s and l960s and of the longshoremen "working
the boats" in the Port of Providence. Most exciting is the 8mm
footage of the famed ERNESTINA, a two-master Gloucester schooner,
the last packet ship to regularly sail to New England and a legend
in Cape Verdean folklore. Another highlight is the voices from the
oral histories with the "old timers" I have conducted over
the years. Now that many are deceased, their voices are an even more
valuable part of this story.
_________________________
What
the project endeavors to do is tell a story that
is rich in human experience and scholarly detail.
_________________________
Between May 29 to June 1 2000, we completed the last phase of production
in Providence, Rhode Island, thanks to a wonderful crew and support
from the Cape Verdean community, friends, family and colleagues. Although
the total funds needed for this shoot fell short, we had to shoot.
Too many of our old timers who remembered the old Fox Point and the
three generations of families who lived there were beginning to fail
or slip away. It's been a race against time since we began shooting
in l995, little by little time as funds were raised. However, these
competitively awarded grants and private donations provided only partial
funding.
Post-production work is being done largely through pro bono or deferred
payments by friends and colleagues. However, the online final edit
for the broadcast quality version and other costs that can't be deferred
leaving us trying to find approximately $25,000.
Editing began in earnest June 2001 with a fall target date. Upon completion,
we plan to enter the film in major national and international film
festivals. WSBE-TV 36, Rhode Island's PBS affiliate, will broadcast
the program in southern New England, and plans are underway to tackle
other PBS affiliates nationally.
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To
support and make contributions to this project please visit
http://www.spiamedia.com/in_pro_don.html for more information
on tax-deductible contributions.
Claire
Andrade-Watkins, a historian and filmmaker, has published extensively
in leading academic journals and film publications on French
and Portuguese-speaking African cinema. She was a l995-l996
Fulbright Scholar in Cape Verde. In l986 she produced THE SPIRIT
OF CAPE VERDE, a half-hour documentary on Cape Verdeans in New
England, and President Aristides Pereira's first visit to the
United States in l983. She worked on ODYSSEY, a PBS documentary
series anthropology and archaeology, and as assistant to the
producer on SANKOFA, by Haile Gerima. She is an Associate Professor
in Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College .
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