Focus

"I often get asked why I give out Peeps at Easter." said the Easter Bunny.

Postwar Christmas in America. Memories of a nine-year-old boy raised in a household of Italian immigrants in New York. A Christmas story that Professor Robert Viscusi generously offered us for publication years ago. We propose it again in this difficult Christmas also as a tribute to Bob’s memory, who sadly left us a few months ago. Thanks Bob, and buona lettura to you all.

In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities the French Doctor Manette, after spending 18-years in La Bastille in City # 1 (Paris) is released to live in City # 2 (London) with his daughter Lucie, whom he had never met. The story is used to warn the readers about the terrible conditions that led to the bloody French Revolution, and the even bloodier Reign of Terror. A similar, perhaps slightly less bloody, Tale is reflected in the inglorious record of New York City Mayors that has been a progression of mostly more, and less unflattering comparisons.

Exactly 100 years after women gained the right to vote, we will finally have a woman in the second highest office in the land. And as a woman of color and the daughter of immigrant parents, Kamala Harris crashes through two other glass ceilings. Her mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica.

“This is not who we are,” Biden, Harris, and many others insisted during the campaign. Yet we must acknowledge the fact that 70,000,000 Americans voted for Trump. The candidate and President understood his supporters all too well. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot some people and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,/ mi ritrovai in una selva oscura (Midway upon the journey of our life,/ I found myself within a dark forest).” This powerful beginning could be enough to fall in love with the Italian language. With its musicality, its verbal intelligence, its expressive force...

A new project. In this virtual but very concrete space, we will collect stories of Italian resilience from all over the world, from New York to Milan, from Paris to Berlin to Buenos Aires ... There will be stories, interviews, and ideas. We will publish them in different languages, as they come to us, without necessarily looking for translations, but we will be happy if you will help us, perhaps translating and disseminating ------ Un nuovo progetto. In questo luogo virtuale, ma molto concreto, raccoglieremo storie di resilienza italiana da tutto il mondo, da New York a Milano, da Parigi a Berlino a Buenos Aires... Saranno testimonianze, interviste, racconti. Lo faremo in diverse lingue, senza cercare necessariamente traduzioni, ma saremo felici se ci darete una mano magari traducendo e diffondendo...

Removal of public Columbus statues is happening all over the U.S.A., giving Americans of Italian descent a wakeup call, nudging this sleeping minority to ask, what does this statue really means to their identity as U.S. American citizens.

The thought of a young student in such difficult days. To look to the future ... Through action and inaction, but always aware of others, we can save lives and make it through, hopefully bettered…

From the Dean Desk of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. The death of our dear friend Robert Viscusi, Professor Emeritus of Brooklyn College.

A presentation of Emma D’Aquino’s new book about Nino Marano, a man who spent 49 years in prison. It all started with stolen peppers and eggplants. After being arrested and imprisoned, it’s in prison that Nino became a murderer and never got out. Alternating between moments of hope for redemption and recurring episodes of violence. The sentence gets longer and it becomes almost an excuse to commit new crimes. A difficult and controversial story that opens up to many reflections.

Two Italian language appointments for Emma D’Aquino’s book “Ancora un giro di chiave” edited by Baldini & Castoldi. One of the most renowned Italian news anchors puts together a moving and incredible telling of detainee Nino Marano’s story. Why did we decide to hold them in Italian?

As he prepares to spend a year in Bologna, an American student contemplates LGBTQ safety in Italy.

An Italian TV station makes a show that looks for ‘pure Italians,’ starting from their food choices. The result? Presumption, arrogance and lack of knowledge.

EDITORIAL. A new communication agency is born. One that goes beyond information. A hub.

Writer, journalist, and literary scholar Francesco Durante, 66, died in Capri on Saturday. With astounding range, infinite intellectual curiosity, indefatigable energy, his detached, wry irony, combined with his passionate empathy, helped us make sense of our world and the past.

Italy's deputy premiers Salvini and Di Maio, governing partners for the past year, have not been on speaking terms for weeks. But under pressure from the European Union over the country's giant debt, they are trying to find a way out, as an EU deadline looms July 9

Despite gloomy predictions, the Italian economy has surged upwards. Showing an increase of 0.1% in the past 12 months, the hike in the GDP is accompanied by an increase in employment. While domestic demand remains timid, exports have increased.

Considerations after the Palermo Seminary with 115 young Italians from all over the world

Overwhelming flows of migrants who board fragile boats to seek refuge and shelter in neighboring countries. The refusal by some of such countries to accept refugees. The blockage of their fragile boats in high waters, exposing them to an uncertain fate. It may sound like today, but it happened forty years ago...