PEABODY — Under a cloudy sky and a fluttering green, blue and yellow flag gathered two dozen community members at Peabody City Hall Friday morning to celebrate what it means to be Brazilian. Particularly, the pride of being a Brazilian immigrant in America.
“This is so motivating,” Peabody resident Jose Vieira said. “This day means a lot because I’m an American citizen born in Brazil. I’m representing my culture from my country for the new generation living here.”
Vieira immigrated to America from Northern Brazil more than 20 years ago. He organized Friday’s flag raising in honor of Brazilian Independence Day.
The holiday is known as Sete de Setembro in Portuguese and is observed each Sept. 7 to commemorate the day Brazil formally declared independence from Portugal in 1822, more than 300 years after the European country had made Brazil one of its territories.
This is the second year of what Vieira hopes to become a long, growing tradition each September in Peabody. He organized the first Brazilian Independence Day flag raising outside of City Hall last year to share his love of his homeland with neighbors and fellow Brazilian Americans.
“(This) for me represents a lot about Brazil and all those doors that have been opened in America for guys like me. Simple guys…” he said. “My vision for this country, for the Brazilian community, for American people, is big.
“Never dream small in your life,” he said.
In 2020, 1,662 foreign-born Brazilians lived in Peabody, according to the Decennial Census. It’s unclear how that figure compares with today’s population.
At Friday’s event, Brazilian students from Thomas Carroll Elementary School led the crowd in singing the Brazilian national anthem alongside Beverly residents Lucas Fonseca and Breno Tonon, a pastor at Netcast Church in Danvers.
“It’s easy to forget that being free is not the norm and if we’re not careful with that, things can get weird,” Tonon said.
“I try to remind myself of that because I was born in Brazil and we had to fight for it, and someone did.”
He shares that lesson with his children when Brazilian Independence Day comes around.
“The idea of providing a place like this where people can celebrate Brazilian culture is really nice,” Tonon said.
Mayor Ted Bettencourt assisted Vieira in raising the Brazilian flag and read a proclamation from the city commemorating the holiday.
“Today we’re celebrating Brazilian Independence Day,” Bettencourt said ahead of presenting the proclamation.
“It’s also to pay respect to the contributions made by the Brazilian community to the city of Peabody, and there are many in so many ways.”
Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com .