History of Lusophone Americans in Newark, New Jersey

Last updated

The city of Newark, New Jersey, includes a large Portuguese-speaking population. Newark has been nicknamed "Little Portugal" due to its large number of Portuguese-speaking and Portuguese-descended people. Most Lusophone Americans in Newark live in the working-class neighborhood of Ironbound. [1]

Contents

In addition to immigrants from Portugal, Newark also has a large population of immigrants from Brazil and Cape Verde and to a lesser extent Angola.

History

The first Portuguese immigrants to Newark came during the early 1900s and the greatest influx of Portuguese was during the 1950s.

Despite there being very little immigration from Portugal in the 21st-century, there are still many Portuguese-speaking immigrants settling in the city and its surrounding area. Today, most Lusophone immigrants arrive from Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa, especially Cape Verde and Mozambique. Another place of origin is Galicia, a region of Spain where Galician (also known as Gallego) is the spoken language. Gallego it is also known as old-Portuguese because it is the ancestor of modern Portuguese. [2]

Demographics

In 1995, there were 30,000 Luso-Americans living in Newark. [3]

2022 ACS data showed that Essex county had 13,729 residents of Portuguese ancestry (1.62% of the population), while an additional 14,966 (1.76% of the total) were of Brazilian ancestry and 787 were of Cape Verdean descent. In total, 3.47% of the population had its origins in these three Portuguese-speaking countries as of 2022. In the whole of New Jersey around 76,013 people were reported being of Portuguese descent, 1,166 of Cape Verdean and 51,266 of Brazilian ancestry. Of the 128,445 people (1.39% of the population) whose origins lied in the three aforementioned countries, 22.95% lived in Essex county. [4]

Culture

Augusto Amador, of Portuguese ancestry, was a member of the Municipal Council of Newark representing East Ward for 24 years. He assumed office on July 1, 1998, and was consistently re-elected until he left office on June 30, 2022. [5]

Ferry Street is the major thorofare in the Ironbound, which begins a Peter Francisco Park near Newark Penn Station. The Portugal Day Festival in Newark an annual event. The Brazilian Press is based in neighborhood.

The Portugal Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains the consulate in the city. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Cape Verde</span>

Demographic features of the population of Cape Verde include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Cape Verde</span>

Cape Verde is known internationally for morna, a form of folk music usually sung in the Cape Verdean Creole, accompanied by clarinet, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. Funaná, Coladeira, Batuque and Cabo love are other musical forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ironbound</span> Neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey, US

The Ironbound is a neighborhood in the city of Newark in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a large working-class multi-ethnic community, covering about 4 square miles (10 km2). Historically, the area was called "Dutch Neck," "Down Neck," or simply "the Neck," for its location by a bend of the Passaic River. Part of Newark's East Ward, the Ironbound is directly east of Newark Penn Station and Downtown Newark, and south and west of the river. The neighborhood is connected by the Jackson Street Bridge over the river to Harrison and Kearny.

Portuguese Americans, also known as Luso-Americans (luso-americanos), are citizens and residents of the United States who are connected to the country of Portugal by birth, ancestry, or citizenship.

Cape Verdean Americans are an ethnic group of Americans whose ancestors were Cape Verdean. In 2010, the American Community Survey stated that there were 95,003 Americans living in the US with Cape Verdean ancestors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese language in Africa</span> Language official or recognized in several countries

Portuguese is spoken in a number of African countries and is the official language in six African countries: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea. There are Portuguese-speaking communities in most countries of Southern Africa, a mixture of Portuguese settlers and Angolans and Mozambicans who left their countries during the civil wars. A rough estimate has it that there are about 14 million people who use Portuguese as their sole mother tongue across Africa, but depending on the criteria applied, the number might be considerably higher, since many Africans speak Portuguese as a second language, in countries like Angola and Mozambique, where Portuguese is an official language, but also in countries like South Africa and Senegal, thanks to migrants coming from Portuguese-speaking countries. Some statistics claim that there are over 60 million Portuguese speakers in the continent.

Brazilian Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Brazilian ancestry. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates the Brazilian American population to be 1,905,000, the largest of any Brazilian diaspora. The largest wave of Brazilian migration to the United States occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a response to hyperinflation in Brazil. Even after inflation stabilized in 1994, Brazilian immigration continued as Brazilians left in search of higher wages in the United States.

Portuguese Luxembourgers, also known as Luso-Luxembourgers, are citizens or residents of Luxembourg whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal, including both Portuguese-born citizens with Luxembourg citizenship and Luxembourg-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship.

Afro-Portuguese(Afro portugueses or Lusoafricanos), African-Portuguese(Portugueses com ascendência africana), or Black Portuguese are Portuguese people with total or partial ancestry from any of the Sub-Saharan ethnic groups of Africa.

Cape Verdeans in the Netherlands consist of migrants from Cape Verde to the Netherlands and their descendants. As of 2022, figures from Statistics Netherlands showed 23,150 people of Cape Verdean origin in the Netherlands.

The Cabo Verdean diaspora refers to both historical and present emigration from Cape Verde. Today, more Cabo Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde itself. The country with the largest number of Cape Verdeans living abroad is the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Massachusetts</span>

Massachusetts has an estimated population of 6.981 million as of 2022 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents a −0.7% decrease in population from the 2020 census, when the population was 7.029 million. Currently, Massachusetts is the sixteenth most populous U.S. state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Verde</span> Island nation in northwest Africa

Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an archipelago and island country of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi). These islands lie between 600 and 850 kilometres west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa. The Cape Verde islands form part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Savage Isles.

Portuguese is the third most spoken language of the Americas, and the second most spoken language in South America. It is the sole official language of Brazil and is a co-official language of several regional organizations, notably Mercosul, UNASUL, ACTO, CELAC, the Rio Group, and ALADI.

In the late 19th century, many Portuguese, mainly from the islands of Azores and Madeira, migrated to the United States and established communities in cities such as Fall River, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts; and San Jose, California. Many of them also moved to Hawaii. There are an estimated 1,500,000 Portuguese Americans based on the Government Census Community Survey.

Portuguese Argentines are Argentines of Portuguese descent or a Portugal-born person who resides in Argentina. Portuguese Argentines are one of the biggest portugueses communities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Verdeans</span> Citizens of the nation of Cape Verde

Cape Verdeans, also called Cabo Verdeans, are a people native to Cape Verde, an island nation in West Africa consisting of an archipelago in the central Atlantic Ocean. Cape Verde is a multi-ethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Cabo Verdeans do not consider their nationality as an ethnicity but as a citizenship with various ethnicities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geographical distribution of Portuguese speakers</span> Overview of the Lusophone diaspora

This article provides details regarding the geographical distribution of all Portuguese-speakers, a.k.a.Lusophones, regardless of legislative status. The Portuguese language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is an official language of countries on four continents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Verdean nationality law</span>

Cape Verdean nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Cape Verde, as amended; the Nationality Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Cape Verde. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Cape Verdean nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Cape Verde or abroad to parents with Cape Verdean nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Francisco Park</span>

Peter Francisco Park is a city square in Newark, New Jersey located adjacent to Newark Penn Station at the Five Corners in the city's Ironbound neighborhood. The park was established in 1966 by the Municipal Council of Newark.

References

  1. Shepard, Richard F. "EXPLORING THE CULTURAL PLEASURES OF NEWARK - April in Portugal is Waiting Just Across the Hudson", The New York Times , March 26, 1982. Accessed February 3, 2014.
  2. Ramos-Zayas, Ana Y. (2012). Street Therapists: Race, Affect, and Neoliberal Personhood in Latino Newark. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226703619 . Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  3. "A Portuguese Village in Newark". The New York Times . Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  4. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  5. Pizarro, Max (2021-12-01). "Amador, the Past, the Coming Campaign, and the Enduring Pride of Newark's Ironbound". www.insidernj.com.
  6. "DR. LUÍS B. SEQUEIRA". newark.consuladoportugal.mne.gov.pt.