Dino D'santiago and the Tubarões: A History of Post-Colonial Activist Reconciliation

In 2024, the 50th anniversary of April 25 1974 was celebrated, which meant the end of fascism, allowing the independence of Portuguese-speaking African countries. The centenary of the birth of Amílcar Cabral, a decisive political figure in the independence process of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, was celebrated on September 12, 2024, one of the greatest figures in Portuguese culture and music, Dino d'Santiago, of Cape Verdean descent, recorded a joint album with the mythical Cape Verdean formation Os Tubarões, authors of songs that were political flags of that time. This paper assumes a process of artistic creation of utmost importance. It does not rest on a previous script, but rather on an experience of coexistence that will allow Dino's actions to be signified as a political voice or activist of great visibility who questions colonial memory in post-colonialism. Dino has stood out for mixing global musical styles with Cape Verdean sounds in a universe where Creole and Portuguese, urban and traditional rhythms coexist. He has asserted himself, as a political voice or social activist, participating as a highly visible voice in the questioning of colonial memory and post-colonialism. The 25th of April 1974 put an end to a war and suspended centuries of a national identity and a political-economic-cultural system based on the so-called Discoveries. There has been a political decolonization, but the decolonization of mentalities is taking place. And this is where the objectives of this paper are crucial, as it allows us to discuss the complex changes in Portuguese identities in democracy; a fundamental advance in the recreation of artistic-musical scenes – local, translocal, virtual and affective activists; the validation and resignification of urban languages hitherto declassified, often created in peripheral, segregated and ghettoized/colonial contexts. It is a proposal based on mixture, diversity, participation, post-colonial collaboration.