Personally Providence: Cape Verdean Life in Providence
Guest Guide: Claire Andrade-Watkins, PhD
Associate Professor, Emerson College
Visual and Media Arts

Begins: 10 a.m. at Cape Verdean Wayside, India Point Park (at the Providence Community Boathouse, 109 India Street)

Claire Andrade-Watkins is a passionate documentary filmmaker. And one of her passions is telling the story of the Cape Verdean community of her childhood and today in Providence. Her first film, “The Spirit of Cape Verde,” was shown on WGBH in 1986. A grant to make a film nine years later inspired her not to create just one film about Cape Verdeans, but to begin work on what has become a trilogy. The first film was called “Some Kind of Funny of Porto Rican: A Cape Verdean American Story.” The second, and most recent film, is called “Atlantic Portals” and tells about the displacement of the Cape Verdean community from the Fox Point neighborhood. The last in the series will be called “Working the Boats.”

Dr. Andrade-Watkins has lived the stories she tells in these films. She grew up in the Cape Verdean community in Providence. She knows the people, the stories, the hardships, the triumphs. In 1998 she founded Spia Media Productions whose films document, preserve, and make available to the public the history, culture, and traditions of people in the African diaspora, particularly those of Cape Verdean descent.

This Saturday morning walk promises to be a spirited and unforgettable experience.

$10 per person. For questions or reservations, contact Barbara Barnes at 401-273-7507 x 62 or bbarnes@rihs.org.