Persona: Cabo Verdean Second Generation

Wilson Tavares Semedo

Quick Profile

Attribute	Value
Name	Wilson Tavares Semedo
Age	26
Gender	Male
Location	Amadora (Greater Lisbon)
Occupation	Warehouse logistics coordinator
Education	Professional course (logistics)
Housing	Living with parents (family apartment in social housing neighborhood)
Family	Parents from Santiago, Cape Verde (arrived 1990s), younger sister (22)
Voter Status	Cape Verdean nationality - CAN vote in presidential elections (reciprocity agreement)
Born in	Portugal (Portuguese-born, Cape Verdean nationality)

Background Narrative

Wilson was born in Amadora—Hospital Amadora-Sintra, same as thousands of kids from immigrant families. His parents came from Cape Verde in the 90s, his father working construction, his mother cleaning offices. They never naturalized; the bureaucracy seemed impossible, and Cape Verdean nationality was enough for residence.

Wilson is Portuguese in every way except on paper. He speaks Portuguese (with a tuga accent, not Cape Verdean), went to Portuguese schools, follows Benfica obsessively, thinks in Portuguese. But his ID says Cape Verdean. He could naturalize, but it costs money, takes time, and feels like a statement he's ambivalent about making.

Growing up in Amadora's bairros meant growing up between worlds. The neighborhood is majority immigrant-origin—Cape Verdean, Angolan, Guinean. The kids mixed everything: kriolu phrases, African music, Portuguese slang. But leaving the neighborhood meant feeling different. Job interviews where they saw his address and his name and made assumptions. Police stops that didn't happen to friends with different faces.

He's done okay—better than his parents expected. The logistics job is stable, uses his head, has prospects. He lives at home because Lisbon rents are insane and because family is tight. His sister is at university studying nursing—the first in the family with a degree.

Chega terrifies him in ways he doesn't always articulate. When Ventura talks about "immigrants" and "criminals" and "bairros," Wilson hears himself being described. Being excluded from a country he's never left.

Economic Situation

Aspect	Detail
Income level	Lower-middle (€1,100/month)
Income source	Warehouse/logistics employment
Financial stress	Low-Moderate (living at home helps)
Housing cost burden	Contributes €200/month to family
Economic trajectory	Improving (career developing)

Values Profile (Schwartz Framework)

Dimension	Rating	Expression
Self-Transcendence	4	Community loyalty; fights discrimination
Self-Enhancement	3	Wants success but not at community's expense
Openness to Change	4	Embraces hybrid identity; forward-looking
Conservation	3	Values family, Cape Verdean heritage; but not traditional politics

Top 3 values: Universalism (equality), Self-Direction, Benevolence

Moral Politics Frame (Lakoff)

Primary frame: Nurturant Parent (strong)

Expression: Wilson believes in fairness, opportunity, and community care. He's seen how the system treats people differently based on where they're from, how they look, where they live. He wants a Portugal that includes everyone who's building it.

Information Ecosystem

Source Type	Specific Sources	Trust Level
TV	RTP, SIC	Medium
Online	Twitter/X, Reddit, Instagram, news sites	Medium-High
Social Media	Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp	High
Community	Neighborhood networks, African diaspora communities	Very High

Media consumption pattern: Digital native. Twitter for news and political commentary. Instagram for community and culture. Follows anti-racism activists and African diaspora voices. Gets mainstream news but processes through community lens.

Relationship to Portuguese Politics

Voting Status

Cape Verde has reciprocity agreement with Portugal
CAN vote in presidential elections
Often confused about this himself; learned recently
First presidential election he's eligible and motivated to vote in

Political Awareness

Very aware of Chega—feels directly targeted
Follows anti-racism movements
Skeptical of mainstream parties who ignore bairros
Interested in candidates who address structural racism

Top Concerns (Ranked)

Chega's rise: "When he talks about crime and immigration, he means us. The bairros. Me."
Housing crisis: "I'm 26 living with my parents. Not by choice."
Discrimination: "I've been followed in stores. Stopped by police for nothing. My name gets interviews rejected."
Economic opportunity: "I want to build a life. But the system isn't built for people like me."
Community erasure: "They're gentrifying our neighborhoods. Where do we go?"

Hopes

For himself:

"I want to buy an apartment someday. Build a career. Maybe have kids who don't have to explain where they're 'really' from because they're Portuguese and that's enough."

For his community:

"I want Amadora to be recognized for what it is—diverse, alive, creative—not just 'problematic neighborhood.' I want Portuguese kids who look like me to feel Portuguese."

For Portugal:

"I hope we become what we say we are. Tolerant, inclusive, everyone welcome. Not just on tourism posters."

Fears

Personal fears:

"That it doesn't matter how hard I work. That I'll always be 'the African kid from Amadora' to some people. That my future kids face the same shit."

Political fears:

"Chega in government. Police getting worse. Our neighborhoods targeted like France's banlieues. Being made to feel foreign in the only country I know."

Deepest fear (often unspoken):

"That Portugal never really wanted us. That we built this country for nothing. That my parents' sacrifice was for their kids to be treated like threats."

"In Their Own Voice"

How he'd describe Portugal today:

"Portugal is home. The only home I know. But it's a home where some people keep asking if you really belong. They love our music, our food, our football players—just not too many of us in their neighborhoods. It's getting better in some ways, worse in others. Chega makes the racists louder. But my generation isn't taking it quietly."

What he'd say to someone who sees Chega as just 'anti-corruption':

"Listen to what they actually say. Ventura didn't just criticize corruption—he talked about the Roma like they're criminals, immigrants like invaders, our neighborhoods like war zones. I grew up in those neighborhoods. They're communities. Families. Working people. Don't pretend you don't hear the racism because the corruption part sounds reasonable."

On being 'second generation':

"I'm not an immigrant—I was born here. But I'm not quite Portuguese either, according to some. We're in between. Our parents sacrificed everything so we could belong. But belonging isn't something you can earn with sacrifice. It has to be given."

Scenario Response Predictions

Candidate	Predicted Response	Key Trigger
Ventura	Strongly Negative	Existential threat; will mobilize against
Gouveia e Melo	Cautious	Military background, but not anti-immigrant
Marques Mendes	Negative	Traditional right; might enable Chega
Seguro	Neutral-Positive	PS better on inclusion, but has disappointed
Catarina Martins	Positive	Clear anti-racism stance; addresses housing
Cotrim Figueiredo	Neutral	Liberal on identity, but economic views differ
António Filipe	Positive	PCP has history with immigrant communities

Notes for Scenario Development

Second-generation identity crisis—Portuguese by culture, foreign by law
Bairro solidarity vs. mainstream Portuguese society tension
Gentrification threatening community spaces
Chega as political awakening (defensive mobilization)
CAN vote presidential—represents politically-empowered immigrant descendant
Could interact with: parents (different perspective), Portuguese friends, neighborhood youth, activists
In "Day in the Future" vignettes: job interview experiences, police encounters, election day in bairro, family discussions about belonging