Telling Our Story, Because No One Else Will: Cape Verdean Transnational Identity Formation as Knowledge Production

Abstract

Seemingly from birth, Cape Verdeans are charged by their elders to go forth and "tell their story." Yet the Cape Verdean story remains relatively unknown despite its relevance to world history and ongoing processes of globalization. Nevertheless, Cape Verdeans refuse to be rendered "statistically insignificant" in the American imagination. This article explores recent scholarship and personal standpoints produced by people exploring Cape Verdean transnational identity as a means of making their truths known, thus redirecting the recurrent scholarly gaze from its focus on knowledge production among anglophone diaspora communities to the equally-relevant lusophone experience.