Ciao from Rome to all the friends of We the Italians!
So much has happened since the last month’s editorial! We are happy that We the Italians is receiving the recognition it deserves, which we all deserve, including you readers. And the best is yet to come, like Frank Sinatra used to sing...
First of all, we want to remind you of our campaign We love Columbus, in defense of Christopher Columbus and of the Italian American community that elected him as its paladin. We know that there are also Italian Americans who do not feel so regarding him, and we respect their opinion: but we stand with Columbus, the pioneer, the explorer, the courageous Italian who brought civilization to the Americas. We invite you to sign our Manifesto, to buy the gadgets we have prepared for you, and we confirm that we are working to make a first Columbus Day in Italy, in Siena, on October 12 of this year. Stay tuned!
On May 17th, representing We the Italians, I had the honor to be the guest speaker at the 3rd Annual Garrison Ball in Quinto Vicentino, Italy. The U.S. Army Garrison Italy is a fundamental point of reference for the American world in Italy: and it was an immense honor for me to be able to thank the American soldiers who carry out their mission there, especially Colonel Erik Berdy.
On May 29th we were summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with other operators in the sector, for the technical table on "Turismo delle radici” (Roots Tourism): the tourism of those who have roots in Italy and return to know the places from which their ancestors left to seek fortune in the world. There was a lot of interest when we announced both Columbus Day in 2019 and the "Anno delle Origini” (Year of Origins) project for 2021.
On June 4th, me and Edoardo Colombo – my dear friend and associate, our head of institutional relations - celebrated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Rome by American soldiers: we brought a beautiful wreath of flowers shaped like We the Italians’ logo to the Sicily Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno. We the Italians will never forget that Italy owes its freedom to the American troops, and we will always be in the front row - unfortunately in this case we were also the only ones - in thanking and remembering the extreme sacrifice of thousands young Americans, many of them Italian Americans (about 10%, in the cemetery of Neptune).
On the same day I had the pleasure of participating in the online TV program Patrimonio Italiano TV of our dear friend Mike Pilla, who does an exceptional job of connecting with Italians around the world. Go Mike!
We remind you that you can take advantage of a 10% discount on Italian Citizenship Assistance ‘s services, reserved only for our readers, by writing an email to [email protected] and quoting the code WTICA.
Finally, the Italian proverb. This month the letter is “E” and the proverb of the month of May 2019 is: È meglio star solo che mal accompagnato (It is better to be alone than to be in bad company). Its meaning for once doesn’t need any explication!
That’s all for now. So stay tuned, fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride. The future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades!
