12/03/2025
MBL Falmouth Forum: “Cape Verdean Identity: Race, History, and the Legacy of Lusotropical Colonialism” - Dana Mohler-Faria, Friday, December 12, 2025, 7:30 – 8:30 PM. (Doors open at 7:00 PM). Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, 7 MBL St., Woods Hole. FREE.
The Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde Islands in the 15th century and brought Africans there as slaves to work in agriculture. The islands became a staging ground for the Western slave trade, and the Portuguese system of Luso-tropical colonialism gave rise to a unique mixed-race culture blending African and Portuguese customs and practices. Over the centuries, extended droughts and limited economic opportunity drove large-scale migration of Cape Verdeans around the world. Today, the largest Cape Verdean diaspora community is found in Southeastern New England.
Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, Bridgewater State University’s eleventh president, was the first in his family to attend college, the university’s first president of color, and the first Cape Verdean-American in the U.S. to lead a four-year institution.
