Past Events

Marta de Jesus (a verdadeira)

The Honorary Consul of Portugal in Tulare, The Portuguese Center of Evangelization and Culture and the Tulare-Angra Sister Cities Foundation, announce the release of Alamo Oliveira’s new book “Marta de Jesus (a verdadeira)”, on September 24th, 7PM at the Heritage Room, Tulare Historic Museum.

 

California’s Portuguese Politicians – A Century of Legislative Service – Book Presentations Schedule

We invite our visitors to view this page from time-to-time, in order to keep current with the dates and locations of the next presentations of our book California’s Portuguese Politicians – A Century of Legislative Service.

DATE	TIME	LOCATION	LOCAL CONTACTS	PRESENTER	STATUS
11/01/13	7:00 pm	Tulare Historical Museum Tulare	Diniz Borges, Terry Brazil	Tony Goulart	Completed
11/02/13	4:30 pm	Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina PALCUS Gala – San Diego	Angela Simões	Tony Goulart	Completed
11/05/13	7:00 pm	S.E.S. Hall Lewis & Lafeyette Streets, Santa Clara	Manuel Madruga, Joao Arruda	José Rodrigues	Cancelled
11/06/13	7:00 pm	J.A. Freitas Library 1120 E. 14th St., San Leandro	Carla Cardoso	José Rodrigues	Completed
11/07/13	7:00 pm	Portuguese Athletic Club East Santa Clara St., San Jose	Denise Avila	Henrique Dinis	Completed

1st Annual YPA (Young Portuguese Americans) Summit

1st Annual YPA (Young Portuguese Americans) Summit – Facebook Page
Saturday, April 5 at 1:00pm in PDT
Portuguese Athletic Club in San Jose, California

The mission of the YPA is to strengthen and support the health, diversity, and participation of the Portuguese immigrant community in the traditions, organizations, and rituals that make up our unique heritage. YPA will focus on increasing participation and keeping our traditions alive, all the while applying a modernized approach to preserving, cultivating and promoting our heritage that connects more effectively with present and future generations.

The Summit will feature a keynote address, several panel discussions and presentations, networking opportunities, as well as cultural entertainment for all those who attend, and the ideas that emerge from this event will be presented at the Luso-American Education Foundation Conference at UC Berkeley on April 26th, 2014, and used to enact positive change within our community.

Millicent Borges Accardi

Millicent Borges Accardi, a Portuguese-American poet is the author of three books: Injuring Eternity, Woman on a Shaky Bridge, and Only More So (forthcoming Salmon Poetry). Accardi is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the arts (NEA), CantoMundo, the California Arts Council, Fundação Luso-Americana (FLAD), Barbara Deming Foundation, and Formby Special Collections at Texas Tech.

Her poetry collection Injuring Eternity received honorable mention at the International Latino Book Awards in 2012. Her recent work can be found in Verdad; Babalonia; InterDISCIPLINARY Journal of Portuguese Diaspora Studies, Mantis: A Journal of Poetry, Criticism & Translation, and the anthology, Gavea-Brown Book of Portuguese-American Poetry. Her non-fiction book, containing interviews with Portuguese and Portuguese-American writers, The Voice Behind the Words is due out in 2014 with Edwin Mellen press.

Read Millicent’s complete profile
Courtesy of www.portuguesepride.ca

Dia De Portugal 2013

Plan on attending and enjoying this great family event, “Dia De Portugal 2013”!

Date: Saturday, June 8th 2013 at 10:00 am – 6:00 p.m.

Location: History Park 1650 Senter Road, San Jose, CA 95112 (for GPS purposes use 635 Phelan)

Admission: FREE!

City parking is available for $6

About Dia De Portugal 2013 in San Jose

Join the Portuguese Heritage Society of California for a full day of entertainment, music, food, art and even a little Euro Soccer!

In June, Americans of Portuguese heritage join together with others throughout the world in a celebration of Portuguese culture – Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas. On the second Saturday of the month, the Portuguese Heritage Society of California hosts its Dia de Portugal Festival. Enjoy a day of entertainment, savor a variety of Portuguese foods and watch a traditional Portuguese parade – there’s enjoyment for the entire family. It all takes place at History Park San Jose, location of the Portuguese Historical Museum.

– Information Courtesy of History/San Jose

Portuguese Census Classification Clarification and Update

Earlier this year in February, an Associated Press article reported findings that revealed varying, and at times contradictory, definitions for Hispanic, Basque, Latino and/or Portuguese at the highest levels of the U.S. Government, including the US Congress. The article was rapidly disseminated through the Portuguese American media and along with a false rumor that the US Census Bureau had plans to classify Portuguese Americans as Hispanics in the 2020 census. Unfortunately, this caused a visceral and uninformed reactions from our community some of which were neither flattered our community nor represented our tolerance and respect for diversity. Many individuals contacted the National Organization of Portuguese Americans (NOPA) with concerns to investigate the source of such a decision and why key leaders of the community where unaware of it.

Upon realizing that there was nobody leading the effort to clarify why such a decision would have been made without any input from the community, NOPA immediately contacted Ambassador Nuno Brito to update him on the situation and see if he would be able to get an immediate audience with a federal official. After researching which government offices had oversight and influence over Census ethnic classifications, NOPA shared the information with Ambassador Brito, who within a day was able to meet with top officials at the US State Department and Census Bureau where he discovered that there was no current or future effort planned to classify Portuguese Americans under the Hispanic classification. To this day, there is no information about how or where this rumor began.

NOPA confirmed with the Census Bureau that their offices received calls about this topic and that the rumor was not true. Census officials stated that there were “no plans to count Portuguese Americans as Hispanic in 2020” and that the “Census Bureau follows the Office of Management and Budget definition of Hispanic origin: A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.”

Unfortunately, there has been a limited amount of effort to disseminate this update as compared to efforts to announce the erred information. Therefore NOPA asks that the community disseminate this press release as much as possible. Moving forward, NOPA believes that a more accurate measure of the community’s pulse on this issue is needed that can capture feedback from a proper sample size and ensure that the respondents are properly informed with background information such as the pros and cons of changing or not changing our community’s ethnic classification. Most importantly, there has been a lack of an education effort to inform our elected officials about our community, and NOPA believes that more has to be done to ensure that the Portuguese American community is properly defined and recognized by government agencies and officials.

For any questions regarding this matter, please call NOPA at 703-389-3512 or email info@nopa-us.org.

Source: The National Organization of Portuguese-Americans

Best Leader Awards 2013

PHPC founding director Lucia Soares was honored with “Best Leader Award Business Person” yesterday, in San Francisco. recognizing leaders who inspire society. We congratulate Lucia and her family on her accomplishement and well deserved recognition.

Leadership Business Consulting hosted the “Best Leader Awards” on April 26, 2013 in San Francisco. It recognizes leaders who inspire society through their character, vision, impact on results, innovation and transformation, and developing leaders. Started in Portugal in 2009, they were awarded for the first time in the US this year. Honorees were: Norberto Guimarães (Technologies), Tiago Paiva (Start-Up), Lucia Soares (Business Person), Alexandra Capela (Applied Science and Technology), and Manuel Eduardo Vieira (Lifetime Achievement). Congratulations to the awardees!

May 5th – International Day of the Portuguese Language and Culture – CPLP

For the first time, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) is celebrating May 5th as the International Day of the Portuguese Language and Culture.

Established during the 14th CPLP Council of Ministers meeting, in Cape Verde, in June of 2009, the date is dedicated to celebrating the common linguistic and cultural ties which unite the eight countries that belong to the CPLP.

Created in 1996, CPLP represents the community of nations where Portuguese if the official language, an estimated 240 million people, including Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor.

Portuguese is the third most widely spoken European language, after English and Spanish, with some 240 million users worldwide. More people around the world speak Portuguese as their native language than French, German, Italian or Japanese.

Portuguese is now recognized as a working language by European Union, the Mercosul, the African Union, the Organization of Ibero-American States, and the Organization of American States, among other world organizations.

Source: Portuguese American Journal

NOPA Announces the Appointment of its New Executive Board

The National Organization of Portuguese Americans is proud to announce the appointment of the following community leaders to its executive board.They will work closely with NOPA’s newly elected Chairman Dr. George Perry and Founding Director Mr. Francisco Semiao to advance the agenda of and empower the Portuguese American community.

Mr. Duarte will be serving as NOPA’s Vice Chairman and will have oversight of the organization’s government relations efforts and provide guidance to develop the government affairs services of Lusitania Consulting, which is the social enterprise that NOPA recently launched to assist Portuguese businesses with penetrating the US market and navigating government regulations. Mr. Duarte has over 15 years of experience working in government and in the private sector (Research-Communications-Logistics). He began honing his skills as a Legislative Aide for Representative Miguel De Grandy (Retired). He was then recruited to serve as Chief of Staff to State Senator Daryl Jones, (President Bill Clinton’s United States Air Force Nominee). As the President/CEO of The Duarte Monteiro Group, Mr. Duarte assists his clients navigate through the complex web of government bureaucracy as well as create strategic plans to gain market share for the client’s product or service.

Mr. Borges will serve as NOPA’s Secretary and will have oversight of the organization’s outreach to the Portuguese American community as well as ensuring NOPA’s compliance as a nonprofit organization. Mr. Borges is a Portuguese Language Teacher for Tulare Union High School and Chair of the World Languages Department. Mr. Borges earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Chapman University (Magna Cum Laude) and a Master of Arts in Humanities from CSU Dominguez Hills. His community service includes serving as a the moderator of the Portuguese language cultural television program, Os Portugueses no Vale (KNXT-Channel 49–Fresno, CA), Counselor to the Portuguese Government on issues of Emigration and Portuguese Communities in the United States, Member of the Board of Directors for the Portuguese Heritage Publications of California, Member of the advisory board of the Luso-America Education Foundation, and he was past Member of the advisory board to the Concordia Portuguese Language Summer Course, and he is President of the North American Portuguese Teachers Association (elected for three consecutive terms). He is a contributing writer for the Azorean newspapers Açoriano Oriental & Diário Insular and for several Portuguese-American and Canadian Portuguese language newspapers, and he is also coordinator of the Literary page Maré Cheia of the Portuguese Tribune Newspaper from San Jose, California. Besides being an accomplished author, Mr. Borges received the Medallion of Merit from the Portuguese Government for Services rendered in favor of the Portuguese Language and Culture in Central California, the Portuguese-American Citizen of the Year by the Portuguese-American Heritage Association in Tulare, Azorean Outstanding Language and Cultural Promoter living in the United States, a distinction given by the Azorean Regional Government, and the Portuguese Language and Culture Award from the Luso-American Education Foundation.

Mr. Tabuas will serve as NOPA’s Treasurer and will have oversight of the organization’s finances and fiscal compliance as a nonprofit. He will also provide technical assistance and guidance to develop the investment services of Lusitania Consulting, which is the social enterprise that NOPA recently launched to assist Portuguese businesses with penetrating the US market and increase investment in Portugal. Mr. Tabuas has over 15 years of investment banking and financial advisory experience. Mr. Tabuas has completed a vast array of transactions across different product types including IPOs, Secondaries/ Follow-on Offerings, SPACs, Registered Directs, PIPEs, and Privates. His public offering transactional experience spans a broad range of industries having raised in excess of $300 million within the corporate finance and private equity realms of public and private financing, including healthcare and technology. Mr. Tabuas previously worked at Dawson James Securities, Maxim Group LLC and GKN securities in the investment banking departments and at Ladenburg Thalmann in the Private Client Group. Mr. Tabuas holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from European University.

NOPA Announces the Appointment of its New Chairman, Dr. George Perry

Dr. George Perry, a renowned Portuguese American academic and researcher, has been appointed as the National Organization of Portuguese American’s (NOPA) new Chairman. Dr. Perry follows the term of Mr. José João Morais to whom NOPA extends its wholehearted gratitude for his term of service, dedication, and support for the advancing the organization’s mission to empower the Portuguese American community. Under Mr. Morais’ tenure, NOPA helped to reinstate the Congressional Portuguese American Caucus after it was defunct for eight years, held its first Young Portuguese American Leaders Summit, hosted a delegation of business leaders from Portugal for visits with Congressional leaders, and published the first ever Portuguese American Yearbook.

Portuguese Education Foundation of Central California

April 26, 2013

The Portuguese Education Foundation of Central California will hold a fundraiser event for scholarships, consisting of wine tasting and an Evening of “Fado”.

The PEFCC was kind enough to invite Portuguese Heritage Publications of California to present is latest publication: Power of the Spirit – A Portuguese Journey of Building Faith and Churches in California. We are most grateful for the kind gesture and will have copies of the book on hand for those interested.

Portuguese Education Foundation of Central California presents:
Angariação de Fundos para Bolsas de Estudo
A Fundraiser for Scholarships

• Friday, April 26, 2013, 6:00 pm
• 14011 East Avenue, Turlock, CA 95380
• Tickets: $50/person
• Contatos: (209) 704-8850 or (209) 535-0515
• Download Event Flyer

Radio Television Artesia 22nd Anniversary

March 23, 2013

The Radio Television Artesia celebrates its 22nd Anniversary with a Noite de Fados on Saturday March 23rd., starting at 6 pm, at the Artesia D.E.S., located on 11903 East Ashworth St., Artesia, CA 90701.

RTA was founded on October 19, 1990, by José Sive and David Martins, along with help from other members of the local Portuguese community. RTA continues to provide daily TV shows, and a radio program two days each week in the city of Artesia.

The $45.00 donation for the Fados and dinner will ensure that the worthy TV and Radio programs continue to enrich the Portuguese Community of Artesia and surrounding area. Portuguese Heritage Publications of California, represented by Jose do Couto Rodrigues will be on hand to introduce our recently released book: Power of the Spirit – A Portuguese Journey of Building Faith and Churches in California.

Radio Televisao Artesia has been a great supporter of Portuguese Heritage Publications of California from its inception. We are thankful for their continued support and take this opportunity to congratulate RTA on the celebration of their 22nd Anniversary, wishing them continued success in their service to the Portuguese community.

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Portuguese church building and faith in California

Catholic Voice – Diocese of Oakland
Staff report
December 17, 2012 • VOL. 50, NO. 21 • Oakland, CA

A new book tells of the spiritual journey of the Portuguese immigrants in California, their faith and how they were able to construct church buildings and assemble the priests who would provide spiritual support to a culture dispersed throughout the vast California territory.

“At the core of the ‘Power of the Spirit’ is the Catholic Church,” notes one of the authors, José do Couto Rodrigues. “The Portuguese, and especially the Azoreans, are among the most Catholic people of Europe, and the Catholic Church was the main pillar of the Portuguese community in the Old Country. Throughout the history of immigration to California, as soon as the immigrant survived the early trials of a new life, he quickly turned his resources to the one institution that could create a new equilibrium for him in America: the Church.”

The full color, luxury bound volume “tells the story of all the churches built by the Portuguese in California, including the beautiful temple dedicated to St. Joseph in Oakland, the very first Portuguese National Church in the state, built in 1892 but demolished in 1965 during the construction of the Nimitz freeway; the history of all the parishes where the Portuguese-speaking congregations had a major role in raising the funds for its construction or a strong leadership role; and also a chapter entitled ‘Shepherds of the Soul’ with the short biographies of over 110 members of the Portuguese American clergy who served in California over the last 150 years,” Rodrigues said.

The book has a preface by Carlos Cesar, the president of the Regional Government of the Azores, and the Most Rev. Clarence “Larry” Silva, bishop of Honolulu, a Portuguese-American priest with a long history of service in the Diocese of Oakland.

The book was released Dec. 8, the feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the patron saint of Portugal and the United States.

Buhach faithful pleased with ‘Power of the Spirit’

Merced County Times
By John Whitaker
December 13, 2012

Excited parishoners of the historic Immaculate Conception Church in Buhach gathered Saturday for a special Mass and celebration of a new book that illuminates the history of Portuguese immigrants and their spiritual legacy in California.

The research for “Power of the Spirit” took more than two years to complete and included three noted authors and dozens of volunteers who compiled information on 40 Portuguese churches and parishes from Hawkinsville to San Diego. The book also highlights short biographies of more than 110 members of the Portuguese-American clergy who have guided family members for the last 150 years.

In Buhach — or Buhach Colony — longtime residents Norma Jean de Sousa, Joanne Neves Green and Lillian Apolinario were praised for their research, collection of photos and document preservation that helped illustrate the beautiful story of the Immaculate Conception Church that was dedicated here in 1909.

The authors called their work “central and very important to the book.”

Norma Jean told the Times that she and her friends were well prepared to help out because a few years ago they celebrated the 100th anniversary of the church, and all of them had files and files of information and photos dating back to the old Buhach Ranch, the sweet potato farmers that flourished in the area, and Buhach Hall back when church services were held there.

There is a wealth of Portuguese history long before Joe Freitas donated the land to build the church.

“They said our chapter was warm and rich in detail,” Norma Jean told the Times.

The Catholic Church, of course, is at the core of “Power of the Spirit,” written by Joe Machado, Ferreira Moreno and José do Couto Rodrigues. The Portuguese, and especially the Azoreans, are among the most Catholic people of Europe. Throughout the history of immigration to California, the writers point out, as soon as immigrants survived the early trials of a new life, they quickly turned resources to the one institution that could create a new equilibrium for them in America.

“This is not just a publication about the Portuguese,” author Jose do Couto Rodrigues told the Buhach parish. “This is a book about every group who has worked hard to construct their places of worship, who burned in their desire to have the holy sacraments administered in their own language, who wanted to create a space where they could find solace from the isolation, trials and tribulations of immigration, who, guided by that Power of the Spirit, where willing to sacrifice much in order to build these beautiful temples, these oasis where they could practice their religion and maintain their traditions.”

On hand during the ceremony was Father Manuel Sousa of Our Lady of the Assumption in Turlock. He was praised in the book for devoting years of his life leading his congregation. “The full story will inspire you,” Rodrigues said.

For more information on how to order “Power of the Spirit: A Portuguese Journey of Building Churches and Faith in California” visit the Portuguese Heritage Publications of California website at www.PortugueseBooks.org.

Power of the Spirit Review

December 1, 2012

A review of Power of the Spirit was published on December 1, 2012, in the Portuguese-American Journal by Millicent Borges Accardi. She is a Portuguese-American poet, the author of three books: Injuring Eternity (World Nouveau), Woman on a Shaky Bridge (Finishing Line Press chapbook), and Only More So (forthcoming from Salmon Press, Ireland). She has received literary fellowships from Canto Mundo, the National Endowment for the Arts, and California Arts Council. Last fall, she was a visiting poet at The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, VA. Millicent lives in Topanga, CA. Follow her on Twitter @TopangaHippie

Memoir: Philip Graham abroad in Lisbon – Interview

August 13, 2012

An interview of Philip Graham, by Millicent Borges Accardi, for the Portuguese American Journal. Millicent is a Portuguese-American poet, the author of three books: Injuring Eternity, Woman on a Shaky Bridge, and Only More So (forthcoming from Salmon Press, Ireland). She is also an esteemed member of PHPC’s Board of Directors.

Luis M. Matos is sworn as Associate Justice of the RI Superior Court

July 2, 2012

First Portuguese native named to the bench in Rhode Island

Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis M. Matos was sworn in as Associate Justice of the RI Superior Court by Governor Lincoln Chafee on June 25, 2012 before over 300 dignitaries, colleagues, family members, friends and local and international press. The Portuguese-American community was present in force to witness the historic moment and the pride was palpable when one of its own attained an American dream.

Born in Batalha, Portugal, the Providence resident moved to the U.S. in 1969 with his family as a child where they settled in the Fox Point neighborhood of the city. The son of working class parents, he was the first member of his family to graduate from college, Brown University, continuing on to earn a J.D. with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Throughout the speaking program, Matos was praised for his intelligence, tireless work ethic and unflagging integrity. His career has been marked by numerous successes and accolades. Since his tenure in the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the RI District in 2001, he has distinguished himself with the successful prosecution of many high-profile cases in Rhode Island.

His nomination by Gov. Chafee has been praised throughout the state and beyond as an excellent and worthy choice based solely on merit. The nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate of the RI General Assembly.

Associate Justice Matos mentioned in his comments that he was “humbled” by the outpouring of support for his confirmation from the Portuguese-American community. The Portuguese American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS) spearheaded the letter writing campaign that supported Matos’ confirmation.

PALCUS Chairman Fernando Rosa and Vice-Chair Marie Fraley were on hand to witness the swearing in of Luis Matos at the RI State House

Lançamento de Novo Livro!

June 16, 2012

“A Década Perdida: crónicas de uma América cinzenta” (“The Lost Decade: chronicles of a gray America”).

Autor: Diniz Borges

Apresentação a cargo do poeta e escritor João Martins, seguida de cocktail e sarau cultural com Fado, Poesia e Música Folclórica.

SEXTA-FEIRA, 29 de Junho 2012, 8:30 pm
Portuguese Instructive Social Club of Elizabeth, NJ

Junte-se a nós neste evento cultural!

Poet Millicent Borges Accardi Reconnects with her Roots – Interview

April 18, 2012

Millicent Borges Accardi, a Portuguese-American poet, is the author of three books. She has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the arts (NEA), the California Arts Council, Barbara Deming Foundation, Canto Mundo, and Formby at the Special Collections Library at Texas Tech (researching writer-activist Kay Boyle). Ms. Accardi has been awarded with writers’ residencies over the years, including a stay at the prestigious Yaddo community. She is also the founding member of the Westside Women’s Writers group, where the interviewer first met her. She recently attended Disquiet, the International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal. Accardi’s poetry has appeared in over 50 publications. Her work has also received three Pushcart Prize nominations.

Her passion for writing, her brilliance, and her wit all contribute to her absorbing and remarkable poetry. In this interview for the Portuguese American Journal, Millicent speaks of discovering her poetic voice as well as discovering her roots and identity as a Portuguese-American. She talks about growing up in an immigrant family and being taught that she was not “Portuguese” but “American.”

Celebrações Do Espirito Santo Na California – Tradição e Peculiaridades

February 10, 2012

V Congresso Sobre as Festas do Divino Espirito Santo – Henrique Dinis, Presidente da PHPC, representou a comunidade Portuguesa do Norte da California neste congresso. Para ler a apresentacao completa.

PHPC Board of Directors Annual Meeting

February 6, 2012

Portuguese Heritage Publications of California, held its Annual Board of Directors meeting, Saturday January 28th, at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose.

The Board elected the members for the 2012 Executive Committee, consisting of the following individuals:

• President: Henrique Dinis
• Vice-President: Tony Goulart
• Secretary: Christina Avila-Nores
• Treasurer: Isidro Espinola
• Parliamentarian: Decio Oliveira
• Historian: Jose Luis Silva

The Board recognized the outgoing President, Mr. Jose Rodrigues’ outstanding job in leading PHPC from its inception in 2003 through 2011. On behalf of the BoD, Al Dutra presented Mr. Rodrigues with a picture of the members of the Board of Directors in an engraved frame.

The Board reviewed PHPC’s 2011 accomplishments and Goals and Objectives for 2012, which will be posted shortly on the About Us page of this website.

A Portuguese-American Doctor proposes an ambitious plan for curing cancer in a businesslike way

January 15, 2012

RON DEPINHO is a man on a mission. Oddly, though, he does not yet know exactly what that mission is. Dr DePinho is the new president of the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. (He took over in September, having previously headed the Belfer Institute, part of Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.) Mindful of his adopted city’s most famous scientific role, as home to Mission Control for the Apollo project, he says his own mission is akin to a moon shot. He aims to cure not one but five varieties of cancer. What he has not yet decided is: which five?

That it is possible to talk of curing even one sort of cancer is largely thanks to an outfit called the International Cancer Genome Consortium. Researchers belonging to this group, which involves 39 projects in four continents, are using high-throughput DNA-sequencing to examine 50 sorts of tumour. They are comparing the mutations in many examples of each type, to find which are common to a type (and thus, presumably, causative) and which are mere accidents. (The DNA-repair apparatus in malignant cells often goes wrong, so such accidents are common.

The consortium’s work is progressing fast, and preliminary results for many tumours are already in. But such knowledge is useless unless it can be translated into treatment. That is where Dr DePinho comes in—for his career has taken him into the boardroom as well as the clinic. He is a serial entrepreneur: he helped found Aveo Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a drug to block the growth of blood vessels in tumours, Metamark Genetics, which works on diagnosing cancers, and Karyopharm Therapeutics, which is trying to regulate the passage of molecules into and out of the cell nucleus, and thus control the nucleus’s activities. His aim in coming to MD Anderson, he says, is to “industrialise” other aspects of biological research in the way that genetics has been pushed forward by high-throughput sequencing.

That will cost billions of dollars. Fortunately, the state of Texas—no pushover when it comes to spending taxpayers’ cash—is creating a $3 billion cancer-research fund to help pay for it. Local philanthropists, including T. Boone Pickens and Ross Perot, are chipping in, too. Their model is the original Human Genome Project, during which the cost of sequencing a single genetic “letter” (a DNA base pair) fell from $10 in 1991 to ten cents in 2001—and is now 3,000 base pairs a cent. They hope their dollars will encourage people working with what are now, essentially, craft technologies to think about how they might industrialise them.

Several techniques look ripe for such industrialisation. Dr DePinho sets great store, for example, by the use of genetically modified mice (he calls them “little patients”) in which mutations found in human cancers can be replicated precisely, but one at a time, to discover the shape of each piece of the jigsaw. If this process can be scaled up it will, as he puts it, allow cancer’s genetic generals to be distinguished from the foot soldiers.

Another field that has great potential is imaging technology—in particular, a combination of positron-emission tomography (which uses radioactive sugar to measure how metabolically active tissue is) and computerised tomography (which uses X-rays to map the body’s internal anatomy). Together these can show whether a treatment is reducing a cancer’s energy consumption, and thus its metabolism. This gives a good indication of how well that treatment is working.

Dr DePinho himself will have more duties at MD Anderson than just dealing with the five chosen tumours. The donkey work of creating the Institute for Applied Cancer Science, as the new mission control is to be known, will be done by Lynda Chin. Dr Chin, too, worked at the Belfer Institute. She is part of the International Scientific Steering Committee of the cancer-genome project. And she is also Dr DePinho’s wife. Dr Chin will be assisted by some 55 other scientists from the Belfer, who are making the journey to Texas with her and her husband. That sort of team poaching is common in investment banking but rarer in academic research. Dr DePinho refers to it, jokingly, as metastasis, since a clone of his primary creation will be taking root elsewhere in the country.

As to which five cancers to attack, that decision will be made by the middle of 2012. A crucial consideration will be how likely it looks that research into the tumour in question could get rapidly to the “proof of concept” stage—the point at which it could be taken forward by a business that relied on commercial sources of capital, rather than on the sorts of grants that usually propel academic research. At that moment a new firm might be spun out of the institute, or a deal might be done with an established pharmaceutical firm, to try to get a new drug developed.

In recent years many big drug companies have gutted their research departments. This is partly because those departments have failed to come up with new “blockbuster” drugs of the sort that created Big Pharma in the first place, and partly because the big firms’ bosses had hoped that smaller biotechnology companies, of the sort Dr DePinho has helped set up, would do the hard work of drug discovery instead, and then let themselves be bought by the big firms.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out like that. The output of the biotech firms has been a trickle, rather than a torrent. They have been one of the worst-performing parts of the private-equity market since 2007, according to Dr DePinho. He hopes to change that—and in the matter of new anti-cancer drugs, the science is looking auspicious. For example, a drug called vemurafenib, which was approved for use in America in August 2011, gives months of extra life to people with metastasising melanoma, one of the deadliest cancers. Vemurafenib is so powerful that some people call it a “Lazarus” drug, after the chap Jesus is said to have raised from the dead.

Crucially for Dr DePinho’s project, the development of vemurafenib was stimulated by the identification of a mutated gene often present in melanomas. He and others like him hope that the cancer-genome consortium will throw up dozens of similar genes, and that they, too, will prove tractable targets for drug development.

Of course, if Dr DePinho had a penny for every time a “cure for cancer” headline proved premature, he wouldn’t need munificent donors. But if his bets on the science and on adopting business methods pay off, the drug industry and millions of patients will benefit. That would be one benign sort of metastasis.

The Economist, Dec 31, 2011

A new generation gives Portugal’s old music a boost.

Swathed in a lacy black gown, her raven tresses cascading over her bare shoulders, Ana Moura looks like central casting’s idea of a fadista—a singer devoted to the tradition-bound Portuguese musical style that marries poetry about love, loss, and the vicissitudes of fate to sumptuously plaintive melodies. Read the complete article.

 

The Carnation Revolution: Portugal’s Road to Democracy

April 18, 2012

Wednesday, April 25th 2012, 7:00 pm
Tulare Angrense Hall
1521 East Bardsley Ave, Tulare, CA

Attendees heard a brief lecture, followed by debate, about the revolution that paved the way for major changes in Portugal.
This talk was followed by a reception in honor of the 25th of April with Portuguese Sweets.

This event was co-sponsored by the Institute for Azorean-American Studies, the Portuguese Language School Vitorino Nemésio s from CPEC and the Tulare-Angrense Athletic Club.

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Impact of Acculturation on the Family Dynamics of Portuguese Immigrants in the US

February 10, 2012

Aurora Meneses da Silva, B.S., Graduate Student at the Marriage and Family Therapy M.S. Program, Purdue University Calumet, is developing a study on the impact of acculturation on the family dynamics of Portuguese immigrants in the U.S.. The purpose of the study is to understand how acculturating to the U.S. affects/affected Portuguese immigrants and their families, and how the therapist can better support immigrant families. The survey will be available until March 6th 2012. Therefore, we would like to request your help in spreading this request among Portuguese and Portuguese-Americans that might fit the criteria of participation.

Criteria to participate:

1. to be at least 18 years of age;
2. to be permanent resident in the U. S. (students/scholars on temporary visas do not qualify);
3. to have immigrated from Portugal OR, at least, one of your parents immigrated from Portugal; and,
4. to be original either from Portugal mainland, the Azores or Madeira archipelagos.

Participants will be given the opportunity to answer the survey either in Portuguese or English. At the end of the survey you will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for eight of $25 gift cards. Please follow this link to access the survey.

A paper-based version of the survey is also available. If participants prefer to receive the survey in their homes, an email with their address can be sent to ameneses@purduecal.edu, and the survey, as well as a stamped envelope with the address at which the survey can be returned, will be mailed to the participants.

If you have any questions about the study, please feel free to email Aurora at ameneses@purduecal.edu or the principal investigator, Professor David Nalbone, at dnalbone@purduecal.edu.

Special Communication from the Office of Sen. Jack Reed, Co-Chairman of the Friends of Portugal in the US Senate

February 6, 2012

Senators Reed and Whitehouse write to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to voice opposition to the closing of US Consulate in Ponta Delgada

PALCUS (Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States) has recently received this communication from Sen. Reed’s Washington office. As PALCUS has been closely monitoring the discussion of the closing of the US Consulate in Ponta Delgada with the US Department of State, Senator Reed (RI) is keeping the organization informed of his efforts with that of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) to speak in defense of the value of the consulate and against its closing.

PALCUS is committed to continue to work with both the Portuguese American Caucus in the House of Representatives and the Friends of Portugal in the Senate as well as the US Department of State to speak against the closing of the US Consulate in Ponta Delgada, the oldest of all US Consulates in the world. Its need is critical for US citizens with Azorean ties who travel to the Azores as well as for the continued strength of the relationship between the United States and Portugal.

Read the letter signed by Senators Reed and Whitehouse, addressed to Secretary Hilary Clinton.

PHPC Annual Board of Directors Meeting

January 13, 2012

Portuguese Heritage Publications of California, Inc. will hold its annual Board of Directors meeting on Saturday January 28, 2012, 10 am, at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose. The meeting is an opportunity to review and assess the organization’s 2011 accomplishments, as well as discuss and approve the Operating Business Plan for 2012. The following meeting agenda has been proposed by President Jose Rodrigues:

AGENDA

1. Opening Remarks – Jose Rodrigues (5 minutes)
   1. Welcome
   2. Introduction of guests
   3. Opening remarks
   4. Approval of the agenda
2. Election of Officers for 2012 – Al Dutra and Lionel Goularte
   1. The Board of Directors will vote on the Executive Committee Officers for 2012
3. Reading and Approval of the last minutes – Christina Avila (5 minutes)
   1. Correspondence
4. Treasurer’s Report – Al Dutra and Isidro Espinola (15 minutes)
5. Year 2011 in review
   1. Board members on the spot light
   2. Sales & Marketing
   3. Project Development
   4. Operations
6. 2012 Operating Plan
   1. Vision & Mission
   2. Core Values
   3. Critical Success Factors
   4. 5 Key Goals & Objectives
7. Brainstorming Session
   1. WHAT – Identify goal enabling actions
   2. WHO – Identify owners for the actions
   3. WHEN – Determine execution timelinesLunch 12:30 PM
8. Path forward
9. Adjournment at 3:00 PM

Dr. Manuel Bettencourt Honored by the President of Portugal

November 14, 2011

Our Board Member, Dr. Manuel Bettencourt, was honored by the President of Portugal with the medal of comendador of the Order of Infante D. Henrique in recognition of his leadership in many of the Portuguese community non-profit organizations – Portuguese Heritage Publications, Luso American Education Foundation, POSSO and Portuguese Athletic Club just to mention a few. We are very proud of Dr. Bettencourt’s accomplishments and grateful for his support of PHPC.

This community event hosted by the President of Portugal, Prof. Cavaco Silva, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose was emceed by our Board members Lucia and Miguel Avila. Congratulations on a job well done.

 

 

Tony Goulart Honored by PALCUS

November 12, 2011

With the presence of Prof. Cavaco Silva, President of Portugal, and many other dignitaries of Portugal and United States, our colleague Antonio Goulart was honored at the 2011 Leadership in Community Service by PALCUS – Portuguese American Leadership Council of the United States, at its annual Gala Dinner in Washington, DC.

With his wife, children, brother and other family members in attendance, in addition to 4 members of the Board of PHPC, Tony Goulart was properly recognized before a nationwide audience for his enormous impact on the Portuguese community of California through his decade long dedication to the mission of researching and disseminating the history of the Portuguese in the golden state.

King D. Dinis of Portugal: A genius of the Middle Age

October 21, 2011

D. Dinis: um génio na idade média
Sessão cultural celebrando os 750 anos do Rei D. Dinis.
Quinta-feira, 27 de Outubro de 2011 19h30 (sete e trinta da noite)
Salão Paroquial de St. Aloysius
Palestra sobre o rei poeta e a sua influência no Reino de Portugal
Entrada livre — Todos estão convidados
Segue-se um café e porto de honra

Uma promoção da escola Vitorino Nemésio do
Centro Português de Evangelização e Cultura, com a colaboração
do Instituto de Estudos Açor-Americanos.

Portuguese Seafarers and Footprints in Asia

October 21, 2011

Macau Arts Culture and Heritage Institute (MACHI) and Anthony Santos present

“Portuguese Seafarers and Footprints in Asia”
Goa, India

Five centuries of Hindu-Portuguese history (1510-1961) to present day.

Thursday, October 20, 2011 – 11:00 am

Carnegie Auditorium
San Leandro Main Library
300 Estudillo Ave., San Leandro

Speakers

• Filomena Saraswati Giese
  Co-founder of Goa Sudharop Community Development, Inc.
  Early Hindu Dynasties – Geography – Religion – Language – Culture – Music and Cuisine
• Antonio M.Pacheco Jorge da Silva
  Author
  Portuguese discovery of India and their presence in Goa from 1510 to 1961
• Anand Naik
  Chairman of the Goa Management Association
  Present Day Goa

Tony Goulart Recognized with PALCUS’ Leadership Community Award

September 15, 2011

The Portuguese American Leadership Council,(PALCUS) was founded in 1991 by a group of Portuguese-American professionals who recognized the need to address issues of importance to the Portuguese-American community of the United States. They sought to establish a consistent means of communication between the Embassy of Portugal and their representatives in the United States Congress.

PALCUS organizes an Annual Gala event in which Leadership Awards are presented to outstanding Portuguese-Americans who have distinguished themselves by noteworthy achievement in their professions or service to the community. Awardees are recognized for their personal accomplishments as well as for the honor that they have brought to the Portuguese-American community.

PHPC’s own Vice-President Mr. Tony Goulart, will be recognized with this year’s Leadership Community Award, at the Annual Gala event scheduled for November 12th., at the Westin Hotel, National Harbor, Maryland. PHPC congratulates Mr. Goulart on this well deserved recognition.

SJSU Portuguese and Lusophone Studies Program

Second Annual Evening at the Harvest – Vindimas

September 14, 2011

Portuguese Heritage Publications is a proud sponsor of the Second Annual SJSU, Portuguese and Lusophone Studies “Evening at the Harvest.”

The Portuguese & Lusophone Studies Program was established at San José State University in 1973. In 2009, the program was promoted to an official Minor complementing various other Majors and Minors including, but not limited to Business, Spanish, Latin-American Studies, and International Business.

The program is only partially funded by the University and a Portuguese Endowment Trust was established through the generosity of institutions and individuals.

Annually, the Portuguese & Lusophone Studies Program Advisory Board conducts fundraising activities to maintain the program. This year, we are hosting the 2^nd Annual Evening at the Harvest – Noite das Vindimas at Léal Estate Vineyards in Hollister, CA on Friday, September 23, 2011.

California American Portuguese Veterans War Memorial

July 30, 2011

Established in 1933 by local Portuguese American community leaders, the American Portuguese Club Inc. (APC) is a non-profit, community service organization. As a community organization, APC is dedicated to supporting the Portuguese American history. APC recently teamed up with Senator Lou Correa (34th District), Assembly member Jim Silva (67th District), and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Don Nottoli (5th District), to promote a state resolution and the construction of the California American Portuguese Veterans War Memorial. This monument would officially recognize our veterans and educate visitors, of the military contributions made by thousands of American Portuguese of California. The dedication ceremony is tentatively scheduled to be celebrated, at California’s Capitol Park – Memorial Grove, in June 2012.

The American Portuguese Club, Inc. is asking leading California Portuguese organizations for support in this epic undertaking. In hopes of bringing the community’s support for this project, there will be an open forum on Saturday, August 27, 2011 starting at 2:00 p.m. at the Cabrillo Civic Club located at 4605 Karbet Way in Sacramento. Please RSVP to (916) 684-7041 no later than August 22nd. Light refreshments will be served.

California Immigrants Lionel and Bernardine Goularte meet with Berta Cabral, Mayor of Ponta Delgada, San Miguel Island.

July 18, 2011

Berta Cabral met with California immigrants visiting San Miguel island on their vacation.

California immigrants Lionel and Bernardine Goularte, requested an audience with Berta Cabral, Mayor of Ponta Delgada, during which they presented the mayor with a book documenting the Holy Ghost Festas in Fremont, California. The mayor reciprocated by presenting the Goularte’s with the Golden Book of Ponta Delgada.

The Holy Ghost Festas tradition was brought to California by Azorean immigrants, in the late 1800s. Learn more about the Holy Ghost Festas in California

Lionel Goularte is a member of the Portuguese Heritage Publications of California’s Executive Committee, and his wife Bernardine is an active volunteer in the PHPC organization as well.

Board Members Receive Recognition

June 27, 2011

Two of our Board members have been recognized for their work on behalf of the Portuguese community of California: Dr. Décio Oliveira by the LAEF on June 5, and Tony Goulart by the Government of the Azores on Dia da Região, June 13.

Photos courtesy of Portuguese Tribune

June 22 – Workshop: Publishing Process

June 27, 2011

José Rodrigues, President of Portuguese Heritage Publications of California, Inc, appeared June 22, 2011. at the Silver Creek Country Club. He shared with the audience the process and possible options available to those wishing to publish their own literary work.

Mr. Rodrigues, took the audience through the steps of creating and publishing your own literary masterpiece. He has helped many take their ideas and concepts and turn them into reality for the public to enjoy. He provided examples of these works for the participants to look at and purchase if they so wished. José Rodrigues, is very well known in the Portuguese community and those attending his presentation, found significant insight from his experience in publishing for the first time.

Participants were encouraged to take their own “D.Q.” and learn how to make this into something that can be shared and enjoyed by friends, family, and all others through the powerful tool of the written word.

June 11 – Welcome to Dia de Portugal, California

June 17, 2011

The Portuguese Heritage Society of California (PHSC), proudly hosted the Annual Dia de Portugal Festival on June 11, 2011 from 10am – 6:30pm at the History Park, San Jose (Kelley Park), 1650 Senter Road, San Jose, CA, one of the largest events in California celebrating the Portuguese culture. Visit the event website

Portuguese Heritage Publication of California (PHPC) had a booth at the Festival, where all our publications were available for purchase.

June 8 – Lecture by Dr. Heraldo da Silva

June 17, 2011

Our Board member, Dr. Heraldo da Silva, delivered a lecture entitled “Victorino Nemésio” Açorianidade” at the cultural event promoted by the J. A. Freitas Library at the Lecture Hall of the Portuguese Fraternal Society of America on June 8^th.

In additional to the speaker, the program was enriched by the participation of José Luís da Silva, Maria das Dores Beirão and Isolete Grácio, who read several poems of Victorino Nemésio, and by Hélio Beirão who providing a beautiful musical background playing in his Viola da Terra many of the melodies loved by the Azorean poet.

This cultural program was incorporated in the celebrations of Dia de Portugal, Camoes e das Comunidades being held around the State of California.