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Freedom Day, April 25, 2024- O Porto, Portugal

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Through a lucky coincidence I was in O Porto, Portugal on April 25th, Freedom Day. I have been working with Janet for over four years on various projects via Zoom. When she said she and her daughter would be in Portugal, we investigated their coming to Santiago but it would use up too much of their scarce time. I decided to go to O Porto to meet Janet in PERSON. What a thrill. She is much prettier in person than flattened out on a screen.

The day that we could coincide was the 25th. It is called Freedom Day. It commemorates a bloodless coup staged by military officers against the dictatorship of Antonio Oliveira de Salazar. It was quickly joined by the general population. A restaurant worker started handing out carnations to the troops, hence the popular name, Revolution of the Carnations. Besides ending the dictatorship, the new government ended the colonial wars in Africa and granted those nations independence. Now 50 years later, Portugal elected a rightwing government. People were in the streets protesting that government.

The video starts with some northern Fado singers. You will notice they are all male and formally dressed. In the north, the Fado singers have traditionally been male students wooing young women. The northerners look down on the women Fado singers from Lisbon.

Ending the video is Livraria Lello made famous by J.K. Rowling. The marches were over so we headed to the bookstore. I didn’t see anyone buying a book but it didn’t matter to the store because they charge €8 to enter for a half hour.
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