L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, July jottings with an Italian Connec- tion: Army Gene- ral Peter Chiarelli said, " I dropped the d word." T h e g e n e r a l , w h e n explaining why the military prefers to use the term post t r a u m a t i c s t r e s s r a t h e r t h a n p o s t t r a u m a t i c stress disorder, arguing that disorder unnecessarily stig- m a t i z e s s o l d i e r s ' n a t u r a l response to the emotional and violent experience of battle. Unlike a rose, a disorder by any other name would not smell as sweet nor extin- g u i s h t h e e m o t i o n a l anguish. *** Bocce, played initially in the Italian Alps over 2,000 years ago, consisted of the underhand tossing of stones. I t w a s t h e n e x p o r t e d t o G e r m a n y i n t h e f o r m o f bowling at pins, circa fourth century AD, and was a pre- cursor to bowling. *** C h i n a ' s C o m m u n i s t revolution in 1949 sent an influx of Cantonese speakers i n t o N e w Y o r k ' s " L i t t l e Italy," where they gradually became the dominant group in Transfiguration Parish, the oldest Catholic church building in New York City (built in 1801), which served mainly Italian immigrants. A l t h o u g h m a n y o f t h e p r i e s t s a t t h e c h u r c h were Italian, as Mary Knoll Brothers (and Sisters at the school adjacent to the Mott Street Church), many spoke fluent Cantonese as they had worked in China. *** Geraldine Ferraro left us (March 26, 2011) at age 75. I met her several times when she was in California, after she accepted the nomi- nation for vice president at t h e 1 9 8 4 D e m o c r a t i c National Convention in San F r a n c i s c o a s W a l t e r M o n d a l e ' s presidential nominee's running mate. Geraldine Ferraro's accep- tance speech, a moment in history as she was the first w o m a n o n a m a j o r p a r t y ticket, was the highlight of t h e 1 9 8 4 D e m o c r a t i c Convention. She charmed a u d i e n c e s a n d , i n i t i a l l y , polls showed Democratic t i c k e t g a i n i n g g r o u n d o n President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush. *** G e r a l d i n e F e r r a r o , a three-term Congresswoman from Queens and the first w o m a n v i c e p r e s i d e n t i a l candidate on a major ticket graciously accepted the deci- sion of the voters; however, she was disappointed that t h e m a j o r v o i c e s i n o u r National Italian-American community remained silent when ethnic slanders sur- f a c e d . I n h e r book Changing History: W o m e n , P o w e r , a n d Politics (1994), she recalled t h e o f t e n r e p e a t e d - b u t undocumented - reports that she had family ties to orga- nized crime. Ferraro said she did not w o r r y m u c h a b o u t t h e charges when they surfaced in the 1984 vice-presiden- tial campaign for two rea- sons: she knew they weren't true and she knew that lead- ers of the Italian American Community had a history of standing up against slander. She was half right. "But I was wrong about the second part. In fact, for those four months, most of our community rolled o v e r a n d p l a y e d dead. When the New York Post published story after s t o r y s u g g e s t i n g t h a t t h e Zaccaro family was connect- e d w i t h o r g a n i z e d c r i m e , with no data to support the claim, our community was silent..." Why did so few stand up f o r h e r , s h e w o n d e r s . Because she was a woman? If these were the reasons, why didn't anyone say so? F e r r a r o n o t e s t h a t a t t h e time a few journalists cor- r o b o r a t e d h e r s u s p i c i o n that gender had a lot to do with it. They reported that when- ever major American publi- c a t i o n s m e n t i o n e d an Italian-surnamed man in t h e s a m e s t o r y w i t h t h e words "organized crime," they evoked an immediate r e a c t i o n f r o m I t a l i a n American community lead- ers. Not so with Ferraro. She was clearly angry and h u r t , b u t g u t s y , a s s h e e x p l a i n e d w h y s h e c o u l d Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. n e v e r l e t s u c h s l u r s g o unchallenged. "About eighty years ago, my grandfather was a street cleaner for New York City. He had finished sweeping t h e s t r e e t a n d a w o m a n came up and threw garbage where he had just swept. He o n l y s p o k e I t a l i a n , s o h e y e l l e d a t h e r i n t h a t l a n - g u a g e . S h e s c r e a m e d a t him, 'I'll get you fired, Wop.'And so she did and he is one of the reasons why I will continue to speak up against bigotry, for digni- ty...for us all... *** N O I A ( N a t i o n a l O r g a n i z a t i o n o f I t a l i a n A m e r i c a n W o m e n ) o r g a - n i z e d C o n c e r n s f o r W o m e n i n t h e 2 1 s t Century, a conference and tour with stops in Rome and Palermo for "A Dialogue for I t a l i a n a n d A m e r i c a n Women" in 1996. My daughter Caterina and I a t t e n d e d a n d s i n c e G e r a l d i n e F e r r a r o a n d M a t i l d a C u o m o w e r e k e y n o t e speakers, following the all day conference, an evening reception at Villa Taverna, home of the US Ambassador to Italy, was held for all us attendees. During the week, i t b e c a m e c l e a r t h a t Ferraro's time spent teach- ing in the classroom, prose- c u t i n g f o r t h e Q u e e n s District Attorney's office and caring for her widowed, ail- i n g , e l d e r l y m o t h e r h a d g i v e n h e r i n s i g h t s t h a t shaped her votes and legisla- tion as a US Representative. May she rest in peace and not meet any of those "Silent Signors" in heaven. *** Italian was taught for the first time in America in 1747 in a private school i n N e w Y o r k C i t y a t t h e request of parents. Selling Homes Throughout The Bay Area Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation!

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