Lisa DeNatale (President of the Vermont Italian Cultural Association)
If since the beginning of the pandemic I personally have not yet had the opportunity to physically travel back to visit any of the many friends of We the Italians scattered across the United States, thanks to our interviews I often have the chance to take a virtual trip and get to know the various Italian communities both in the most famous areas o...
Maria Teresa Cannizzaro (Curator of the exhibition “Dolce color d’oriental zaffiro. La gemme in Dante e nei bijoux americani”)
For those like me who are not particularly familiar with the world of jewelry, which is also such a fundamental part of the production in which Italy has always excelled, it was curious to verify Maria Teresa Cannizzaro's passion and knowledge for the world of bijoux. A world that I do not know, but that I have learned to appreciate by being in the...
Bill Ronayne (President of the Mario Lanza Institute and Museum)
The world of American entertainment has a history that is truly full of Italian American talents, in every field. When it comes to music, there are many singers who have brought up the pride of Italian immigrants who have seen in the success of these great artists also a sense of pride for their origins, often described without respect and with man...
Robert Allegrini (President of the National Italian American Foundation)
It's not easy to take over the reins of NIAF at this time, with a pandemic that is still doing damage and casualties, and that has left major economic and social problems in the United States. Several programs of the National Italian American Foundation, as well as other national and local Italian American and non-Italian American organizations, ha...
Anna Grassellino (Italian scientist at Fermilab in Chicago)
Sometimes it happens that I find out about the story of a person who personifies exactly the message that We the Italians has been representing for 10 years now: when Italy and the United States come together, the result is wonderful. Other times I have the pleasure of interviewing people who embody one or more positive symbols of Italy. Still othe...
Giulio Picolli (Coordinator of the Italian September 11 families)
This is a very special interview for me, and of course, not just for me. Even though I wasn't in New York, my life changed forever on September 11, 2001. It changed forever but of course, not like what happened to the relatives of the victims of that horrendous day. For all these years I have spent every September 11 limiting my work as much as pos...
Jennifer Barbata Jackson (Author of the book "Dixie's Italians: Sicilians, Race, and Citizenship in the Jim Crow Gulf South")
At a time when we still have to painfully realize how much the racial question is an open wound in the evolution of the United States of America and a very urgent situation to be resolved, our Italian heart in love with America is also shaken by the specious and mistaken attempts to promote hostility between the African American and Italian communi...
Mauro Balestrazzi (Author of the book “La tournée del secolo”)
In the list of the great Italian excellences who have found their fortune in America, one of the highest level names is that of Arturo Toscanini. A century has passed since an extraordinary event, an exceptional tour that saw him as a protagonist in America together with what would later become the orchestra of La Scala in Milan. Today there is a...
Rich Puppione (Author of the book "One Hundred Years: A 100 Year History of the Colombo Club")
Without the pandemic, the 100th anniversary of a prestigious Italian club in California, founded in 1920, would have been celebrated last year: the Colombo Club. The round-figure anniversary called for major celebrations, but we know that 2020 didn't allow for that. There is, however, a book that celebrates the club's history, and this year it will...
Anna Marra (Teacher of Italian language and culture in New Hampshire)
Italian emigration to the United States came, of course, initially to the East Coast. Then the Italians spread throughout America, but many remained on the Atlantic coast. Not all of them, however, settled in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut. Some went north and stayed in Rhode Island, others further up Massachusetts, others even continued north...
Andrea Gumina (President of Amerigo Association)
The list of Italians who hold here in Italy institutional positions of collaboration with the United States is not very long. We have interviewed almost all of them over the years, and today we host one of them, who is also a close personal friend of mine. Andrea Gumina is the President of Amerigo - Intercultural Exchange Program Alumni Association...
Ale Gambini (Italian Chef in the USA)
A few days ago, the Taste Awards 2021, often called “the Oscars of Food, Fashion and Lifestyle Media”, were assigned. For the the fourth time an Italian chef, Ale Gambini, has been recognized by The Taste Awards commission as creator, host, and chef of online food programs (A Queen in the Kitchen, Estate Italiana, Eatalians-Fresh Up Your Life). If...