L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2020 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 T hese days, leaving your house to take a walk or to do some shopping brings about a sense of alien- ation. Feeling comfort- able while everyone around you wears a surgical mask isn't simple. And none of us feels comfortable wearing it, let's face it: it's awkward and impractical, glasses fog up and, underneath it, it gets warm very quickly. It hides smiles, it makes voices less clear but, above all, it mir- rors the times we are in. We cannot help but thinking we're cohabiting with an invisible enemy. Even people without masks cause similar thoughts, because they embody the risks we live with. However, if we imagine to fly above our towns, if we imagine to rise up into the skies and fly through the dark clouds of the last few months, our perspective may change. If we could see California from above, we'd notice green spring landscapes, large colorful towns, gray roads free from traffic and, of course, a beautiful strip of intensely blue ocean. We'd probably feel peaceful and calm, sensa- tions that would sooth our minds, especially when thinking about the uncertain future looming on us. If we were in Italy, on the other hand, we'd probably feel the thrill to see the sky shining in the three colors of our flag, from North to South. The 2nd of June, the Day of the Republic, will look a lot like the 25th of April, the Day of Liberation. Ceremonies will be understated, almost somber, in a country that lost 33.000 people to Covid-19, saw 230.000 getting infected and still counts 60.000 posi- tives. A country that increasingly fears social unrest, rising unemployment and the closure of thousands of businesses. An itinerant event, aimed at bringing together symboli- A longer celebration for the 2nd of June and a long return to normality From the director cally the whole country and to give "a sign of unity, solidari- ty and renewal" has been ideated to still honor our Motherland and its people in spite of it all. In the space of five days, in a show as dramatic and breathtaking as that offered by our Armed Forces parading against the backdrop of the Fori Imperiali, the Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale — our Frecce Tricolori — will fly over every single regional capital, giving the sky a new, tricol- ored shade. An embrace that unifies the whole country, symbolically represented by their passage above Codogno — which isn't a capoluogo di regione, but was the first red zone created in Italy during the emergency — and Loreto, home to the Santuario della Beata Vergine, patroness of aeronauts. From North to South, the Frecce's tricolor will bring together all the flags that, for weeks, have been flying from the windows of all the Italians who stood there, singing the national anthem or Modugno's Volare to feel connected to one another and to say that andrà tutto bene, as children across Italy wrote on those now ubiquitous rainbow posters. There is another message, though, in this lengthened, diluted celebration that'll last a whole week. Today, time runs differently, it runs slower, because slower is the moment we've been going through. During the lockdown we reconsidered our relationship with time: with most activities dormant, schools closed and the duty to remain home, the vast majority of us was left to face endless hours and infinite days. At the same time, we learned what being prompt and rapid means. The diffusion of the epidemic taught us that even minimal time variations in responding to the emergency produced dramatically dif- ferent infection curves, with focused responses translating into a quicker interruption of the virus' diffusion. Delaying the implementation of protective measures means more infections, more victims and heavier economic losses. "The sacrifices of the Italian people allowed the country to exit the lockdown and to finally move onto reopening most commercial activities," said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the beginning of Phase Two. Italy, and the world, now face the challenge of living with the virus and in Italy, as everywhere else, we are all responsible of how it goes: things will evolve on the basis of how we'll behave. It is an exceptional moment in history, one that requires commitment, awareness, attention, not anger and protests. We must build our victory using our spirit of adaptation. It is nice to know that 3 out of 4 Italians spend nice words to describe the atmosphere in their homes during Phase One of the Covid-19 emergency, that of the "stay home" order. Perhaps this means there may be a silver lining in this, too, in the sense we all can find constructive solutions when living a difficult situation. Of course, we'd all love to be already in the post-Covid 19 phase; we'd love to have the vaccine ready and go back to do what we used to. But we have a long way to walk, and it'll be a slow one, too. Summer won't be a time to relax, either. It'll be differ- ent and there is no way around it. Social distancing on Italian beaches shows we cannot let our guard down, even if we really want to and we can't wait to do it. Yes. We'd all love to look at the Earth like astronaut Luca Parmitano. We'd all love to be way higher than the Frecce's tricolor, that light cloud of red, white and green lingering above Italy's to celebrate the 2nd of June. From space, the virus is way too small to be interesting. But that's how it is: to see it that way, vanishing away in space, we still have a long way to go. Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 Member of FUSIE (Federazione Unitaria Stampa Italiana all'Estero), COGITO L'Italo-Americano 610 West Foothill Blvd. Unit D, Monrovia, CA 91016 - Tel.: (626) 359-7715 PLEASE SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO P.O. BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano Newspaper (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization), www.italoamericano.org, is the largest and longest-running Italian newspaper in America, not to mention the cultural and news resource for all things Italian in the US. A bilingual newspaper which represents an historical landmark for the Italian American Communities in the West Coast and throughout the US. L'Italo-Americano benefits from subsidies by the Italian Government, Memberships and Donations intended to support and not interrupt a mission that began in 1908 to preserve and promote the Italian language and culture in the USA Periodicals postage paid at Monrovia, California 91016, and additional mailing offices. PUBLISHER Robert Barbera Grande Ufficiale DIRECTOR/EDITOR IN CHIEF Simone Schiavinato ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Patrick Abbate EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Barbara Minafra COPY EDITOR Francesca Bezzone LOS ANGELES CONTRIBUTOR Silvia Giudici SAN FRANCISCO CONTRIBUTORS Catherine Accardi Serena Perfetto SEATTLE CONTRIBUTOR Rita Cipalla CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mariella Radaelli, Francesca Bezzone, Luca Ferrari, Stefano Carnevali, Joel Mack, Paula Reynolds, Nicoletta Curradi, GenerosoD'Agnese, Fabrizio Del Bimbo, Maria Gloria, Alfonso Guerriero Jr., Anthony Di Renzo Serena Perfetto, Kenneth Scambray, Chiara D'Alessio © 2020 L'Italo-Americano Membership: One year $59 - Single copy $2.25 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to L'Italo Americano PO Box 6528 Altadena, CA 91003

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