Above & Beyond

I often get my blog subjects from our online Almanac.  February 3rd celebrates the courage of Lt. Willibald Charles Bianchi in 1942 that earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Some 27 Americans of Italian...

Where It All Started

It started innocently enough, but it escalated into a debate on The Godfather. A friend and I were enjoying a leisurely ride in my car listening to Sirius Radio when the 1959 song Sea of Love came on.  I quickly related it to the movie by the same name starring...

Another Italian Gift

Last Saturday, my grandson celebrated his fifth birthday at an amusement center with all his friends and their parents.  Among his buddies was pre-school classmate Terrance, a Chinese American.  Terrance’s father was there, and we chatted a bit.  He had...

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

Average Americans – including fellow Italian Americans – often express puzzlement, even frustration, with myself and others via our strong opposition to endless “mob movies.”  Their responses are fairly predictable: “They’re just...

Shades of Black

Martin Luther King Day is one of two holidays celebrating Black heritage – the other is Juneteenth (June 19th), when news of liberation reached Texas slaves in 1865.  Despite having two of the only race-based holidays, most Black leaders would abolish Columbus...

LADY POWER

For those who doubt the power of anti-Italian stereotypes in the media, or whether they exist at all in a ‘diversity-friendly’ era, consider that even Italian American women aren’t immune. Case in point: Ms. Melissa Schemmenti, a school-teacher...