L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 4 SILVIA GIUDICI NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS " I was raised in a home with my Ital- ian immigrant g r a n d p a r e n t s : they had a very im- portant impact on my life. Neither of them had formal education, but they taught me more about what was impor- tant in life than any school or university I ever attended." A n a t i v e o f C l e v e l a n d , O h i o , I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n attorney, politician of the Democratic Party, and judge Basil Russo found his way of showing respect to the heritage his family passed on to him. In fact, he has not only been serving as the National President of the I t a l i a n S o n s a n d Daughters of America -- o n e o f t h e t w o l a r g e s t Italian-American associa- tions in the United States -- since 2014, but he also took u p t h e p r e s i d e n c y o f t h e C o n f e r e n c e o f P r e s i d e n t s o f M a j o r I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n Organizations, COPO- MIAO. Father of Anthony and J o e R u s s o , directors of several successful Marvel superhero films, Basil's pri- mary mission, as soon as h e b e c a m e p r e s i d e n t o f COPOMIAO last October, was to find a way to unify the Italian-Americans all over the country. "All of our groups historically operate independently of one anoth- er. Oftentimes, they have b e e n u n c o o p e r a t i v e w i t h e a c h o t h e r , a n d t h a t h a s b e e n d e t r i m e n t a l t o o u r community because it held us back and prevented us from having a truly influen- tial voice at national level, something other racial and ethnic groups in the country were able to achieve. Mr Russo, what was y o u r f i r s t a c t i o n t o reaching more unity? Back in February of this y e a r , I h o s t e d t h e f i r s t national Italian-American summit online. We did not only invite the 52 members o f t h e C o n f e r e n c e o f P r e s i d e n t s , b u t w e r e s e a r c h e d a n d f o u n d a s many contacts as we could f r o m o t h e r I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s , l o d g e s , a n d g r o u p s . 3 5 4 organizations took part in the end, we brought togeth- er so many realities. At that m e e t i n g , I e x p l a i n e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f w o r k i n g together and helping one a n o t h e r a c c o m p l i s h o u r respective missions. How's that going? W h e n I j o i n e d , t h r e e y e a r s a g o , t h e r e w e r e 3 5 o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n t h e Conference of Presidents, most of which were on the East Coast, in New York City and New Jersey. As a vice president, I wanted to bring together associations from all over the country. S o w e b r o u g h t i n m a j o r organizations from Chicago, from California. We have t h e I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y o f S a c r a m e n t o , which is an umbrella group that heads up many Italian- A m e r i c a n g r o u p s i n California. We also have the Italian-American Museum o f L o s A n g e l e s . Furthermore, we brought in groups from Arizona, New M e x i c o , L o u i s i a n a . I brought in 15 new groups, and today we have 50 mem- bers: associations, Italian- American education organi- z a t i o n s , a n d c h a r i t a b l e organizations. What is the most rele- v a n t t h i n g y o u h a v e done as a President? We formed six national c o m m i t t e e s . W e h a v e a n Italian language committee to help promote the Italian l a n g u a g e t h r o u g h o u t t h e country so that it will be taught at more schools. We have a charitable activities committee; we have a com- mittee for Italian museums and cultural institutions, so that they can all cooperate and share their exhibits. We also have what's called a "public pilot committee," so that we can determine what i s s u e s a r e i m p o r t a n t t o Italian-Americans through- out the country and we can work together to help pro- mote that agenda on behalf of our community. T h i n k i n g a b o u t t h e f u t u r e , w h a t i s y o u r next goal? There are two. First, I'm trying to ensure all these organizations get to know each other because it's very important. You're always more inclined to be success- ful if you're working with people you consider friends. Secondly, supporting our Continued to page 6 In this photo, Joe, Basil, Patricia and Anthony Russo at the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (Photo: Tommaso Boddi/ Getty Images North America) An interview with Cleveland Judge Basil Russo, president of Copomiao

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