EDUCATION

2008 RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, New Brunswick, NJ/ PhD, History 

Dissertation:  “ ‘Free Men Name Themselves’: Cape Verdeans in Massachusetts Negotiate Race, 1900-1980”/ Dissertation Chair: David Levering Lewis; 

1996 DUKE UNIVERSITY, Durham, NC  

BA in History & Cultural Anthropology; Certificate in African & African-American Studies

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS

Late 19th & 20th Century African-American History, African-American Women’s History, African Diaspora Studies, Cabo Verdean (Cape Verdean) Studies, Critical Hip Hop Studies, Black Music/ Popular Culture, Critical Education Research, Blackness & Construction of Race, Women of Color Feminisms, 

COURSES 

African-American History 1 (Pre-US Slavery to 1865) 

African-American History 2 (Post US Slavery to Present) 

African-American Women’s History 

African Socialism 

“Back to Our Roots” (Cape Verdean & African-American History)

Cape Verdeans in New England 

Foundations in Transnational, Cultural & Community Studies 

Foundations in Critical Ethnic & Community Studies 

Hip Hop History & Culture

Introductory Africana Studies for K-12 

Introductory Cape Verdean Studies for K-12 

Migration & Diaspora 

Women of Color in the US 

Women & Gender in the Media 

Women in US Social Movements 

US History Survey 

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

Fall 2020 BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, Boston, MA, Associate Lecturer

 

Fall 2019 to Present UMASS BOSTON, Boston, MA

Senior Lecturer II/Professor of the Practice, Joint Appointment, WGSS (Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies) & CECS (Critical Ethnic & Community Studies/Formerly TCCS) Masters Program

Fall 2018 to Present STONEHILL COLLEGE/ CLEMENTE COURSE IN HUMANITIES, Brockton, MA, Instructor,/Co-Director of Program

Fall 2016 UMASS BOSTON, Boston, MA

Senior Lecturer II/Professor of the Practice, Joint Appt., Africana Studies 

& TCCS (Transnational Cultural and Community Studies) Masters Program

Fall 2001 to Spring 2016 UMASS BOSTON, Boston, MA, Faculty Africana Studies 

PRIOR & RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE

February 2019 HYAMS FOUNDATION & OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF BOSTON

Consultant, Cabo Verde Trade Mission (Teaching Delegates History of Cabo Verde, Slave Trade and Women’s Resistance)

2002 to 2005 UMASS BOSTON, Boston, MA

Director, Cape Verdean Language & Culture Institute, Africana Studies Department 

2001 to 2005 MASSASOIT COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Brockton, MA

Summer Bridge Program Coordinator

Summer 2000 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, NJ

Instructor, Du Bois Scholars Institute 

PUBLICATIONS

Edited Collections:

In Progress Co-Edited with João Resende-Santos, Economic Growth & Democracy in Post-Colonial Africa: Cape Verde, Small States, and the World Economy

Under Contract Co-Edited with Terza A. Silva Lima-Neves, Kriolas Poderozas: Writings by Cabo Verdean Women (Manuscript Contract with Lexington Books)

Refereed Articles

Forthcoming 2020 "Um Sabe Kem Mi Eh Transnational Kriolas and Social Media Activism" co-authored with Terza Silva LimaNeves, African Women in Digital Spaces: Redefining Social Movements on the Continent and in the Diaspora. Eds. Msia Kibona Clark & Wunpini F. Mohammed

2016 Introduction, Cape Verdean Creole-English Dictionary by Manuel Gonçalves (Boston: Mili-Mila Publishing, Inc., May 2016)

2014 “ ‘Free Men Name Themselves’: US Cape Verdeans & Black Identity Politics in the Era of Revolutions (1955-1975)” The Journal of Cape Verdean Studies: Diaspora & Cultural Perspectives, Pedago Press, Pedro Pires Institute for Cape Verdean Studies. 

2006 “ ‘The Sea Was Also Going to be My Way Out’: The Cape Verdean Legacy of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Environs.” in Robert Johnson, Jr., Editor, Nantucket’s People of Color: Essays on History, Politics and Community, University Press of America

Non-Refereed Articles 

January 2014 “Beat Your Own Drum” in Elastico: African Pop-Culture & Lifestyle Magazine 

January 2014 “Madiba the Griot” in Mandela Tribute/Special Issue, Co-Authored with Valerio Lopes Elastico: African Pop-Culture & Lifestyle Magazine 

2013 Blog, www.aminahpilgrim.com

July 2008 “Catalogue, Mostra, Cabo Verde 2008” Exhibit Catalogue, Consulate of Cabo Verde

Summer 2006 “Cape Verdean Women: Much More Than Beauty” in Fandata: The Wonders and Dramas of Cabo Verde 

Winter 2006 “Little Known Facts in Cape Verdean History” in Fandata: The Wonders and Dramas of Cabo Verde 

Winter 2005 “Tia Gen: Ms. Eugenia Fortes.” in Fandata: The Wonders and Dramas of Cabo Verde 

Winter 2005 “From Cranberries to the Courts: Judge George Leighton.” in Fandata: The Wonders and Dramas of Cabo Verde 

RESEARCH/CONSULTING/ COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP 

BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, Affiliate of Africana Studies Center, guest lectured in courses such as “Music of the African Diaspora” and “African-American Music” and Presenter (Lecture/ Concert Series “Afrofuturism”) 

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Member (since 2016) of Community Advisory Board for the Creation of a Cape Verdean Dual Language Program

BRIDGEWATER STATE UNIVERSITY/ PEDRO PIRES INSTITUTE Course Development & Summer Leadership Institute Faculty Member (instructing Obama Fellows, Mandela Fellows and members of an African leadership summit run annually)

BROCKTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Member of Superintendent’s Diversity Education Steering Committee. Lead on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives with Superintendent & Staff

MAURÍCIO GASTÓN INSTITUTE FOR LATINO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PUBLIC POLICY, Summer 2020 Research on Impacts of Covid-19 on Afro-Latinx Communities 

MAURÍCIO GASTÓN INSTITUTE FOR LATINO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PUBLIC POLICY, Summer 2020 Research & Writing Decolonizing US History Curricula for Massachusetts DYS 

“MEMORIA” Oral History Project (Formerly “Return to the Source”), a project of the Foundation for the Preservation of Cabo Verdean History and the Pedro Pires Institute at Bridgewater State University. Ongoing since 2001 to present, an original archive of over sixty oral histories with community members representing agricultural and domestic workers, to seasoned professionals and well-known leaders and dignitaries. For example, interviewed the late Paula Fortes, one of a few women soldiers/revolutionaries who fought alongside Amilcar Cabral during the Portuguese Anti-Colonial War, and the late Eugenia Fortes, who was known as “the Cape Verdean Rosa Parks” founding President of the Harwich, MA NAACP. 

SOUTH SHORE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY, Professional Development Series, Christian Teaching & Diversity 

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Fall 2020 Mellon Foundation High Impact Humanities CLA Careers/ Curriculum Grant (Teaching WGS 220)

Fall 2020 PSP (Practitioner Scholars Program) Fellow (Teaching WGS 220 Spring 21)

July-Aug. 2020 Mauricio Gastón Institute COVID-19 mini grant to support research on the Afro-Latinx community

Feb 2019 Hyams Foundation Grant to support Learning Journey of Delegation to Cabo Verde with Boston Mayor

June 2016 Memoria Oral History Project, BSU Pedro Pires Cape Verdean Studies Institute, Awarded, $10,000.00, (February 1, 2016 - June 30, 2016). This sponsored research is a major, digital archival collection, an international oral history project focused on the Cape Verdean Diaspora that I created and curate

2013-2016 Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Performance Incentive Fund UMass Boston, “Civic Engagement Scholars Initiative (CESI)”, Co-Principal Investigator 

June 2005 UMass Boston Proposal Development Grant—Funded Development of Oral History Project

2000-2001 UMass Boston James Bradford Ames Fellowship Program, Research Fellowship for study of African-Americans & Cape Verdeans in Nantucket, MA 

1999-2002 Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ, History Graduate Fellowship

1998-1999 Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies, Fellowship Awarded for First Year of Graduate Study in a Ph.D. Program

HONORS/AWARDS (Partial List)

UMass Boston Office of the Chancellor, Recognition for Teaching & Mentoring Students, 2013-2016 

MAPS (Mass. Alliance of Portuguese Speakers) Jorge Fidalgo Community Service Award, May 2016

UMass Boston Success Boston Program/ AMEND, Award for Distinguished Teaching & Student Support, September 2014

Wareham, MA “Who’s Who” Award (for making Cape Verdean Community/Town history) July 2014

Golden Key International Honor Society, UMass Boston, Excellence in Teaching, October 2013

UMass Boston Office of the Chancellor, Recognition for Impact on Students, 2009 - 2012 

Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Grant, “Whose History Is It?: Interpreting History, Memory and Culture” International, Interdisciplinary Conference, Brown University, May 2010

PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP/ INVITED LECTURES/ PRESENTATIONS (Partial List)

Brockton Health Equity Task Force, Member

Brockton Public Library Board of Trustees, Women’s Suffrage Centennial Committee, Brockton, MA

Brockton Public Black History Course (Free, Public Lectures/ Course on African-American History)

Providence College, Providence RI-- Poderoza International Conference on Cabo Verdean Women Co-Founder/ Presenter. Multidisciplinary, academic and community-based international conference exploring themes of importance to Cabo Verdean women worldwide. 2016 to Present

UMass Boston, Pilgrim, A., Schaefer, E., Suyemoto, K., Woods, C. & Colon-Carmona, A. (Co-Presenters) Panel Presentation, “Reflections on Anti-Racist Teaching, CIT Forum: Teaching as Anti-Racist Activism,” March 24, 2016. Discussed 15 years experience teaching African-American history, and African-American Women's history, and incorporating a social justice informed pedagogy 

Brown University, Providence, RI, Pilgrim, A. & Lima-Neves, T. A. (Co- Presenters) Keynote/Plenary Address, "Força Di Kriola" (Strength of the Cape Verdean Woman), Cape Verdean Heritage Symposium, March 19, 2016. 

A Joint Presentation documenting the contributions of Cape Verdean women in the Diaspora, and on the archipelago, to the culture, history and development of the 7 young nation 

Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, Pilgrim, A. Keynote/Plenary Address, “#All Contributions Matter: Why We are All Responsible for Social Justice,” February 24, 2016. Themes included the importance of civic engagement, recognizing diversity as a value, the impact of service learning in creating community and increasing tolerance among diverse students, and social justice

Bridgewater State University, Annual Cape Verdean Studies Conference, “Brockton’s Flavor of Zero Tolerance: A Discussion of the Brockton High School Protest of 2014” A Talk with Authors Ross DePina, et al, participants in the protest. June 2015

University of Costa Rica, International Symposium: The Meaning of Blackness. “Free & Black in the Era of Revolutions, 1955-1975,” February 2014

University of New Hampshire Black New England Conference, Paper: “Borrowing Black Bodies” October 2013

Ohio State University, Hip Hop Literacies Conference, “Liberty Went to Hell: the Hip Hop Diaspora and the School to Prison Pipeline.” May 2012