Our weekly segment focuses on writings that commemorate the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. April 25th of 1974 was a date that brought Portugal out of the darkness of a fifty-year dictatorship into a flourishing democracy. PBBI-Fresno State commemorates this Golden Jubilee with an array of events, including these weekly segments on Filamentos.
Celso and the Door-Breaking Colonel
by Maria Odete Santos Silva from 2015
A few days ago, I accompanied my husband to the Ferreira de Castro School in Trafaria for a session about the April 25th Revolution.
It was a pavilion where everything, or almost everything, was lacking except the goodwill and inexcusable generosity of the teachers.
One of the kids, Telmo, took a selfie with the “Door-Breaking Colonel” Nuno Santos Silva.
The Door-Breaking Colonel because, Nuno said at one point, overthrowing fascism was like “breaking down” a door. Everyone laughed at the idea, and Telmo, or Chocapic to his friends, posted a photo and captioned it “the door-breaking colonel and me.”
It was a session that will stay with me forever.
It was a very participatory session, with a very lively and exciting dialog with the kids.
We had been warned that it was a problematic school and that the kids came from urban areas and were considered disadvantaged and, in their way, a little irreverent and sometimes insubordinate.
To the question (turned to me), how did you feel on April 25th? I answered: one of the happiest days of my life, but don’t think I was with him, I’m already a second choice – general laughter – and then I became the center of attention, they wanted to know everything about us, if we had children from previous marriages, where they were and how they were. Once again, I replied, I was carrying Captain April and the whole package, children, and parents. More laughter, more questions, and lots of clapping. It was a wonderful celebration!
The exit bell rang, and there was total silence in the room.
It was long past lunchtime, and no one was moving.
It was a lovely event that day.
At the end of the session, there was a lump in my throat.
Many of These students at this school in Trafaria have classes in prefabricated sheds built decades ago and live in run-down neighborhoods. Forgotten.
I learned that on their “end-of-school trip,” they ONLY want to travel to a restaurant, a Rodízio de Carne, to eat lots of meat without restrictions.
They also deserve better luck, but in this case, and only in this case, a better school.
The selfie of the Colonel with the student referred in the article written by Maria Odete Santos Silva
Where were you on April 25th?
Nuno Santos Silva - April Captain / Coronel of the Portuguese Air Force
I was
in one of the most beautiful and significant gestures of my entire life,
on the side of the collective courage needed to overthrow a regime that was
outdated, oppressive, and anachronistic.
I was,
part of a group of eight officers
to whom the Armed Forces Movement
entrusted with a critical mission,
listening to the signs that confirmed the launch of the military operation,
from the premonitory “And After the Goodbye”[1]
to the hymn that it is the “People who command the most.”[2]
After these signs
and, apparently, fate also has doors,
we knocked on the door of the Portuguese Radio Club
and entered the new, democratic Portugal to be inaugurated and built:
The Portugal of emotion, enthusiasm, and generous commitment,
the uncontrollable series of events,
of a city and a country that woke up at the crack of dawn
with a taste of hope and freedom.
I remember
the complicity of the RCP workers
who, without expecting us, were in fact, waiting for us
and the tension, the waiting time, and the uncertainty,
until the moment
the other military actions
were unleashed.
I remember
Joaquim Furtado’s slow and serene (!?) voice
and the reading of the first communiqué:
“This is the command post of the Armed Forces Movement…”
Then, there are countless stories to tell,
joys and solid emotions for generous bodies and souls,
and the conviction that we have pushed
this country forward.
It was beautiful…
and, after 50 years and for as many more as life will grant me,
I will say, always with emotion:
“It was worth it”
because when it comes to broad horizons and futures,
there is no place for small souls.
Colonel Nuno Santos Silva at a presentation in a Portuguese school.
[1] E Deppois do Adeus, a song that had been written by José Niza and with music by José calvário, sung by Paulo de Carvalho, entered the Song Festival and had some indirect assaults on the dictatorial regime., and was the first password for the Revolution.
[2] A verse from the song Grândola Vila Morena by Zeca Afonso (a song that we will dive into in future pieces about the Carnation Revolution
Filamentos (artes e letras) 