When the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association recently voted in favor of replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, it offered precious little by way of justification. Here is the full text of its resolution: “The National Education Association believes that the history of colonization needs to be recognized and acknowledged in every state. To do so, the Association believes that the name of the current holiday known as ‘Columbus Day’ should be renamed and recognized as ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ in recognition of the early indigenous peoples who were living in the United States before colonization by European …

A feeling of dread always comes over me when I read a passage like this one from the news release for “Bottom of the Ninth,” which trumpets its Italian-American street cred. “The film is about a man who returns to the Bronx after serving 17 years in prison for a violent mistake he made as a kid, ultimately robbing him of a professional baseball career and the love of his life.” “Here we go again,” I thought. “Another film that leans too heavily on tired Mafia tropes instead of standing on its own two feet.” The foreboding persisted throughout my …

Both a haven and a springboard for exploring Italy and the rest of Europe, Loyola’s Rome Center has been attracting generations of families like the Turanos since opening its doors in 1961. Ivy League schools are known for their legacy enrollments: students who attend because their parents attended and so on through the generations. It’s a point of pride for the families and a tribute to the quality of the institutions they attend. But East Coast powerhouses like Harvard and MIT don’t hold the patent on generational devotion. The John Felice Rome Center has been inspiring family loyalty since Loyola …

Dustin Hoffman and Toni Servillo in Two acting legends are teaming up for an upcoming Italian film. Dustin Hoffman and Toni Servillo are currently in Rome shooting Donato Carrisi’s “L’uomo del labirinto” (Into the Labyrinth), the follow up to his successful 2017 feature debut, “La ragazza nella nebbia” (The Girl in the Fog). Shooting began on March 18 and is expected to last for seven weeks. The firm centers on a young woman, played by Valentina Bellè, who wakes up in a hospital bed with a broken leg. Disoriented and unable to remember anything, she finds herself in a room …

In the two decades since its founding, the Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization has created a remarkable legacy of giving. Each year, the group provides hundreds of needy families with full Thanksgiving meals, presents tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to college-bound students and bestows tens of thousands of dollars more upon veterans in need and other worthy causes. “None of what we do would be possible without the involvement and support of our members,” says CIACO president Bob Urbinati. “That’s why we decided to present our Humanitarian of the Year Award in memory of deceased members at this …

“Money makes the world go ’round,” or so they say. But in the world I live in, volunteerism is every bit as precious as cold, hard cash. At Fra Noi, we have Dan Serafini, a retired financial systems programmer who emailed me out of the blue one day with an offer of help. He came along just as Mary DeSanto was stepping down as our longtime mailing manager, and Dan now assembles our monthly renewal notices, with lunch as his only material reward. The Italian American Veterans Museum is run by an all-volunteer board that’s rich in both talent and …

I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I’m always looking to improve myself, and the leap from one year to the next is as good a springboard as any to spread my wings and at least try to soar. In the past, my to-do list has centered mostly on taking better care of myself — exercising, eating better, learning to relax — with my resolve typically melting well before the spring thaw. With the clock winding down on 2018, I was on the hunt for a new sort of resolution — the kind …

  Durante le lezioni di Italiano III e AP, facciamo una varietà di attività divertenti in cui ci immergiamo nella cultura italiana. Per esempio, ogni anno studiamo un’opera e poi andiamo a vederla alla Lyric di Chicago. Un’altra gita interessante è alla sede americana della Barilla. Quest’anno abbiamo imparato tante cose sull’aspetto commerciale e sulle strutture per la preparazione della pasta. Facciamo inoltre una festa di lingue moderne ogni anno. Si può ballare, giocare, mangiare e fare attività artistiche. Le offerte alimentari includono dei cannoli, delle focaccine, delle crêpe, dei croissant, delle arepas, dei tamales e dell’horchata. Per concludere, adoriamo …

  Nonostante che il programma d’italiano a nostra scuola non sia molto grande, ci siamo dedicati allo studio della cultura e della lingua italiana. L’italiano è una lingua così bella e adoriamo impararlo. L’anno scorso abbiamo partecipato ad un progetto con studenti di Modena su Edmodo, una piattaforma online, grazie agli sforzi della signora Carol Wolfe, la presidente della Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation e la Signora Emma Kowalenko, un membro attivo di questa fondazione. La Signora Kowalenko veniva ogni giovedì e ci ha aiutato ad analizzare, tradurre, e anche scrivere poesie. Durante la cerimonia della nostra ammissione nella Società …

  Una volta al mese, facciamo una discussione chiamata caffè e chiacchiere.   Il caffè e chiacchiere si fa ogni mese per tutto l’anno scolastico. È un’opportunità di conversare in gruppi o con tutti in classe.  Il nostro Profe Bondì ci porta delle ciambelle e il latte cioccolato che rappresenta come essere in un bar italiano bevendo caffè con gli amici.  Poi, facciamo questi gruppetti per iniziare la discussione del giorno mentre mangiamo le ciambelle e beviamo il “caffè.” Ci piace quest’attività perché ci fa sentire comodi e tranquilli, ci aiuta spingere a partecipare, e ogni persona ha l’opportunità di parlare …