ABOUT THE BOOK
Voices & Voyages chronicles the lives of Portuguese immigrants who came to America beginning in the 1950s. Through captivating personal narratives, they share powerful stories of sacrifice and survival as they navigated the political, social, and economic instability that drove them from their homeland.
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These stories also offer an intimate look at the complexities of the immigrant experience once in America. They document the systemic barriers these individuals faced, such as language and immigration, as well as racial discrimination, all while straddling the cultural divide as they strove to keep their families together and a semblance of their culture alive.
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The Portuguese immigrants interviewed in this book mostly settled in New Jersey’s largest city, Newark, on their road to the American Dream. Newark serves as the backdrop for most of these stories. Since its incorporation, Newark, especially the Ironbound section, has been an immigrant enclave. It welcomed Portuguese immigrants from the 1800s through the height of Portuguese immigration in the 1980s.
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Newark was an industrial hub, that employed waves of immigrants pouring into the city, including Portuguese women who worked in factories, primarily as seamstresses.
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These stories also serve as a historical record. They are small vignettes of Portuguese and American history, documenting first-person narratives. For instance, the impact of António Salazar, Portugal’s longest-serving dictator, on migration, or how 9/11 affected travel for those in the process of legalizing their immigration status.
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Each story in Voices & Voyages is unique. It reflects the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of these individuals from different corners of Portugal and its territories. It captures the challenges and heartbreak they endured and the tenacity they showed to overcome them. These stories depict the human spirit in flight and the phoenix rising from the ashes.
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By sharing these stories, I hope to add to the ongoing conversation about immigration by creating a dialogue based on understanding instead of fear. Voices & Voyages
aims to shed light on the immigrant experience as a human experience.