Assisting Diversity

With the recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in university admissions, I spent a few minutes thumbing through my college yearbook.  Looking back now with so much real world experiences under my belt was an eye-opener. I attended a small private...

California Dreamin’

To our fellow Americans, we of Italian heritage are simply seen as “cooks or crooks.” (Kudos to my colleague John Mancini for that very apt phrase).  The reason why is very simple: Hollywood media defamation. Or, as the comedian Flip Wilson used to...

The Elusive Founder

There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence; of those we have confirmed Caesar Rodney of Delaware as having Italian roots.  Another, William Paca of Maryland, has been elusive despite having an Italian-sounding name. Declaration signer William Paca...

Behind Every Event…

Magellan’s flagship the Trinidad Last week, a “tall ship” visited my Long Island village, a port of call that has seen the HMS Bounty and replicas of every kind from the Age of Sail.  This time it was the Nao Trinidad, one of Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish...

Pride Redefined

Every year around June 24th I write of the momentous event in 1497 when navigator Giovanni Caboto landed on North America (perhaps Newfoundland) and planted the flags of England and Venice.  That small ceremony was the seminal event in the creation of our United...