Cape Verdean Cultural Center Commission Seats 15 Members, Plans Statewide Listening Sessions

BOSTON — March 11, 2026 — Massachusetts Cape Verdean Cultural Center Commission seats 15 commissioners and maps a statewide listening-session strategy. Co-chairs Senator Liz Miranda and Representative Kip Diggs led the March 11 organizational meeting, at which newly introduced commissioners from Taunton, Brockton, New Bedford, Cape Cod, Scituate, and Boston-area neighborhoods were welcomed after the expansion of the panel. Miranda, who spent six years shepherding the enabling legislation signed by Governor Maura Healey, said the commission's goal is to produce a feasibility report recommending a site, cost — she cited a rough figure of $10 million — and organizational structure for a Cape Verdean cultural center in the city of Boston, with a statutory deadline of December 31, 2026. No operational funding is currently in place; Miranda said she must rewrite earmark language into the FY2027 House and Senate budgets in April and May, with a bond bill serving as the "big prize" for construction financing. The commission voted unanimously to accept February 2 meeting minutes and adjourned, with the next meeting set for early April.