PALCUS Chairman's Message

Bem-Vindo to the website of PALCUS. PALCUS is an acronym for the: "Portuguese American Leadership Council of the United States"  the only national Portuguese organization in the country. While this tells you who we are, it doesn't tell you what we do. So what does PALCUS do?

I think I can best respond to that question by illustrating what we do in comparison to what we do not.

• We endeavor to represent the entire Portuguese community in whichever part of America it may be. We do not limit ourselves to a particular "ilha" or "aldeia" nor do we limit ourselves to a specific state or region.
• We exist to serve the needs of our members and the community as a whole.
• We do not operate under the arrogant illusion that you exist to serve us.
• We react to the issues and needs that you determine relevant. We do not dictate what those issues or needs should be.
• We hold an annual gala whose main objective is to honor the best and brightest among you. We do not hold endless luncheons where we bestow accolades for non achievements upon ourselves.
• We honor our past. We do not live in it.
• We believe that our traditions should serve as the foundation and building blocks of our future. We do not believe they should serve as a cage to imprison us.

I believe it is imperative and vital that we build PALCUS into the strong national organization our community needs; an organization that will serve as your voice and support. Having said that, there are those who say that such an organization can never hope to succeed because of the well established divisions within our community. However real those divisions  are, it is we who used them to conveniently create an imaginary wall of excuses to hide behind; excuses for vacillation and non action. I say it is time to remove this wall, remove the excuses and achieve the successes our community as a whole is capable of. It is we who built the wall, it is we who must tear it down. No one individual or organization ever achieves greatness by listening to those who say "no you cannot".  The Portuguese explorers did not, the Portuguese immigrants did not; we cannot.

When I am asked will PALCUS succeed, I respond "yes it will" When I am asked why, I respond " because I believe in us". When I am asked why I should believe so I echo the words of Robert F. Kennedy: "there are those who look at things the way they are and ask why? I dream of  things that never were and ask why not?" 

I ask you today to join PALCUS; let us work together to make the dream a reality.

Sincerely,

John Bento

Chairman