Italo – americano? Fiero di esserlo, proud to be Italian

Next time you see someone watching a rerun of ” Sopranos” or the “Jersey Shore” and they think Italian Americans are about organized crime, remember this!

I am an Italian American….

My roots are deep in an ancient soil, drenched by the Mediterranean sun, as Susan likes to call it “Paradise”, and watered by pure streams from snow capped mountains.

I am enriched by thousands of years of culture.

My hands are those of the mason, the artist. the man of soil ( un semplice contadino). My thoughts have been recounted in annals, ( “a narrative of events “) of Rome, the poetry of Virgil, the creation of Dante, and the philosophy of Benedetto Croce.

I am an Italian American, and from my ancient world, I first spammed the seas to the New world.  I am Cristoforo Colombo.

I am Giovanni Caboto known in American History as John Cabot, discoverer of the mainland of North America.   I am Americo Vespucci, who gave my name to the New World “America”.

First to sail the great lakes in 1679, founder of the territory that became the State Of Illinois, colonizer of Louisiana and Arkansas…. I am Enrico Tonti.

I am Filippo Mazzei, friend of Thomas Jefferson, and my thesis on the equality of man was written into the Bill of Rights, ( I bet you didn’t know that).. I am an Italian American.  I financed the Northwest Expedition of George Rogers Clark and accompanied him through the lands that would become Ohio, ( the state that today calls many presidents), Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.  I am Colonel Francesco Vigo.

I mapped the pacific from Mexico to Alaska and to the Philippines.  I am Alessandro Malaspina.

I am Giacomo Belinimi, discoverer of the source of the Mississippi river in 1823.

I created the dome of the United States capital. They call me the Michelangelo of America.  I am Constantino Brumidi.

In 1904, I founded San Francisco, The bank of Italy, now known as the Bank Of America, the largest financial institution in the world.  I am A.P. Giannini.

I am Enrico Fermi, father of nuclear science in America. I am the first enlisted man to earn the Medal Of Honor in World War II.  I am John Basilone of New Jersey.

I am a West Point Graduate ( so many to list), I led Nasa’s Apollo Cmdr. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon in 1969, as pledged by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. I am Rocco Petrone.

I am one of thousands of immigrant masons who built every dam of every reservoir in the greater New York area at the turn of the century.

I am an Italian American.

An airport was named after me, I was the first Italian American elected  Mayor of New York for three terms from 1934 to 1945. Previously I was the first Italian American elected to Congress in 1916 and 1918, and again from 1922 through 1930.  I am Fiorello Henry La Guardia.

I am the steel worker in Pittsburgh, the coal miner in  the mountains of Pennsylvania where there is a cemetery of Italian Americans, nested in the blue ridge mountains were I rest. I am an Italian American.

I am the textile designer in Manhattan, the movie maker in Hollywood, the home maker and breadwinner of main Street USA.

I am an American without stint or reservation, loving this land as only one who understands history, its agonies and its triumphs can love and serve.

I will not be told my contribution is any less nor my role not as worthy as any other American.

I am not Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano,Al Capone or John Gotti, I am not Anthony Soprano nor am I one of the participants of Jersey Shore.

I am one of the first responders at the world trade center after the attack, I am like many other first responders suffering the aftermath of the collapse.

I am an Italian American

I will stand in support of this nation’s freedom and protect against all foes.

My heritage has dedicated me to this nation.

I am proud of my heritage, and I will remain worthy of it.

I am and Italian American

I am Enzo Ardovini

Happy thanksgiving to all.