Aluísio Ferreira de Sousa, the host and reporter of a popular online show among the Brazilian community, had heard a lot about Martha’s Vineyard over the past few years — the stories of life as an immigrant, the struggles, and the accomplishments. But he had never visited the Island before. Last month, he was able to visit for the first time.
“I had goosebumps when I stepped on the ferry,” he said. “I thought, I’m stepping where so many people from my hometown had also stepped.”
De Sousa is from Mantenópolis, a town in Brazil with a population of 12,000, where many within the Vineyard Brazilian community hail from. His trip here was short –– only two days; he would be visiting some 20 cities in four U.S. states. But it was also emotional, as he met longtime friends and got a pulse on how the Brazilian community evolved over the years, and how people are feeling right now under the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The MV Times interviewed De Sousa about his trip to the Island, which comes a little less than a year since De Sousa told us about his work on bridging the immigration divide. De Sousa delivers gifts and reads messages to Brazilians from their friends and family living and working in the U.S. He streams the exchanges on his channel ConectShow Noticias, which is streamed on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. The channel totals more than 200,000 daily views. On Instagram alone, he reached over 14 million views last month. This time, De Sousa brought gifts from Brazil to the Island.
Here is his interview with The Times, conducted by Paula Moura after his return to Brazil.
The interview was translated from Portuguese, and edited for length and clarity.
MVTimes: How was it to see the Island for the first time, after hearing so much about it?
Aluísio de Sousa: I had a lot of expectations, because it’s a special place for me, as a great number of people who emigrated from my hometown live on the Island. I got goosebumps when I stepped on the ferry. I thought, “I’m stepping where so many people from my hometown had also stepped.” I reflected about how they gave up everything — family, friends — in search of a better life.
The Island is wonderful, the energy there is beautiful … the [Edgartown] lighthouse, the sunset, everything is so mesmerizing.
I was also very touched because of the reception I got. People took their precious time off to show me places; they would shout my name on the street, come to hug me. Many cried, and I cried with them, too. I saw friends I hadn’t seen in 20 years. So I felt like I was in my hometown.
MVTimes: What did you see; who did you meet?
AS: I saw the lighthouse, the whale’s tail [at the Whale Memorial Park in Edgartown]; I drank American coffee, which is so big compared to our coffee in Brazil! I met Meiroka [Nunes, community organizer and founder of Brazukada], old friends –– and made new friends.
I drove around with the car windows down, and people would come greet me, people who were working at a “grass bucket” [a truck that transports grass for a landscaping company], at the supermarket, at a bank. They thanked me for delivering a gift to their family in Brazil. One of them even said, “Thanks for delivering a gift to my mother. She passed away, but when you met her, you hugged her for me.”
MVTimes: Did you bring any gifts from Brazil to deliver here?
AS: A young man from a town called Pancas asked me to deliver a Brazilian perfume to his father, who lives in Oak Bluffs. People in the community helped me locate the father, and he was very happy. The people who were working around him were very surprised I was there. And I’m also bringing a gift back to Brazil: a print copy of The MV Times edition featuring Wilson Peres, who lives in my hometown, and whose daughter asked me to deliver it to him.
People were so generous. I also received so many gifts, in a total of two bags. I got shoes, jackets, caps, socks, perfume, a microphone, and even a blender for my mom, and other gifts for my parents.
MVTimes: What did you learn about the life of Brazilian immigrants on the Vineyard?
AS: We’re separated by a 10-hour flight, and so many people wanted to be documented, to be able to take this flight and visit their loved ones. Many people live separated from their loved ones for decades, even losing family members and contact with friends. These stories touch me profoundly.
I noticed that people were happy to see me there, but they also have a lingering sadness in their eyes. Maybe their proximity to me allowed them to express those feelings. I noticed a lot of people needed to talk. Some said they wished they could go back with me. I feel they hugged me as if they were hugging family members who are in Brazil.
I’m the flesh-and-blood person connecting the two countries. When they send a message, when they send a gift, I’m the one who delivers it. It’s a strong emotion.
I asked them when they are coming back to Brazil. I tell people, “Make a plan, pay your bills, and come back to Brazil, to your mother and your family. Live your life –– here I see you’re suffering too much.”
MVTimes: What causes their suffering?
AS: The distance. People leave with a goal to improve their life conditions, but in my opinion, those conditions can be improved only if they come back home. Many can’t afford a great life [on the Island]; they pay a lot in rent and share their home with four, five other people. Another thing I noticed is that some people tend to become compulsive consumers, and also drink a lot, trying to alleviate their pain.
MVTimes: What gives people strength to pursue their goals as immigrants?
AS: Knowing that they will have better life conditions than in Brazil, to have the chance to improve their lives. In the U.S., they don’t need to worry about making ends meet all the time; they can buy a car, wear good clothes, eat good food, access better education, and live in a safe, clean place, where the rule of law works no matter who you are.
MVTimes: What did you hear, and what have you been hearing from the community, after the changes in immigration policy in the U.S.?
AS: It’s very hard for people to live under the psychological pressure of not being able to go back home to visit their loved ones. Now, with the new administration, the pressure is higher. People are much more afraid of being deported, and they are avoiding going out.
People talked not only about the immigration situation but also about their concerns about the economic situation, and a recession.
MVTimes: What parallels and differences in the Brazilian immigrant communities could you draw while visiting those other 22 places?
AS: The Brazilian community on the Island is more spread out; you don’t get there and immediately realize there’s a big Brazilian community. I think that’s because of the Island’s geography –– there’s a lot of nature in between. But in Boston, you see Brazilian neighborhoods more clearly: For example, [there are] some streets where you find only Brazilian stores.
MVTimes: What do you want to share with your Brazilian audience about your trip?
AS: When I arrived back to Mantenópolis, I saw people were very touched by seeing me there. They said they felt I was representing them there. They hugged me and said, “I followed everything you posted about your trip in the U.S., every detail of the places you went, the people you spoke to.” I felt people on the Island and back [in Brazil] were very emotional, and felt that I was actually a bridge that shortens this distance in their lives.
This piece is part of a continuing series of articles on Brazilian immigration and how it is impacting the Island by Paula Moura, who is herself from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The first part of the series, “A Wave of Immigration,” is available here.
Beautiful article. It bears repeating, with a trace of anything but observation of immigration in this country and every other one, that if you came here legally, you wouldn’t worry about deportation—kids who were brought here and grew up here, no fault of their own, it’s a different story, but the rest is not a magic equation as if it’s normal to come undocumented—it isn’t and we are simply going back to the time where if immigration law mattered, just like I can’t emigrate to Italy or Japan.
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