Portuguese American Journal

Portuguese American Journal

Featured Stories
Book | Bag of Kisses | By Melanie Pereira April 25th |  “Dia da Liberdade” celebrated nationwide and across the diaspora Community | Justice Department moves to revoke citizenship for naturalized immigrants Honor | Writer João Pedro Vala recipient of the PEN/O. Henry Award Space | Portugal launches satellites honoring national literary figures
 

Book | Bag of Kisses | By Melanie Pereira – Editor’s Note

For a little girl whose daddy is a fisherman in the #1 fishing port in the world, goodbyes are never easy. But before he leaves for sea, her parents share a special secret―a magical bag of kisses that keeps their love close, no matter how far the waves carry him. As the days pass and […]

April 25th |  “Dia da Liberdade” celebrated nationwide and across the diaspora – Portugal

The Portuguese nation commemorates today the 52nd anniversary of the Carnation Revolution transition to democracy, with a nationwide program of official ceremonies, public demonstrations, and cultural events. The celebrations expanded abroad, connecting the country to its global diaspora, particularly in the United States. At the center of the national commemorations will be the traditional formal […]

Community | Justice Department moves to revoke citizenship for naturalized immigrants – Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to accelerate efforts to revoke the citizenship of certain naturalized Americans, targeting cases where individuals are suspected of having obtained citizenship through fraud or misrepresentation. Citizenship is considered one of the most secure legal statuses in the United States. Therefore, the overall impact of such measures is likely […]

Honor | Writer João Pedro Vala recipient of the PEN/O. Henry Award – New York, NY

Portuguese writer João Pedro Vala has been awarded a prestigious PEN/O. Henry Award for his short story “Inês,” a recognition widely regarded as one of the highest honors in English-language short fiction. The first Portuguese author to receive that distinction, his short story ‘Inês’ was selected for inclusion in the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories anthology. […]

Space | Portugal launches satellites honoring national literary figures – Santa Barbara, CA

Portugal successfully launched six satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, US. The mission reinforces Portugal’s growing role in the global space economy, while also strengthening strategic, scientific, and economic links across the Atlantic. Among the satellites are four named after some of the nation’s most celebrated literary figures […]

Book: ‘Ualalapi: Fragments from the End of Empire’ by Esaú Cossa- Editor’s Note

25 April 2017

Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa first published Ualalapi: Fragments from the End of Empire in Portuguese in 1987. Named one of Africa’s hundred best books of the twentieth century, it reflects on Mozambique’s past and present through interconnected narratives related to the last ruler of the Gaza Empire, Ngungunhane. Defeated by the Portuguese in 1895, Ngungunhane […]

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Posted in Arts&Culture, Books, Featured, Heritage, Mozambique, People, Politics, Portugal, World

Today in History: Portuguese celebrate 43 years of constitutional democracy – Portugal

25 April 2017

Since 1974 “Freedom Day” is celebrated in Portugal — April 25 – as a national holiday to mark the bloodless military coup, supported by the civilian population, bringing democracy and civil liberties to the Portuguese people. After almost five decades of dictatorship (1937-1974), the Carnation Revolution, ended the Estado Novo regime, the longest dictatorship in Europe, […]

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Posted in Angola, Azores, Cape Verde, Community, East Timor, Faial, Featured, Guiné-Bissau, Heritage, Madeira, Mozambique, Organizations, People, Politics, Portugal, World

Santa Maria: Aerospace Airbus to build base to launch satellites into orbit – Azores

20 April 2017

The island of Santa Maria in the Azores is being considered by the aerospace company Airbus as a well-positioned place to build a space base from which rockets will launch small earth satellites into orbit, the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, revealed […]

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Posted in Azores, Featured, Heritage, Organizations, People, Portugal, Santa Maria, Terceira

Book: ‘The Paras: Portugal’s First Elite Force in Africa,1961-1974’ – Editor’s Note

18 April 2017

Portuguese paratroopers or “paras” began as a stepchild of the army and found a home in the Portuguese Air Force in 1955. Initially, the post-World War Two Portuguese Army seemed to have had mixed emotions about the need for elite, special-purpose forces that operated in small units with the attendant flexibility and elevated lethality. Shock […]

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Posted in Angola, Arts&Culture, Books, Featured, Heritage, Portugal

Ciganos: Portuguese Roma in major German photo project – By Len Port

16 April 2017

By Len Port, Contributor (*) Romani families in Portugal recently welcomed into their homes a professional German photographer, Florian Schwarz, to take portraits for a unique exhibition to illustrate the diversity of migrant communities across Europe. Schwarz’s focus on Romani people, more commonly known in English as Gypsies and in Portuguese as Ciganos, was the […]

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Posted in Featured, Heritage, People, Portugal, World

Book: ‘Lusitanian Amphorae: Production and Distribution’ – Editor’s Note

15 April 2017

More than a century of archaeological investigation in Portugal has helped to discover, excavate and study many Lusitanian amphorae kiln sites, with their amphorae being widely distributed in Lusitania. These containers were identified in Ostia and Rome from the 1970s and thereafter in many sites around the Mediterranean, but their numbers have always seemed scarce. […]

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Posted in Arts&Culture, Books, Featured, Food & Wine, Portugal, World