More news from the front lines of World War Columbus:
In Philadelphia PA, Christopher Columbus and Italian Americans have won another victory! Since 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s landfall in the Americas, an obelisk in honor of Columbus has stood at Penn’s Landing waterfront bearing, on the base, his name and the name of more than fifty Italian Americans and Italian American families who contributed to the construction of the monument. Columbus’s name and the names of all the Italian Americans were covered up with black blocks of wood by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation the day after the Mayor of Philadelphia encased Philadelphia’s Christopher Columbus statue at Marconi Plaza in a wooden coffin. Attorney George Bochetto, Esquire, who is representing the Italian American community of Philadelphia in a federal civil rights lawsuit against Philadelphia’s mayor reports: “America 500 Anniversary Corporation and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation have resolved the litigation concerning the Columbus Monument/Obelisk at Penn’s Landing. The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation will remove the covering on the Columbus Monument so that it may be displayed again in full and unobscured to the public as originally intended. America 500 and DRWC sat down together and resolved this dispute in a civil manner.” Attorney Bochetto went on to “commend the DRWC’s professionalism and steadfast commitment to the people of Philadelphia.”
Drexel University’s Italian Pride club will be hosting a webinar to have an open discussion on the historical record regarding Christopher Columbus and to discuss the decision of the University to replace Columbus Day with the misnomer “Indigenous People’s Day.” You can tune into the webinar on Tuesday evening, September 28, 2021, at 7 pm Eastern Time by clicking on the link, which you can request from Italian Pride founder and president Mario De Lorenzo by emailing him at md3466@drexel.edu.
In Liguria, Italy, the city of Genoa, the largest city of that region & the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, unanimously passed a motion confirming its support, stating, in part that the attacks on Genoa’s favorite son are “not only an attack on the figure of Christopher Columbus or on the Italian Community, but an attack on the whole of Western civilization, which developed on the American continents on October 12, 1492, with the discovery of the new world.” It further stated that this motion is “to show solidarity & closeness to all Italians & Americans of Italian origin in the face of attempts to criminalize & humiliate their own history & culture…” Additionally, Liguria’s second-largest city, La Spezia, joined in with its own vehement support of the fight for the civil rights of Americans of Italian descent in honoring Christopher Columbus. Since then, other cities, including Diano Marina & Ceriano Leghetto, have also shown their solidarity & support by passing similar resolutions, & more Italian cities are expected to follow.
In Mexico City, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is replacing the Christopher Columbus statue in the Paseo de la Reforma, dedicated in 1877 and removed on October 10th, with an image of an anonymous Olmec woman. Domestic terrorists on social media called for the Columbus statue to be toppled. Mayor Sheinbaum is marking the replacement of the statue with a holiday she calls, “International Day of the Indigenous Woman.” Mexican academic Mónica Moreno Figueroa criticized the removal of the Columbus statue by “replacing Columbus with a possibly anonymous Indigenous woman” as “lack[ing] nuance.” Gabriela Ramos, a senior lecturer on Latin American history at the University of Cambridge, also criticized the move, saying, “[T]he public should be wary of the replacement of historical figures and of being dragged into a ‘war of symbols’ because of modern-day political opportunism. That’s not the way to deal with history, by kind of erasing or deleting things, but actually trying to put all that we have into perspective. We should commemorate things without trying to cancel other aspects of history.” In the face of such outcry against her acts of damnatio memoriae, Mayor Sheinbaum has promised that Mexico City’s Columbus statue “would not be hidden away” but rather re-erected in an unspecified park.
In NYC, The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations has received a substantial grant to promote the Italian American community’s efforts at preserving statues, monuments and holidays dedicated to Christopher Columbus across the globe. COPOMIAO is now offering:
(1) a well-crafted brochure titled “Why Columbus Matters,”(2) Pamphlets and signs for Italian Americans to “Set the Record Straight on Columbus, and(3) a 7-foot Christopher Columbus pop-up display to help you debunk the slander against Columbus and teach the truth about this great hero.
The pamphlets and signs are FREE to all organizations, lodges and clubs, as are up to 200 of the brochures plus shipping. The Columbus pop-up displays are $200/piece. To order your Columbus pop-up or your free brochures and pamphlets, email your request today to the main office at it.am.presidents@gmail.com. Be sure to include in your order: (1) the full name of your organization, lodge or club; (2) its mailing address including zip code, and (3) the items and quantity desired.
The Central Park Conservancy has replaced Christopher Columbus Day on its calendar with the misnomer “Indigenous People’s Day.” You can register your polite but firm outrage to President & CEO Elizabeth W. Smith by visiting www.centralparknyc.org/ contact-us . Help hold President Smith and the Central Park Conservancy accountable for their ignorance and bigotry.
The NY Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan will house a new permanent exhibit which is set to open on September 24th. Among its 4,000 treasures is: the only surviving copy of a letter from Christopher Columbus announcing to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella his finding of the Americas. The collection also includes: Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence, An original copy of the Bill of Rights, The Gutenberg Bible printed in 1455, and other amazing treasures.
In Newark NJ, Mayor Ras Baraka tore down a Christopher Columbus statue in that city’s Washington Park and replaced it with a statue of a less-prominent civil rights figure, Harriet Tubman, who only participated in one Underground Railroad, while Christopher Columbus initiated and conducted three Underground Railroads to free Tainos from captivity from the Carib tribe and from the disobedient Spanish hidalgos. Newark also removed a 2nd Christopher Columbus statue erected by former New Jersey State House photographer and White House photographer, Ace Alagna. Mr. Alagna’s son-in-law, Buddy Fortunato, formerly a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, chairman of the Committee on Independent Authorities and Commissions and vice chair of the Transportation and Communications Committee, and currently the editor of New Jersey’s Italian Tribune, has put his father-in-law’s statue into protective storage with plans to re-erect it elsewhere. You can read more about The Columbus Heritage Coalition, the Christopher Columbus Portfolio, the fate of Columbus’s fleet, and other Columbus-related articles at The Italian Tribune’s website: italiantribune.com and searching for the term “Columbus” in the search box.
In Rockaway NJ, concerned citizens are descending upon Copeland Middle School for the Rockaway Board of Education Meeting to be held on September 22, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, at 100 Lake Shore Drive in Rockaway, NJ, to take a stand against the Rockaway Board of Ed’s discriminatory policy of eliminating Christopher Columbus Day from the school calendar. Dr. Manny Alfano of the Italian American OneVoice Coalition is calling for concerned Italian Americans, Columbus-supporters and their allies to join the masses on September 22nd and make our voices be heard that we will not allow the Rockaway School Board to erase Christopher Columbus from history or inflict any other indignity upon Italian Americans.
In Paterson NJ, the Italian-American OneVoice Coalition and other NJ-based Italian-American groups banded together to denounce the replacement by that city’s school board of Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day / Italian Heritage Day.” IAOVC Executive Board Member Andre DiMino commented, “Don’t placate us with this bifurcated day for Indigenous People and Italian Heritage. No other group is told who or how they should celebrate.” Ralph Contini, First National Vice President of UNICO National and chair of its Columbus Day Committee said, “The Paterson Board of Education has been influenced by the false narrative about Columbus based on fabrications…” William Schievella, founder and president of the Italian American Police Society of NJ said, “Columbus is an important symbol of acceptance to generations of our ancestors.”
In New Haven CT, a panel has voted to replace that city’s Christopher Columbus statue with a statue of Italian Immigrants entitled Indicando la via al futuro, or “pointing the way to the future,” a veiled indication of the Marxist tack to placate Italian-Americans with replacement statues and holidays to distract them from the falsehood of portraying Christopher Columbus as racist / rapist / maimer / murderer / slave-owner / slave-trader / grifter / genocidaire. While the statue, showing a family of Italian immigrants arriving in America with their suitcases as the father holds his young son, who is pointing to something in the distance, should be erected in New Haven, CT, it should be erected alongside the statue of Christopher Columbus, not in place of it. Italian Americans must not be fooled by these placation tactics used to erase Christopher Columbus, particularly in this time of damnatio memoriae of American icons such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, including the removal of George Washington’s likeness from the football helmets of George Washington University (and replacing this meaningful image with a meaningless cartoon hippopotamus), or the call to remove Boston’s statue of Abraham Lincoln.
In New Britain CT, The Italian American community seeks to celebrate Christopher Columbus Day 2021 by adding an engraving on the base of that city’s Columbus Statue honoring its Italian American military veterans. The local Italian American Alliance successfully convinced the mayor and city council to reject demands by Marxist radicals to remove the statue based on their false accusations of “genocide” by Columbus and other lies. Now, the Italian American Community seeks to honor their ancestors, courageous veterans and fallen war heroes, with an inscription serving as “an enduring witness to the courage, dedication and faith of our New Britain’s Italian-American war veterans who, in the spirit of Columbus, ventured into a new world for the glory of God and country.” You can donate to the plaque at the gofundme.com website established by the president of New Britain’s St. Ann’s Festa Italiana, Joey Catanzaro.
In Branford CT, the Board of Education has changed the name of Christopher Columbus Day so that it shares the holiday name with “Indigenous People’s Day.” The Italian American OneVoice Coalition is petitioning to move the holiday celebrating the tribal peoples of the Americas to the day after Thanksgiving, which is already federally recognized as “Native American Day,” so that the rights of Italian Americans and the tribal peoples of the Americas “are equally respected and dignified [without] any additional costs to the school district.” You can voice your support for the IAOVC’s petition by emailing Board of Education Chairman John Prins at jprins@branfordschools.org or by phone at 203-623-6191.
In Stonington CT, the School Board has reversed the School District’s decision to change Columbus Day to the misnomer “Indigenous People’s Day” after a deluge of people called school board secretary Heidi Simmons to tell her they were upset about the holiday change. So, at the next school board meeting, Secretary Simmons introduced a motion to restore the holiday, and the Board of Education voted 3-2 to restore the holiday’s name to “Christopher Columbus Day.” In an article reporting on the matter, The Connecticut Post revealed that “ideas central to” Critical Race Theory are “being taught to K[indergarden to] 12[th Grade] public school students.”
In Westerly RI, a 14-year-old-girl and a 13-year-old boy were arrested and charged for throwing eggs at and graffitiing with spray-paint that city’s Christopher Columbus statue. In a statement to police, the prepubescent perpetrators told police they were motivated by concerns with racial issues across the country. Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey said that additional charges may be filed against the youths depending on the final assessment of damage to the statue and the cost to restore it.
In Chester PA, the Christopher Columbus statue which stood in Market Square on the Avenue of the States in Chester for 66 years was removed several weeks ago by Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland, who is seeking something with which to replace the statue. The statue had been rededicated in 1995 by the October Twelve Lodge No. 486 of the Order of the Sons of Italy in America (the original donor) and the Christopher Columbus Philatelic Society. A granite marker in front of the statue depicted the Santa Maria and the words “Columbus Center Association 1938,” referring to a conglomeration of several Italian-American groups that own the statue and had it built and displayed in 1955. Attorney for the Christopher Columbus Memorial Association, Francis Alexander Malofiy, Esquire, has announced that the Memorial Association currently has the statue in safekeeping and will display it elsewhere proudly and prominently.
In Westborough MA, residents spoke out in favor of keeping the municipal holiday of Columbus Day at a Select Board meeting on August 24th, and opposed the position of the town’s “Diversity and Inclusion Committee,” whose chair Cara Presley, advocated at an earlier meeting on July 20th for the elimination of the holiday held so dear by Italian Americans across the nation and replacing it with the misnomer “Indigenous People’s Day.” In a lie-filled screed at the July 20th Select Board meeting, Presley falsely characterized Christopher Columbus as “a man known to have committed atrocities against indigenous people that would today likely be considered crimes against humanity,” and falsely stated that Columbus “led” the “genocide of indigenous people” despite the primary historical sources showing unequivocally that Columbus not only did no such things but actively and successfully fought against genocide and other atrocities committed against the tribal peoples by the Spanish hidalgos and the man-eating Carib tribe. Joe Black of the Westborough Knights of Columbus Council 85 said that his council fully supported and encouraged a separate holiday for the tribal peoples of the Americas, but not at the expense of Columbus Day. Ciaran O’Donnell criticized Presley’s “Diversity and Inclusion Committee” as lacking transparency and excluding local residents while giving outsiders a platform. Mr. O’Donnell also said that the support of Presley’s committee for the removal of Columbus Day is outside the scope of the committee, which had failed to follow due process in its bigoted campaign of damnatio memoriae.