Dear friends, even in August, ciao from a Rome full of American tourists and empty of us Romans!
In early August a dear friend traveling to Liguria sent me a photo, taken by him. While driving he had seen a sign that had attracted his curiosity, and he knew well that it would interest me as well. The photo is the one you see here: Cogoleto, the small town where Christopher Columbus was born has a sign announcing this important fact, but someone thought to vandalize it, canceling the name of Christopher Columbus. It is, quite literally, the concept of cancel culture, which affected Columbus in America and is now beginning to affect him here in Italy as well, indeed in his very town of birth.
Together with the two Italian parliamentarians who have always fought in favor of Columbus, Fucsia Fitzgerald Nissoli and Federico Mollicone, I took action and we officially wrote to the mayor of Cogoleto. We asked him to replace the vandalized sign: but doing some research, I discovered that the house where Columbus was born was also the object of ignorant protests and offenses, on the occasion of Columbus Day 2021.
Already, there are four groups of Italian Americans who have told me to let the mayor know that they are willing to take care of the cost of both replacing the sign and organizing a minimum of security to protect Christopher Columbus' home on Columbus Day 2022. These groups are the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans in Chicago (thanks to Ron Onesti), the National Italian American Foundation (thanks to Robert Allegrini), the Conference of Presidents of the Major Italian American Organizations and the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (thanks to Basil Russo) and the Columbus Heritage Coalition (thanks to Angelo Vivolo). But I apologize with my other Italian American friends I didn’t speak to, it is my desire to involve them as well, because I would love to have as many Italian Americans together as possible in showing even to Italians who should already know, how important it is to defend Columbus. In the meantime, thanks to Fucsia and Federico and Ron and Robert and Basil and Angelo, and to all those who are fighting for this battle that We the Italians will never abandon. The mayor of Cogoleto has not yet replied to me, but I will try again to contact him soon, no doubt about it.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure and honor of participating in an episode of the Italian American Podcast, the wonderful initiative of my friends Rossella Rago, John Viola, Patrick O'Boyle assisted by Stephanie Longo. With John and Patrick we talked about the fall of the Draghi government in Italy, and the elections that will be held in a month, next September 25. It is always difficult to explain Italian politics, but I hope and believe that with John and Patrick we managed to make interesting even such a boring and even surreal topic. If you missed the episode, it is here. And as for the election, heaven help us, and that's all I'm saying. We the Italians decided as per our tradition not to make endorsements for any candidate, because we do not belong by choice to any side, neither in Italy nor in America. But we will work together with whoever will be elected, whichever party they belong to, as we’ve done so far.
In this issue of the magazine you will find in the IT and US column an article written by my friend Alessio Tola, our Ambassador to Sardinia, who recounts the two events to promote his beautiful region held in New York and Chicago, in which We the Italians was a partner and in which several of our friends and readers participated. I am very happy about this partnership that also involves the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy led by my friend Simone Crolla. I can tell you that if you want to see lovely places, meet wonderful people and eat and drink very well, Sardinia is waiting for you. In fact, at this moment as I write this editorial, my wife and daughter are right there in beautiful Stintino. And my mother's side of my family is actually rooted in Sardinia.
Speaking of what's going on in Italy, I would like to remind you that on Thursday, September 8, We the Italians' weekly video and audio podcast We the ItaliaNews starts its 4th season, trying to tell you about current events in our extraordinary, complicated, beautiful country. The hope is that sooner or later I’ll be able to stop beginning the episodes with the disclaimer “this is We the ItaliaNews, a podcast about Italy during coronavirus times”. We'll see or hear you there!
I don't usually talk in these editorials about the interviews you find in the magazine, but this time I'm making an exception because the interview with the three very good Italian guys from Il Volo had an extraordinary audience response. Here you can find a little greeting from them for you We the Italians readers: Il Volo will be on tour in America in September and October and we hope you will be there in great numbers to go and listen and applaud them!
Our We the Italians’ family keeps growing: we have now Ambassadors in 47 American States, 17 Italian regions and 5 thematic Ambassadors. This month we welcome two friends as new Ambassadors: one thematic and one in a beautiful Italian region.
Edoardo Colombo is our new Ambassador to Tourism. Edoardo is an expert in Innovation and Tourism. During the Shanghai World Expo 2010 he gave birth to "Italia degli Innovatori", creating a successful flow of Italian technology transfer to China. Speaker and trainer, is often invited to conferences and university courses, also at international level, to illustrate developments in digital tourism. He is the author of the book Turismo mega trend: Smart destination eturismo digitale: AI, Blockchain, Cyber, IoT e 5G.
Carlo Rombolà is our new Ambassador in Calabria. Carlo is an Italian lawyer who has been dealing with sport law matters for more than ten years, cooperates with domestic and international legal journals and is author of several publications. He is founder and managing partner of the law firm Studio Legale Rombolà & Associati. Carlo participates as advisor and speaker at conferences, round tables and business meetings held by the most important international associations of lawyers and sport operators. He wrote the book Profili di Diritto Internazionale dello Sport. Carlo speaks both English and Spanish languages and advices Italian and foreign athlets, managers and sport agents.
Let me remember you the yearbook of We the Italians is available with the 24 interviews of the past year, both in Italian and English. This is our eighth book: one in English, one in Italian, and six yearbooks like this one, in two languages. In this first month the edition of 2021 has sold much more than the editions of previous years in their first months of release, and this makes me very happy because it rewards the work of all of us. I hope more of you will want to purchase the volume, which you can preview and buy here.
Please don’t forget our virtual store, the perfect place where to buy gifts for your family, your friends and – why not – for yourself! You can find more than 20 products in different colors: t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, onesies, mugs, notebooks, pillows, totes, tapestries, pins, laptop and smartphone cases, magnets, stickers, masks. Buy We the Italians!
It’s all for this month, please stay safe and take care. Ciao from Rome
