Ciao from Rome to all the friends of We the Italians! What a month! It has been full of wonderful opportunities to show and testify how great the relationship between Italy and the US is!
On September 22nd I had the honor and the pleasure of giving the welcoming remarks at the National Italian American Bar Association, welcoming old and new friends among the members of the workshop held in Rome. I am particularly grateful to my friend Francis Donnarumma for the partnership we have signed between the NIABA and We the Italians.
In the last week of September, in New Jersey, the Mercer County Italian American Festival celebrated its twentieth edition. Thanks to Robert DiBiase, exceptional Chairman of the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission, We the Italians donated our beautiful logo for a charity initiative. The t-shirts with the We the Italians brand were sold out, and we are happy and grateful to have been able to make a small contribution together with our Italian American friends from the Garden State. Two flags, One heart, a lot of t-shirts for a good cause!
On September 30th, again in Rome, the splendid meeting of the Fulbright Alumni was held. I participated even though I am not a Fulbright Alumnus: but my mother was, so I was somehow able to honor her with my presence. A heartfelt thanks to Paola Sartorio, tireless Executive Director of the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission, for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to greet two great friends, two wonderful pillars of the bridge over the ocean that unites Italy and the United States: Anita McBride and Paolo Messa.
On October 2nd We the Italians was present at the press conference of the American Secretary of State (the first Italian American in history!) Mike Pompeo with the Italian Foreign Minister, at Villa Madama here in Rome. It was the time to further reaffirm the closeness between our two countries.
Two days later, on October 4th, I had the pleasure to moderate a fantastic event in honor of Rocco Petrone, the great Italian American director of the launch operations of the Apollo 11, 50 years ago. The event saw the presentation of the beautiful book "Dalla Terra alla Luna " by Renato Cantore and the documentary "Luna Italiana” by Marco Spagnoli: together with Renato and Marco we had with us the Head of External Relations of the Italian Space Agency, Francesco Rea.
On October 11, We the Italians brought, with the help of the Italian MP Federico Mollicone, the defense of Christopher Columbus within the Italian institutions. A press conference was held at the Chamber of Deputies, which was also attended with a message by the MP elected in the North American constituency Fucsia Fitzgerald Nissoli - absent because in New York for the Columbus Day celebrations - and one by the Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci. We described the shameful attacks against Columbus, and an appeal was made to the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, who would leave for Washington to meet the President of the United States Donald Trump a few days later, to ask him to support the defense of Columbus also with the U.SG government. In fact, President Trump claimed after his meeting with President Mattarella that it would be absurd to him to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Day. We don't know if our initiative has contributed to this result, but we like to think that it has.
And then came Columbus Day in Siena, October 12, the "National Day of Christopher Columbus" officially recognized by the Italian Government.
Siena should have been something bigger for us. The rules of communication would suggest that we should not give negative messages, and this is not meant to be: but in fact, Columbus Day in Siena was born to be decidedly bigger. Some problems that arose in the summer did not allow us to do everything we had imagined and worked on: but we are still very happy about the celebration of the Italian American community and the defense of Columbus that we were able to achieve, thanks to the friends of the Associazione Cultura Italiae and its President Angelo Argento, to whom we are very, very grateful. Siena was a trial, a number zero. We would like to thank those who participated as protagonists in this beautiful event, experts in the relations between Italy and the United States, and perfect narrators of the incredible gifts of fundraiser, coach and communicator of Christopher Columbus: Marco Alberti, Paolo Messa, Arturo Artom and Edoardo Colombo, brotherly member of We the Italians but, alas, no relation with the pioneer of the fifteenth century who discovered America!
Last but not least, a big announcement. We the Italians has partnered with Magnifico Food, a fantastic business that brings Italian food products to the United States, selling them directly to the consumer. These are Italian excellences, which come directly from small and medium Italian producers: delicious food at a reasonable price delivered to your home in a few hours. There is a 10% discount for readers of We the Italians, starting today: the code is WTI2019. You will have to insert it at the end of the choice of products, in the page of the cart. We are very happy with this collaboration. Alessio Gambino is a very good personal friend of mine, who has been bringing Italian producers to America for five years now: he is the founder of Magnifico Food (and in November he will be the protagonist of one of our interviews). Good things from Italy arrive in America: pasta, rice, tomato, olive oil, vinegar, pantry food, sweets, special food (vegan, gluten free, organic, GMO free, kosher, halal). With a discount, for you friends of We the Italians.
We remind you that you can take advantage of a 5% discount on Italian Citizenship Assistance ‘s services, reserved only for our readers, by writing an email to [email protected] and quoting the code ICAWTI.
Finally, the Italian proverb. This month the letter is “L” and the proverb of the month of October 2019 is: La miglior difesa è l'attacco ("The best defence is a good offence"). It means that you are more likely to win if you take the initiative and make an attack rather than preparing to defend yourself. Always respectfully and without an inch of violence, always no to violence, in times of understanding how to react to these vicious attacks against Columbus, it seems perfect.
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!
