Italomedia is about La Vita Italo-Americana

Authors' Night at the italian Cultural Center June 1 at 7 pm

2007-05-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Dom --- Just a reminder about Authors' Night on Friday. Please help us to spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends and family and please bring someone with you. In this digital age we are having a tough time getting people to come out to old-fashioned face-to-face events. Any help that you can provide in getting us a decent crowd will be appreciated by me and the presenters. Please help us to create a network of IA book lovers. We will set up a book market in the library. We will have basic wine and cheese. Thanks a thousand--Dominic

Dear Friends---I have invited a number of very talented local Italian American writersto the Italian Cultural Center to do presentations of their work on June 1 from 7 to 10 pm.Our purpose is to celebrate the printed and spoken word in both Englishand Italian as it helps us to define ourselves in our multi-culturalworld. We want to create a network of IA book lovers. Our "Authors' Night" will feature readings, networking, and the selling/ signing of books.

Among our presenters are: Paul Giaimo of Highland Community College, Author Anna Clara Ionta, Poet Gino Impellizeri, Novelist Carlo Lombardo, Gloria Nardini (Bella Figura), Pam DeFiglio (journalist Daily Herald), Kathy Catrambone (Taylor St.), several surprise guests and an open mike segment.To help build up the audience for all presenters, we need YOU tobring some book lovers with you. I know that we are a dying breed, butwe must stick together. If you have some special wine or cheese that you would like to sharewith our hardy group, we will add it to the basic light refreshment farethat we ordinarily offer at Cultural Center events.

And They Came to Chicago TV Debut

2007-05-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

Great work on the show; it was too short though! I watched it this evening and thought it was very well done. Actually, watched it with the whole family - it was very educational without being pedantic.

Would have loved to see younger Italian-Americans and what they are experiencing, later immigrants from Italy that have a post WWII viewpoint.

Is there a sequel in the works? Will you be selling it online?

dt

Visit Italy for the Weekend…Immersion Weekend at Casa Italia

2007-04-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Visit Italy for the Weekend…Immersion Weekend at Casa Italia
April 27 & 28, 2007

Basic Outline:
Friday – 6:00 PM Meet & Greet Dinner with wine, food presentations,
and interactive activities to foster conversation useful when ordering
\meals; followed by Italian Card Games & Ground Rules for Saturday’s events.

Saturday: 9:00 AM
Buongiorno Caffe’ with real espresso and breakfast treats.
Start the day with Italian news and current events in Italian.
Followed by several interactive presentations.

Lunch “Make your own Pizza” Buffet.
Conversation components from Friday’s meal will be repeated
and used while participants create their own pizzas in a friendly
casual atmosphere.

“Una Passeggiata” will follow to help digest lunch on the
grounds and will emphasize nature and directions.
(Useful when trying to get around your favorite city!)

Presentations: Various presentations including a special
operatic performance

Spaghettata Dinner and a movie screening of an
Italian Film with english subtitles.

YOU CAN’T GO OUT TO A NICE RESTAURANT FOR 2 FOR LESS THAN $80
We are offering an experience you WON’T soon forget at an affordable rate with 4 meals included!!
Fees (Per Registrant):
Current ICC Students receive $10 discount on The Total Immersion Experience

Total Immersion Experience $110
Friday Only $50
Saturday Only $75

Add Over Night Accommodations $25/$45/$60
Single/Double/Triple Occupancy
Updated Dormitory Style 2-3 beds per room

Teachers receive 16 units of Continued Professional Development Units (CPDUs) for this program.

SPECIAL EARLY REGISTRATION BONUS 3 DAYS ONLY!!
Call US NOW to register! If you register before April 13th We’ll include FREE overnight accommodations with the Total Immersion Package!! Call 708-338-0723 or email CasaItalia@sbcglobal.net. (This applies to those already registered as well, so don’t worry! We’ve got you covered!!)

The courage of Italians during WWII

2007-03-12T14:04:00.000-05:00

As noted below, I am the author of "The Cielo: A Novel of Wartime Tuscany," and since its publication I've been surprised by the number of people who say they didn't know anything about the suffering of Italians during WWII.

The setting of my story is Tuscany, but it could have been set anywhere in Italy. Italian civilians were forced to endure bombings, murders, massacres, rapes, and horrific atrocities. Not to mention shortages of food, water, electricity. Many were under siege for months as the Germans and Allies and then the Germans and partisans fought all around them.
And yet there was a tremendous amount of courage and endurance.
Somehow they survived.

Anyone who travels to Italy now knows that the war is still present for the older generation. Let's hope the younger generation -- and all of us who are of Itaian descent -- remember it, too.
(I note there is a poem by Aldo Tambellini a little farther below on this site. I have been talking to Aldo since the pubication of the book. The book resonates with him because he was a child in a village not far from my "Sant'Antonio" and witnessed bombings and killings and oher terrible things. He has written a marvelous poem about it.)

Paul Salsini

New Book: The Cielo

2007-03-12T12:59:00.000-05:00

From the author, Paul Salsini:

"The story is about a group of villagers who are trapped in a farmhouse in the hills while the war goes on around them during WWII. It is also the story of the massacre at Sant'Anna di Stazzema on Aug. 12,1944, in which 560 innocent civilians were slaughtered. it was the second-worst massacre by the Nazis in Italy during WWII."

Dom

FW: Is Catholicism the Enemy of Italian American Cultural Identity??

2006-12-10T21:27:00.000-06:00

From: Richard Annotico [mailto:annotico@earthlink.net]
Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2006 8:28 PM
To: Giannotti Franco; Marsili Ercole Italia Mia
Subject: Is Catholicism the Enemy of Italian American Cultural Identity??

The ANNOTICO Report

The one statement that "leaped" out at me, although Church Clergy Abuse is the Central Theme was:

"Growing up in (an) Italian neighborhood... things were always Italian and Catholic. I never saw a separation. I see it now and understand that I can be one without the other. It's taken me a long time to figure that out because I think the Catholic Church has wormed its way into ethnic groups to the point where we came to believe that Catholicism was our cultural identity. We got protective of it. We didn't want to think outside of it. We didn't want to question or criticize because it felt like some sort of betrayal of where we came from - of our ancestors. I now understand that being Italian-American is my cultural identity..."

=============================================================================================

The 'pure experience': Filmmaker documents brother's story to expose Catholic Church's 'blind faith upbringing'

By Gail McCarthy , Staff writer
Gloucester Daily Times December 08, 2006

Editor's note: Gail McCarthy, the Times' arts & entertainment reporter, caught up this week with filmmaker Joe Cultrera and his brother, Paul, the subject of his award-winning film about a priest who sexually abused children. Paul Cultrera, a former Gloucester resident, was abused as a boy by The Rev. Joseph Birmingham at St. James Parish in Salem. Birmingham was also a pastor at St. Ann's Church in Gloucester. The film, the "Hand of God," will be aired Thursday night at the Gloucester Cinema (6:30). Both brothers will attend the screening and take part in audience discussion. The screening serves as a benefit for the local arts group, the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, or seARTS.

Joe Cultrera: 'I can get my God elsewhere'

McCarthy: What was the catalyst for making the film and your desire to create this documentary?

Joe Cultrera: The initial catalyst was watching other media treatments of the clergy abuse crisis and feeling they were all missing the point of origin. They never bothered to look at how we were sucked into the Catholic system from the get-go, how we were watched over by the eyes of those saints and bleeding hearts that lined the walls of our homes and that followed us wherever we went. We were taught fear, shame and embarrassment.

It was those elements of our blind faith upbringing that allowed abuse to happen and go undetected, unspoken about for decades. My brother made me realize that the Catholic Church taught us all these things - in part - as a way of protecting itself. I wanted to make a film from the inside that dug under the fingernails of the situation and walked the viewer step by step through it. A film that was not afraid to criticize the very core of the situation, but that would do so in a very quiet, undramatic way - by simply showing what one survivor and his family went through. The film is pure experience, not gussied up with dramatic music and re-creations.

McCarthy: What was the most difficult part of the filming?

Joe Cultrera: Sitting down and asking questions of my brother, parents and sister that I did not really want to ask was very difficult and scary. Like most families, we do not sit around and have these sorts of deep discussions. They are not comfortable. But if there is anything I have learned from this process it is not to be afraid to talk or to confront your fears. The film created a dialogue and an understanding within our family that was not previously there. We are stronger because of it.

McCarthy: What connection does the film/filmmaker have to Gloucester?

Joe Cultrera: My brother Paul lived in Gloucester from the mid-70's until the breakup of his marriage in the early 90's. He ran the Gloucester Food Co-op. He is still very connected to the town and its people. He has lots of friends there. I worked in Gloucester with local filmmaker Henry Ferrini for a couple years after graduating from film school. Henry and I sort of grew up in the business together and share a way of framing things. Henry shot all the Gloucester footage in the film and supplied invaluable stock footage.

Back in 1976 when I was first playing around with making movies I created some crazy Super-8 films that were screened at various places in Gloucester. The spirit and support of that town pushed me forward with my decision to head to New York, study film and destroy any sense of normalcy I might have had in my life. I am eternally grateful to the spirits of Gloucester.

McCarthy: How has the film and its release affected your life?

Joe Cultrera: I've never lived a more spiritual existence than I have this year. Taking this film from city to city, encountering people and creating dialogue with them, has been like some new type of church. I feel like a missionary man who is trying to dig down to some true sense of God. Making this film and being at screenings has taught me that God is not something you need a priest or a corporate entity to access. It is there in dialogue with your family and within the community you create every day.

McCarthy: Is there humor and warmth infused into what is otherwise a heart-rendering tale?

Joe Cultrera: It's a film about family. My family has a good sense of humor - especially my brother. No matter what this church has dumped on him and us, they cannot steal our smiles. I am incapable of making a film that doesn't have some sense of humor about itself. Whenever bad stuff happens to us, laughter, wisecracks and my mother's smile have always been there to even things out. When I first showed the film to Paul his initial reaction was, "Well that's the funniest film about sexual abuse I've ever seen."

McCarthy: Did your family's Italian heritage and culture influence the film?

Joe Cultrera: I tried to create the detail of our upbringing as a foundation to build the film upon. In creating that specific detail I figured a lot of people from other backgrounds would find some sort of recognition, even if they weren't specifically Italian.

Growing up in the Italian neighborhood of Salem things were always Italian and Catholic. I never saw a separation. I see it now and understand that I can be one without the other. It's taken me a long time to figure that out because I think the Catholic Church has wormed its way into ethnic groups to the point where we came to believe that Catholicism was our cultural identity. We got protective of it. We didn't want to think outside of it. We didn't want to question or criticize because it felt like some sort of betrayal of where we came from - of our ancestors. I now understand that being Italian-American is my cultural identity, but Catholicism is just a corporate product I was sold. I can get my God elsewhere.

Paul Cultrera: Film helps bring family together

McCarthy: What was the catalyst for making the film and your desire to be a part of this documentary?

Paul Cultrera: The catalyst was Joe saying he wanted to do it, and I trust my brother. He's good at whatever he does.

McCarthy: What was the most difficult part of the filming?

Paul Cultrera: The hardest part was thinking about what effect the film would have on my life, the fear of how people would react to me. People who I work with or who I have known for years and know nothing about it are now finding out. I have lifelong friends who don't know and find out through film or the newspaper. ... But similarly to when I told my ex-wife about it, her reaction and that of others was supportive, and the overall reaction to the film is supportive. No one walks out in disgust or throws things at you. They appreciate the intent of it.

McCarthy: What connection do you have to Gloucester?

Paul Cultrera: My mother went into labor when she was at the Fourth of July fireworks celebrated in Gloucester, and she went back to Salem. I was born on July 5. I moved to Gloucester 26 years later, and I thought I was coming home. I just love Gloucester and Cape Ann. It feels oddly like home to me although I've been away for 15 odd years. If they could change the weather I'd still be there. I think about Gloucester all the time, and I'd love to live there, and then I think of those mornings when you have to shovel the snow just to get out of your driveway and then you return home and you have to shovel to get in after the snowplows. (Paul, now 57, lives in California).

McCarthy: How has the film and its release affected your life?

Paul Cultrera: People I have known are now finding out about it, and it has opened up different conversations with them, and I get more calls from newspapers than I ever had before in my life. It has changed my relationship to my family. Joe and I have always been close, and it's created more closeness. My brother is nine years younger. He was born on Thanksgiving. He was the first Thanksgiving baby born in Salem and that was as newsworthy as the big Salem-Beverly football game.

But he was able to ask the tough questions, and I have a much more immense respect for what he does and how he took all these pieces and put it together in a story. He's an amazing editor. With my parents and sister, I think the film has opened up a space that wasn't there before. It helped to start some conversations with all of us about what happened and how we dealt or didn't deal with this.

McCarthy: What about the humor and warmth in the film?

Paul Cultrera: My brother is incapable of making a film without humor. Our family is incapable of having a life without humor. I don't even know where this sense of humor comes from, but it probably helped get me through this. I am still able to laugh, especially when I see the Pope and bishops dressed up.

McCarthy: Did your family's Italian heritage and culture influence the film?

Paul Cultrera: One of the things that spurred Joe on was when my parent's local parish closed down; it was to be sold off and pay off debts to survivors of Joe Birmingham. That pushed Joe over the edge, and he saw that here's the story of how it's affected my mother and father, who are devout Catholics. Their parish church was everything to them, and now it's being taken away. My grandparents came over from Italy in the early 20th century, and we grew up in this tight-knit Italian neighborhood. So being Italian wasn't having a lot of vowels in your name. It was part of us.

In my fantasy world, I live in Rome. I love Italy. I went when I was 23 and spent four months with relatives in Sicily, and I wanted to get back there for the rest of my life. I go there about once a year, to Canicattini Bagni, near Siracusa in Sicily. I probably felt so comfortable in Gloucester because I heard a lot of Sicilian dialects like my grandmother had.

Joe went to Sicily and took footage there, and it's in the film. A lot of the film is about my relationship with my father and how it was harmed and how Father Birmingham took that role, and I wasn't able to tell my father or allow him to protect me. My father had a distant father. There just a lot of father stuff going on.

Seeing seARTS" is an occasional Times feature highlights the work of seARTS members or those who participate in seARTS events. The Society for the Encouragement of the Arts is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to re-establish Cape Ann as a world-class center for working artists in balance with the unique character of Cape Ann as a maritime community.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/lifestyle/local_story_342120941/resources_printstory

The ANNOTICO Reports

Can be Viewed, and are Archived at:

Italia USA: http://www.ItaliaUSA.com (Formerly Italy at St Louis)

Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com

Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net

A Poem by Aldo Tambellini

2006-07-20T09:25:00.000-05:00

AMERICA
Al Capone died for your sins
died for the privately owned
on the take respected politicians
died for the creative entrepreneurial capitalistic spirit
supplying a need wanted by the people
died as a CEO & Chairman of the board
ruling a powerful highly profitable corporation
& for security
employing hit-men protecting from the competition
exterminating rats with the new law & order

the highly successful soprano hits the high C
performing in the sold-out drama best known as:
THE MOBSTER STEREOTYPED OPERA
receiving artistic awards & endless encores

remember those 2 immigrants Sacco & Vanzetti
one smelling of fish the other a peddler
they were framed & executed
in the historical puritanical Boston
believing that the free America symbolic eagle
with clipped wings was an endangered species

let’s not forget Rocky
the macho italio-stallion
what happened
in the never ending boxing ring saga
did he win/loose/make a come-back/fade away?
or did the downsized intellectual brain
deflate his muscular power

& if the Viking came here
before the navigating controversially adventurous Colombo
they should be represented with an antique museum ship
at that once a year proud marching band parade
notice the political candidates
making the obligatory brief appearance
& disappearance after hustling for votes

who really did & why
they shot a different Colombo
2 bullet slugs in the brain
disrupting the Unity Rally in Manhattan
an FBI well scripted HIT scenario?
the growing Italian American Civil Rights League
was relentlessly under fire from the NY media
they could not tolerate the stereotyping claims
of yet another discriminated group
but you will ask
what the hell is this
all about?

why call that bloody red drink
DEGO WINE
fermenting in the Napa Valley
why not re-baptize it
MAFIOSO WINE
updating the label to a more
popular sellable identification

during this multi-cultural & divided gender time
it seems many discriminated groups
are prominently represented
filling the bookstore shelves/the library & school texts

someone will say:
we have equal representation too
buried below ancient graves
there in the old country
patronized by Lorenzo Il Magnifico de Medici
public TV called him the
RENAISSANCE GODFATHER
(it raised some objection)

I disagree says someone else:
here with the masses we have
achieved high recognition
in this new country we have the famous deceased
notorious TEFLON DON
the network financing his family to grow up on TV
we have an endless list of odd names
playing on the media HIT PARADE:
Jimmy the Clam/ Alley Boy/Anthony Gaspipe/
The Chin/The Snake/Crazy Joe Gallo
the who’s who list too long to mention
the canaries inside cages
sing to the judge at the
FEDERAL COURT HOUSE
while big time legitimate political gangsters
cash in billions from wartime racketeering
devastating nations
destroying lives
as the ecological balance tilts to disaster

we have the best seller
powerful CORLEONE
acted by legendary Brando
sealed lips/secret OMERTA/
COSA NOSTRA affairs/
territorial wars & VENDETTA
we have the ruthless GANGLAND MOBSTERS
killing each other in real life
& on the bigger than life-size Hollywood screen
question:
does a name make one
guilty by association?
we have the grease ball/the wise guy/
the good nature dumb GOOMBA
all well publicized loved & hated by the media
as for the history books
don’t forget the over-achiever
LUCKY LUCIANO
first imprisoned by the government
later released as a useful tool for the Feds

others will say:
pay no attention
it’s all a tempest in a teapot
it will all wash away
& the children of the children
of the struggling back breaking cheap labor
un-welcomed immigrants
do they know
LA STORIA SEGRETA
the disrupted lives of the GUINEA’S WWII internment camps?
& those who have so called “arrived”
with legitimate professions?
well most of them have gone outside dangerous cities
migrating to insulated safe suburbia
inspired by the AMERICAN DREAM
sold by TV commercials
carpet lawn desert/two car garage & shopping mall heaven

some may be renting blockbuster video reruns
featuring well directed & acted
ruthless MOB CAPOS-men of honor
ruling the crime corporation with good old family values
their greedy mouths stuffed with spaghetti or linguini
home made basil tomato sauce simmered in blood
remember the Alka Seltzer commercial
thatsa a spicy meataballa
& those viewers could be judges/doctors/lawyers/teachers/
even proud local politicians or just blue-collar workers
they might say to the growing new generation:
LOOK
finally we have arrived at
a nationally visible representation
question:
is the most acknowledged contribution
food & crime?
somewhere
a writer/an artist/a creative intellectual dreamer
sits in a dark corner at the CAFFE’ PARADISO
staring at Dante’s shrunken head on the wall
next to a puzzled Mona Lisa reproduction
one of them reading lines from a famous poem:
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness starving hysterical naked
he sips a bitter espresso
macchiato with chemical creamora
tasting an artificially sweetened cannoli
thinking:
maybe someday there will be a real cultural pride parade
just maybe
is this a wishful dream or something to think about?

St. Joseph's Day Tables

2006-03-08T17:52:00.000-06:00

If you're in the Chicago area!

dt

Italian Restaurants in Chicago

2006-02-12T23:59:00.000-06:00

Alto Adige and Piemonte	Spiaggia 980 North Michigan Avenue Chicago 312.280.2750
Campagna	Luna Caprese 2239 North Clybourn Avenue Chicago 773.281.4825
Puglia	Trattoria Trullo 1700 Central Street Evanston, Illinois 847.570.0093
Tuscany and Emilia Romagna	Coco Pazzo 300 West Hubbard Street Chicago 312.836.0900

2005-11-24T22:57:00.000-06:00

Felice Ringraziemento!

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

Italian American Writers Association

2005-04-09T14:41:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: (718) –777-2726

The Canadian Italians Meet the American Italians

The Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) in collaboration with the Cornelia Street Café will be having a special night of four featured Canadian Italian Writers on Saturday, May 14th, 2005 at 5:45pm to 7:45pm.

The Four Featured Readers:

Salvatore Ala was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His book, Clay of the Maker, was published by Mosaic Press (1998). He has also published five broadsides of poems, Ten Poems, Thirteen Poems, Fourteen Poems, Keystrokes and Barbershop (Green Alley Press,1994-2003). Salvatore’s poems have appeared in the Fiddlehead and the Literary Review of Canada. Alistair MacLeod wrote of the poems in Clay of the Maker: “They are poems of integrity and clarity, and many of them possess a starling beauty.”
Licia Canton is a Montreal writer, editor and literary critic. She holds a Ph.D. from Université de Montréal and is currently editor-in-chief of Accenti, The Canadian Magazine with an Italian Accent. She has published four books on Italian Canadian writing (as editor) The Dynamics of Cultural Exchange (Cusmano 2002), Adjacencies: Canadian Minority Writing (with Beneventi and Moyes, Guernica 2004), Rebus: Artists and Poets in Correspondence (with Anna Carlevaris, BuschekBooks 2005) and Antonio D'Alfonso: Essays on His Works (Guernica 2006). She has written prize-winning poetry and short stories (in English and Italian). She can be reached at http://www.accenti.ca/
Joseph A. Farina was born in Stanto Stefano di Camastra, Provenza di Messina, Sicily, Italy and immigrated to Canada when he was a child. He practices law in his hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. His poetry has appeared in the Alberta Poetry Yearbook, and in the newsletter of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers. He won second prize in the Sarnia Observer “My Hometown” contest for his essay “My New Home Town.” Several of his poems have been published in Green’s Magazine, Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine, Ascent, and in the Tower Poetry Magazine. He is working on The Cancer Chronicles to be published by Serengeti Press 2006.
Venera Fazio was born in Bafia, Sicily, Italy and immigrated to Canada when she was a child. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work and for 15 years worked in the Mental Health field. She is co-editor of the anthology Sweet Lemons: Writing with a Sicilian Accent (Legas 2004). Her writing has been read on radio, published in the anthologies The Many Faces of Woman (River City Press 2001) and The Dynamics of Cultural Exchange (Cusmano, 2002) and in a number of magazines in Canada and the United States.

This event will take place on Saturday, May 14th Time: 5:45pm –7:45pm at the Cornelia Street Café,
29 Cornelia Street, New York City 212-989-9319. We will have open mic readings starting at 5:45pm sharp and the four featured readers will start at 6:45pm sharp. Admission: $6.00 which includes one beverage.
Directions: By Subway: A,C, E, B, D, F, V to West 4th Street, 1 & 9 to Christopher St./ Sheridan Sq.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
The Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) is currently conducting a membership drive to broaden the member base. Membership Rates: $30 (Students and Seniors $15), Associate $100-249, Patron $250-499,
Founder $500-1,000. Kindly make checks payable to: IAWA and Mail to: Treasurer, Italian American Writers Association, PO Box 2011, New York, NY 10013. IAWA is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit corporation. Donations are tax-deductible.

For further information about attending this event or joining the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA), contact Program Coordinator: MariaLisella@aol.com

NEW NIAF LEADERSHIP ELECTED

2005-03-20T12:45:00.000-06:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Elissa Ruffino at 202/387-0600 or elissa@niaf.org

(WASHINGTON, DC – March 14, 2005) The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) elected new board officers for the 2005-2009 term during the Foundation's March 11 board meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Dr. A. Kenneth Ciongoli was elected chairman. He succeeds Hon. Frank J. Guarini, who was elected chairman emeritus. Joseph R. Cerrell, founder and chairman of Cerrell Associates; Jerry Colangelo, chair and CEO of the Phoenix Suns; and Vincent Viola, senior strategic advisor at the New York Mercantile Exchange, were elected vice chairmen. Salvatore J. Zizza, chairman of HallMark Electrical Supplies Corporation, is the new NIAF president. Joseph V. Del Raso, Esq., a partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP, is the executive vice president. Salvatore Salibello, founder and managing partner of the international assurance, accounting, tax and consulting firm Salibello & Broder LLP, was elected treasurer. Nancy Chistolini, senior vice president of fashion and public relations for Hecht's and Strawbridge's, was re-elected secretary. Hon. Louis Freeh, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and senior vice chairman of administration and legal affairs at MBNA America Inc., was elected general counsel.

The NIAF board also elected five new members: Lucio Caputo, president, International Trade Center of New York; Hon. Charles Gargano, vice chairman, the Board of Commissioners of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Joseph Moglia, CEO, Ameritrade Holding Corporation; Joseph J. Plumeri, chairman and CEO, The Willis Group; and Ronald L. Zarrella, chairman and CEO, Bausch & Lomb.

The NIAF is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC dedicated to preserving the heritage of an estimated 25 million Americans of Italian descent. Visit our website at: http://www.blogger.com/www.niaf.org

EVENT: NIAF EAST COAST GALA

2005-03-12T09:44:00.000-06:00

SPONSOR: The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF)
WHEN: Wednesday evening, April 13, 2005
6:00 PM Reception & Silent Auction
7:00 PM Dinner
WHERE: The Waldorf-Astoria
301 Park Avenue
New York, NY
Contact: Elissa Ruffino at 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) will host its annual East Coast Gala, on April 13 in New York City, to benefit the NIAF Scholarship and Education Programs.
NIAF will salute the following prominent industry leaders for their outstanding leadership in medicine, business, and entertainment.
· Dr. Michael Brescia, executive medical director, Calvary Hospital, will receive the NIAF Special Achievement Award for Humanitarian Service
· Joseph Moglia, CEO, Ameritrade Holding Corporation, will receive the NIAF Special Achievement Award in Business
· Stanley Tucci, award-winning actor, will receive the NIAF Special Achievement Award in Entertainment

The gala is chaired by Frank Petrilli, NIAF board member and retired CEO of TD Waterhouse USA. Emmy Award-winning actress Susan Lucci will present a NIAF scholarship to a young Italian American during the gala. CNBC's Maria Bartiromo and Ron Insana are some of the prominent Italian Americans attending the gala.

Dinner tickets start at $300 per person. Attire: Business. To purchase, contact, Bonni Cellini at 202/939-3114 or bonni@niaf.org. You can also register on line at www.niaf.org
The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC and dedicated to preserving the heritage of Italian Americans. Learn more about our programs and events by visiting www.niaf.org

MULTI CULTURAL 'BUNK" WHEN PRIDE BECOMES INTIMIDATION

2005-02-10T06:42:00.000-06:00

Baltimore Sun
Gregory Kane
February 9, 2005
THINK OF IT as the down side of multiculturalism. Or is it the "bunk"
side?

...Last Oct. 12 some Italian-Americans in Denver got the funny idea that they could have a parade in honor of that famous Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus. Believing they lived in a country where the First Amendment applied to them, the Italian-Americans got a permit.

A group of "activists" - many of them American Indians - blocked the parade route. After ignoring police orders to disperse, more than 200 were arrested and charged with loitering and disobeying a police order. Eight went to trial.

At the trial, these "activists" said that celebrating Columbus Day was "hate speech" and that the parade was "ethnic intimidation" targeting American Americans. One of the "activist" leaders was Ward Churchill, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder...
A little more about this Churchill guy: He claims to be one-sixteenth Keetoowah, a branch of the Cherokee tribe that lives in Oklahoma.

But members of that tribe dispute Churchill's claim.

Oh, it gets worse.

Within days of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that left more than 3,000 people dead, Churchill wrote an essay called "Some People Push Back: On The Justice of Roosting Chickens," in which he called the victims "little Eichmanns." Don't reach for the tar and feathers and take that next jet to Colorado just yet. There's more.

Last year, in a magazine interview, Churchill told readers how he really feels about America when the interviewer asked him what should happen to the good old US of A.
"I want the state gone," Churchill said. "Transform the situation to U.S. out of North America. U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether."

Churchill's defenders - among them those folks who no doubt feel our national anthem is a song called "America the Guilty" - were quick to defend his First Amendment rights. And the six-member jury that acquitted Churchill and seven co-defendants last month in the Columbus Day incident figure that when it comes to the First Amendment, Italian-Americans need not apply.
It looks like open season on Italian-Americans starts early this year, courtesy of that Denver jury whose members have probably voted Democratic way too often. Needless to say, some Italian-Americans aren't happy.

"It's people like Ward Churchill that give multiculturalism a bad name," said Dona De Sanctis, the deputy executive director of the Order Sons of Italy in America. The bad name would be promoting the rights of select victim groups and violating the rights of others, in this case Italian-Americans, who are still the targets of ruthless and relentless stereotyping in television and films.

"What is the United States if not multicultural?" De Sanctis asked, no doubt thinking of multiculturalism at its most ideal, not as the bunk Ehrlich and others feel it has become, probably because of guys like Churchill. "Italian-Americans are for multiculturalism. We are who we are today because of multiculturalism. We just don't think one culture is better than another."

And what about the claim of Churchill and his co-defendants that a Columbus Day parade is "hate speech" and "ethnic intimidation"?

"Italian-Americans marching in a parade waving flags?" De Sanctis, a Bowie resident, asked. "That's intimidation? We found [the] charge of ethnic intimidation ridiculous. If anybody was [attempted to be] intimidated that day, it was Italian-Americans."

Indeed they were, but the Denver sapsucker jury of six didn't see it that way. Using their logic - and believe me, I'm using that word guardedly - I could claim Irish-Americans celebrating St. Patrick's Day constitutes "hate speech" and "ethnic intimidation" on the grounds that Irish immigrants were the primary purveyors of violence against black New Yorkers in the draft riots of 1863.

As it is, whenever March 17 rolls around, I let Irish-Americans be their Gaelic selves and mind my own business. It'd be nice if some American Indians in Denver tried the same thing on Oct. 12.

Italian American Political Action Committee

2005-02-04T15:07:00.000-06:00

I AM PAC Italian American Political Action Committee 48-08 111th Street Corona, NY 11368 February 3, 2005 A Call

This Notice is to inform all Italian American Organizations that on February 8, 2005 at 12:00 Noon on the steps of City Hall the twelve members of the NYC Council Italian American Caucus and the Italian American Political Action Committee (I AM PAC) will join together to Boycott the DVD of Sharks Tale. "Sharks Tale" made by Dream Works is a children's movie that depicts all those of Italian heritage as gangsters. This movie teaches the children of the world to view Italians in a negative way. This is the first time a protest of this magnitude is being formed to stop the stereotyping of all those of Italian heritage. You must attend. For further information, call 718-592-2196. Join Tony Avella, Chairman of the NYC Council Italian American Caucus and the twelve NYC Council Caucus members along with I AM PAC Chairman Jack Como, I AM PAC President Mario D'Elia and I AM PAC Board Member James C. Lisa and Robert Fonti on the steps of City Hall. To make a change all Italian Americans must rally together; join the Italian American "Stop the Stereotyping movement".

VICTORY FOR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

2005-01-23T09:40:00.000-06:00

Denver PostEditorialBy Bob Ewegen
Deputy Editorial Page Editor Saturday, January 22, 2005 Political correctness won a victory in Denver Thursday, but your rights under the First Amendment were defiled. That travesty occurred when a Denver jury, in a blatant act of jury nullification*, decided that the U.S. Constitution doesn't apply to anyone whose views offend Glenn Morris.

Morris was a leader of the protesters who illegally blocked the 2004 Columbus Day parade, thereby depriving parade participants in particular and Italian-Americans generally of the rights of free speech and freedom of assembly.In all, 239 protesters were arrested for disobeying police orders to stop blocking the parade. Morris and seven of his fellow Thought Police responded by arguing in court that they had a right to block the Italian-Americans because a celebration of Columbus was "hate speech."

In a staggering display of chutzpah, this PC goon squad described themselves as "human rights activists" while labeling their victims, the Italian-Americans, as practitioners of "ethnic intimidation."Such Orwellian logic in and of itself isn't surprising. The Thought Police have never been distinguished by logic or consistency. And it isn't even too shocking to find a jury dumb enough to buy their argument.

We've had juries fly in the face of evidence before, as O.J. Simpson can testify.But what is most troubling about this particular travesty is that the foreman of the runaway jury, Eric Ruderman, was himself a lawyer. And by his own admission, lawyer Ruderman believed that the anti-Italian goon squad had a right to silence viewpoints they disagreed with."All we heard was that Native Americans definitely felt there was a strong element of ethnic intimidation," Ruderman said, adding that if such intimidation continues to exist, the parade should no longer be held.Jury nullification is foul enough when it comes from ignorant yahoos like the hundreds of racist juries who acquitted Ku Klux Klan murderers for the lynching of black Americans in a century- long reign of terror.

But when a lawyer sitting as a juror openly refuses to punish criminals because he dislikes the victims of the crimes in question, then our civil liberties are indeed in peril.Newly empowered as the city's Thought Cop, Morris bloviated: "It is time for the mayor and city attorney to drop all the charges. We call on the people of Denver to demand that all the charges be dropped."Actually, we the people of Denver call upon our mayor and city attorney to enforce the law and protect our rights - as they have already promised to do. That means that prosecution of the 231 remaining law-breakers will proceed with full vigor.

And this time, let's select a jury that doesn't blame the victims.Reasonable people can disagree about Christopher Columbus. The definitive biography of the great navigator remains Samuel Eliot Morison's "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." A revisionist view can be read in Kirkpatrick Sale's "Conquest of Paradise."In truth, both Morison and Sale have valid points. Columbus' vision, courage and steadfastness remain an inspiration more than five centuries after his epic voyage changed the world. Sale is right in noting that many of those changes weren't good, especially from the point of view of the dominant native cultures that the subsequent European conquests displaced. But the point is that in the pre-Glenn Morris era, Denver residents had the right to read both Morison and Sale and draw their own conclusions.

The Rudermans of the world want you to see only Morris' point of view.Why should you care about the rights of Italian-Americans? Well, consider what Martin Niemöller wrote after the holocaust:"First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. ... And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left who could stand up for me."Bob Ewegen is deputy editorial page editor of The Denver Post.

He has written on state and local government since 1963. *Jury Nullification-Since the Supreme Court's 1895 decision in Sparf v. United States,(1) it has been a commonplace understanding that criminal juries have the Power but Not the Right to nullify the law before them,(2) either choosing to acquit or convict when they believe the law as presented by the judge to require otherwise. DenverPost.com - Bob Ewegen

Would a Cleaned-Up 'Sopranos' Be Too Naughty for Sponsors?

2005-01-15T13:39:00.000-06:00

By STUART ELLIOTT Published: January 11, 2005

S HBO moves ahead with plans to sell edited episodes of "The Sopranos" to a cable television network that runs commercials, the reaction of many advertisers asked to be sponsors will likely be "Fuhgeddaboudit."

REAL STORIES: A Conference about Discrimination and Stereotyping in the U.S. from the Perspective of Italian Americans

2004-11-06T08:36:00.000-06:00

PR Web via Yahoo! News Fri, 05 Nov 2004 4:00 AM PSTSouth Orange, NJ (PRWEB) November 5, 2004 -- The Charles and Joan Alberto Italian Studies Institute at Seton Hall University hosts the conference " REAL STORIES: Discrimination and Defamation in the History of Italian Americans" to be held on Saturday, December 4, 2004, from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm at Seton Hall University (Kozlowski Auditorium), 400 South Orange Ave., South Orange, New Jersey.

Shark Tale Reviews on Rotten Tomato

2004-10-02T10:41:00.000-05:00

Not doing so well...

dt

LETTER TO THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

2004-09-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

Gentlemen:
Your goal: "ADVANCING DEMOCRACY, PLURALISM AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING"
Reference your 10/26/03 ad in The New York Times.
"Bigotry is bigotry. When an entire people or religion is assailed,
all people and all religions are threatened. At such moments,
people of good will need to be heard. History has taught us the
danger of silence."

Well, Italian-Americans ARE being attacked in a most insidious way
per NIAF-National Italian American Foundation [2004 summer issue]
about the movie SHARK TALE produced by DREAMWORKS SKG.
"The film is described as a "gangster comedy" featuring sharks as
mafia characters with Italian names that belong to the "Five
Families." Thus, millions of Italian-Americans are going to become
outraged when the full meaning of this cartoon, geared to children,
becomes known.

I am therefore, requesting that AJC get involved in this matter
since the destruction of bigotry is one of your goals. If you have
contact with Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and/or David
Geffin, please ask them to send you a copy of the movie that is to
be released on Oct. 1, 2004. You can determine for yourselves the
status of this controversy.

Respectfully,
John Messina

Columbus Citizens Foundation: DreamWorks Misleads New York Times and Reuters

2004-09-22T09:26:00.000-05:00

Newswire Tue, 21 Sep 2004 10:05 AM PDT
Spokesman Said Spielberg 'Had Nothing to do' with Shark Tale New Book by Miramax States Movie 'Had Steven Spielberg's Imprimatur' Spielberg Promotes Inappropriate Children's Film for Profit NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The following press release is being issued by the Columbus Citizens Foundation: DreamWorks SKG and DreamWorks Animation denials that Steven Spielberg was involved with the prejudicial animated kids' movie Shark Tale are false, according to Lawrence Auriana, President.

'Shark Tale Markets Bigotry to Kids

2004-09-19T17:04:00.000-05:00

talian-American leader says shame on
De Niro & mafia-themed film

By ROSARIO A. IACONIS

Et tu, Italy?"Shark Tale," an animated DreamWorks film that glorifies gangsters, celebrates violence and promotes anti-Italian bigotry to children, could well sever the mystic chords that bond Italo-Americans to their ancestral homeland.

According to published reports, the Italian government plans to grant "Shark Tale" star Robert De Niro honorary citizenship when he attends the movie's premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had better wake up and smell the cappuccino.

DreamWorks has truly hit bottom with this cinematic exploitation of children. Think "The Sopranos Whack Nemo Under the Sea." Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and "Sopranos" alumni Michael Imperioli and Vincent (Big Pussy) Pastore provide lurid Mafia goombah voiceovers.

The dialogue, such as it is, would make Marcello Mastroianni spin in his grave: "Capeesh," "Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom," and the ubiquitous "Fuhgeddaboudit."

De Niro's shark capo, Don Lino, is heard urging his offspring, Frankie and Johnny, to kill "as a [crime] family" while the trio is serenaded by Puccini's La Boheme in an Italian restaurant.

Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, DreamWorks' chief mavens, have lined up Coca-Cola, Krispy Kreme, Burger King, General Mills, Sabra, Hewlett-Packard and Activision to market Don Lino, Frankie, Johnny and Luca the Enforcer merchandise to kids.

The Italian government should not condone such profiteering at the expense of children. Italy's Minister of Culture Giuliano Urbani should be excoriating De Niro. After all, alma mater Italia has long been the seat of civilization.

The actor's film history of demeaning Italians is defamatory enough. However, employing his anti-Italian persona to peddle bigotry to kids - and cashing in on it - is morally perfidious.

The government should not grant De Niro's honorary citizenship.

There are true Italian-American heroes deserving of such an honor: Dr. Carolyn Porco, the Space Science Institute's chief imaging scientist on the joint NASA/Italian Space Agency/European Space Agency Cassini mission to Saturn; Tomie de Paola, the author of witty and whimsical Calabrian children's fables, or retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Centcom chief and a modern-day Cincinnatus.

Forza, Italia!

Iaconis is president of the Italic Institute of America.

National Italian American Foundation - Summer 2004 Update

2004-09-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

Focus: Image and Identity

The central mission of National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is to promote the best of Italian American culture and heritage. This is done through our many programs that are centered upon youth and education; they include exchange, mentoring, leadership, scholarship, grants, and public policy. Serving as a resource to the public, NIAF provides information and educational materials on Italian American history and culture to the public and strives to highlight the numerous contributions of Italian Americans to the United States.

NIAF also aspires to promote a positive image of Italian Americans throughout the United States and in Italy. This includes our continued monitoring of the depictions of Italian Americans in media sources including film, television, and print and responding to negative and stereotypical depictions of Italian Americans where appropriate.

Fighting the Negative

§ Throughout 2004, NIAF’s primary focus relating to the battle against harmful stereotyping has been through our active participation in the National Coalition Against Racial, Religious and Ethnic Stereotyping (CARRES). This is a national coalition founded by NIAF in conjunction with the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), and UNICO National in response to the DreamWorks film Shark Tale. These founding members are joined by a wide array of organizations representing diverse constituencies that include Arab Americans, Polish Americans, the National Conference of Community and Justice, and the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.

Shark Tale, which will be released in October 2004, has been described as "a gangster comedy" featuring sharks with Italian names as mafia characters that belong to the “Five Families.” It is particularly harmful because it is being marketed to children and promises to perpetuate negative stereotypes of Italian Americans to another generation of Americans. Appeals have been made to DreamWorks, the company owned by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffin, to remove the film’s stereotypical components. To date, only one character in the film has been altered.

While this film is not yet complete and has not yet been viewed in its entirety, CARRES believes our concerns are valid based upon the promotional information available on the Shark Tale website and through what was viewed at the Shark Tale presentation at the TriBeca Film Festival in New York City, which was held in May. An advanced screening of the film was requested by CARRES but to date will not be given by DreamWorks.

CARRES has hired the Hill & Knowlton Public Relations Agency (H&K) to develop a communication and public relations strategy to counter the harmful effects of Shark Tale. This plan includes broadening the coalition, asking the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to give the film an R rating, contacting elected officials at all levels, and writing Shark Tale’s corporate marketing partners, which include Coca-Cola, Burger King, General Mills, Krispy Kreme, Great Clips, HP, and Hasbro Toys. In addition to the work of Hill & Knowlton, a CARRES task force that includes the leadership and key staffers of the four major Italian American organizations has been assembled. This task force holds weekly conference calls to share developments and to discuss strategies.

§ Aside from the ongoing Shark Tale campaign, other issues concerning the image of Italian Americans warrant mention. This includes the A&E network’s reality television show, Growing Up Gotti. NIAF was inundated with letters and emails from concerned individuals who were alarmed by the show’s unflattering depiction of Italian Americans. NIAF’s Chairman Frank Guarini, along with the leaders of other Italian American organizations, wrote A&E Television Networks expressing their concern. Mr. Guarini noted that the program clearly reinforces a negative and demeaning image of Italian Americans and sends a harmful message throughout the nation. This correspondence included a request for a meeting with officials from the station to ensure that this type of show not be included in future programming and that greater balance relating to the portrayal of Italian Americans be provided. This meeting is scheduled for September 2004.

§ “No Wonder People Think Caravaggio is a Guy on the Sopranos" was the theme of The Americans for the Arts advertisement that appeared in The New York Times. Connecting the cable program The Sopranos and incorporating the phrase “Fuhgedaboudit” with the great Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio in an effort to advance art education, was perceived as insensitive by many in the Italian American community. Our concerns were hastily dismissed by officials from The Americans for the Arts who contended that the advertisement was not intended to offend Italian Americans and was even applauded by some Italian American organizations. We are still waiting to hear which Italian American organization applauded such an advertisement.

§ Nationally syndicated cartoonist Pat Oliphant drew a cartoon featuring Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on a hunting expedition. In making his point relating to the appropriateness of Scalia’s personal relationship with Cheney, Oliphant simultaneously leveled an unnecessary and defaming attack upon Scalia’s ethnicity. The cartoon featured Cheney dressed in customary hunting apparel with shotgun in hand while Scalia was depicted with all the nuances of the stereotypical mobster. He is dressed in a pin-strip suit with his hair slicked back and a five o’clock shadow, holding a machine gun. Even the caption was written with the style of the clichéd wiseguy vernacular. Oliphant blatantly targeted Scalia’s ethnicity. We asked why Scalia’s ethnicity was interjected into this topic of discussion. We also questioned were it Justices Clarence Thomas or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, would Oliphant have tapped into the stereotypical imagery associated with their ethnic, religious, or racial backgrounds? Any reasonable person would think not. This assault on Scalia’s Italian heritage was clearly not appropriate. Moreover, it should be noted that it was not this cartoonist’s first foray into Italian or Italian American bashing. A disappointing side note to this episode was The Washington Post’s failure to publish a “letter to the editor” co-authored by leadership of NIAF, OSIA, and UNICO where we expressed our dismay over the cartoon that the paper published.

§ The PBS series, The Medici, Godfathers of the Renaissance, through its linkage of the Medici to the mafia, was especially disappointing. PBS missed a real opportunity to tell an important story of a powerful family of pre-unified Italy. Instead of approaching the subject matter in a serious and studious manner, the PBS series instead opted to tap into a fascination of popular American culture – the mafia. By playing the mafia card and linking the Medici with the mafia, PBS advanced an assumption which suggested that there is a continuity of criminality within the Italian people, and that criminality is a component of the Italian character. We argued that such an assumption was careless at best and maliciously demeaning at worst. Moreover, the series had the effect of detracting from the larger framework of Italian and Italian American contributions to world civilization and reducing a major national ethnic group to images of innate criminals. In what could have been a valuable historical resource was instead a tainted program with overtones that were clearly defaming to all Italian people.

Highlighting the Positive of Our Culture and Educating

§ NIAF is pleased to announce our partnering with the Splendor of Florence Festival in New York City this fall. An eleven-day festival of cultural, educational, culinary, and musical events centered around distinguished Florentine artisans. It will give visitors an opportunity to visit the magnificent city of Florence without ever leaving New York City. Beginning in September 2004, this special festival promises to foster a broader appreciation of both Renaissance culture and modern Italian culture to Americans. For more information see www.splendorofflorence.com

§ NIAF is also partnering with the Restoring Ancient Stabiae (RAS) Foundation on the United States tour of the In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite exhibition. The RAS Foundation has a mission to transform the 150-acre archaeological site of ancient Stabiae into the world’s largest and most unique Archaeological Park. The site is located only three miles from Pompeii and will feature museums, theaters, lodging, and an International Study Center. This exciting project offers wide opportunities for the Italian American community including educational exchange programs and heightened interest in Italy's cultural heritage here in the US. For more information see www.stabiae.org

§ October and Italian American Heritage Month is quickly approaching. Once again NIAF will celebrate this important month with a series of events and activities in select cities around the nation including New York City, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. This includes offering free Italian language classes and free walking tours of Italian neighborhoods and sites of interest. Check www.niaf.org for regular updates.

§ The NIAF Teach the Teachers program was brought to Montclair State University where it assembled high school teachers in two days of seminars and workshops that focused on Italian American Studies. It is the intention of this program that the information gained in these sessions will be incorporated into curriculums where these high school teachers work. A second installment of this program will be brought to Rhode Island this fall.

§ Let us not forget that educating our Youth needs to remain our focus and will advance our efforts to promote a positive image the furthest. This year NIAF brought together hundreds of young Italian Americans through its youth programs including the Gift of Discovery, Students to Leaders, Graduates to Leaders, and the annual Youth Retreat. Additionally, a plethora of scholarships were awarded including those for Lago del Bosco, the Italian language and culture immersion camp at the Language Villages of Concordia College in Minnesota.

Valuable Conferences

§ NIAF is pleased to be a sponsor of “Real Stories: Discrimination and Defamation in the History of Italian Americans,” an upcoming conference at Seton Hall University on December 4, 2004. Hosted by the Charles and Joan Alberto Italian Studies Institute of Seton Hall University, this will be a day-long conference on discrimination and defamation in the history of Italian Americans. Organized jointly by the Anti-Bias Committee of UNICO, this conference will be the first major academic conference, organized on a national scale, to be devoted specifically to the theme of discrimination against Italian Americans. There will be panel discussions involving prominent historians, politicians, entertainers, media critics, and representatives of the major Italian American organizations that respond to discrimination and defamation. The program will also include the showing of a historical documentary and book exhibits. The conference will be free and open to the public. For additional information and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Dr. William J. Connell at (973) 275-2928 or connelwi@shu.edu

§ NIAF will again this year be a sponsor of the annual American Italian Historical Association (AIHA) conference. The topic of this year’s conference is Italian Americans Before the Mass Migration: We've Always Been Here. The 37th installment of this conference, it will be held at the Governor Calvert House in Annapolis, Maryland on November 4-6. Information is available from Professor Frank Alduino at fwalduino@aacc.edu.

§ NIAF’s 28th annual convention weekend will feature the second installment of the Milestones of the Italian American Experience conference. Building upon the Milestones timeline that was launched on the NIAF website in 2003 (see www.niaf.org/milestones/index.asp), this conference highlights important moments in Italian American history. This year’s special guest is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who will be discussing his appointment in 1986 as the first Italian American on the nation’s highest court, which certainly qualifies as a milestone of the Italian American Experience. Free and open to the public, it will be held on Saturday, October 16 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Jefferson Room of the Hilton Washington & Towers, Washington, DC. For more information contact jmarino@niaf.org.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE TO ISSUE BASILONE STAMP

2004-08-26T18:52:00.000-05:00

Washington - August 25, 2004 - World War II hero John Basilone will be honored with a commemorative postage stamp in 2005, the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) learned today from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone will be one of four Marines to be honored in a USPS Distinguished Marine stamp series that will be released sometime in 2005. The other Marines are Daniel J. Daly; John A. Lejeune and Louis B.
Puller.

The design for the Basilone stamp has been approved, but the date of its unveiling has not been set, according to USPS spokesman Mark Saunders.

John Basilone was the only enlisted Marine in World War II to earn both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross, the nation's two highest military honors for bravery in battle. General Douglas MacArthur called him "a one- man army" for his valor in a battle with a Japanese regiment during the Battle of Guadalcanal on October 24-25, 1942.

During a fierce frontal attack with the Japanese, Sgt. Basilone was left with only two of his men. Under continual fire, he held off the enemy until replacements arrived. Later, with ammunition critically low and the supply lines cut off, Sgt. Basilone battled his way through hostile lines with urgently needed shells for his gunners, thereby contributing in large measure to the virtual annihilation of a Japanese regiment.

For his bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor and sent back to the U.S., where he helped raise more than $1 million in war bonds. He was offered a desk job in Washington, D.C. but preferred to return to his company.

Shortly after returning to the Pacific war zone, Sgt. Basilone was killed during the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. He was 29 years old. For his bravery in this battle, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. He also received the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

Italian Americans have campaigned for a Basilone stamp for nearly 15 years. Among the first was Peter Ippolito of Union, N.J. who collected more than 200,000 signatures, according to Manny Alfano of UNICO National, who also spearheaded the Basilone stamp campaign.

Soon Ippolito and Alfano were joined by OSIA under then-CSJ President John Dabbene.

OSIA lodges and members collected an estimated 60,000 signatures, petitioned the USPS and its Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee and enlisted the assistance of such political leaders as Sen. Jon Corzine and Congressman Bill Pascrell, both of New Jersey. These efforts were supported by petitions from the U.S.
Marine Corp as well.

"We cannot find the words to express our immense pride that this young war hero will at last receive the official recognition he so richly earned by his courage and sacrifice," said OSIA National President Joseph Sciame.

"This is a victory and a cause for celebration for all Italian American organizations and individuals. No one person or group can claim all the credit,"
Sciame said. "We worked together to make this happen."

OSIA has more than 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 700 chapters coast to coast. OSIA works at the community, national and international levels to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian Americans, the nation's fifth largest ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. See www.osia.org.

SHARK TALE - Overview, Argument, & Position Summary

2004-08-22T12:32:00.000-05:00

Currently in production at DreamWorks Pictures, and scheduled for release in October, 2004, Shark Tale is a computer-animated, children's film that, as DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg crows with unabashed pride, will be an amalgam of "...everything from The Untouchables to Some Like It Hot to all three Godfather films." The story's venue is a fictitious undersea world populated by anthropomorphic fish - not unlike Disney's Little Mermaid (1989), but with an exceptionally sordid twist. Like a perverse kiddie morality play, Shark Tale relates the unhappy results of one unlucky sea creature's involvement with the under-the-sea underworld. As viewed in the DreamWorks promos, the maritime mobsters take the form of cartoon sharks. And yes, with names like Don Lino and Don Brizzi, they are given unmistakably Italian American identities. For added 'authenticity', DreamWorks has lined up Robert De Niro, Michael Imperoli, Martin Scorsese, and others who have shamelessly built their personal wealth and fame on the prostrated back of Italic culture, to do the voice-overs.