More than 100 people enjoyed the annual Figli d’Italia (Order of the Sons of Italy) October dinner and party, which celebrates Columbus Day, Italian Heritage Month and Halloween. The event held Oct. 26 at the Knights of Columbus is a highlight of the year for Figli d’Italia. “It’s a Christopher Columbus masquerade ball in honor of our Italian herit...

In a bizarre meeting by even Santa Barbara City Council standards, the council voted 6-0, with one abstention, to recognize Italian Heritage Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day on the same day — Columbus Day, the second Monday of October. The discussion featured a power outage while a Franciscan Friar was speaking. Councilman Oscar Gutierrez lectured t...

It’s getting harder and harder to find a college campus where the Admiral of the Ocean Sea can be indigenous. This year, “On Columbus Day, a 25-year old statue of the holiday’s namesake found a new home on the campus of Thomas Aquinas College,” the college proudly announced. It had actually been on another California college campus, but one in whic...

This column is a partial thank-you to the creepy cowards who vandalized the Christopher Columbus statue at Broad and Oregon and the History of Italian Immigration Museum on East Passyunk Avenue. Because of your vandalism, I met Michael Bonasera, a listener and one of the people who founded and runs the museum. On our recent tour, Bonasera said: "Th...

Silvio Laccetti, a retired professor of social sciences from Stevens Institute of Technology, spoke at the Hunterdon County Italian Legacy Society, where he discussed Christopher Columbus to disprove a number of controversies about the explorer, which are often found in today's school curriculum. In the various topics of discussion and writing abou...

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) supports Christopher Columbus Day and opposes public campaigns that advocate for its elimination as a federal holiday. As an organization devoted to the promotion and preservation of Italian American heritage, we support unequivocally keeping Columbus Day as a federal holiday. We believe that Columbus...

In recent years I have been in the East Boston Columbus Day parade. This year I was in the military contingent riding in a WWII Jeep in the back with my very large cowboy hat on. Many people thought I was the new Rex Trailer but not true. I was pretending to be Hollywood actor Robert Duval when he was in Apocalypse Now. I guess the movie must be to...

Someone defaced the statue of Christopher Columbus at the City of Newburgh’s waterfront, painting the bronze figure’s hands bright red sometime after last week’s celebration of Columbus Day. Karen Monti, the president of the Newburgh chapter of UNICO, said the city police were notified after the vandalism was discovered within the last few days. Co...

Sometimes, (virtually) wandering around the United States getting to now Italian American leaders, I end up meeting somebody who really is committed to promote and celebrate the Italian culture, our language, our values. I live in Italy, and for me it is always incredibly inspiring to see how much love there is for my country, outside of it. Today...

For all of his accolades in the 13th Century, Christopher Columbus has had rough seas here in the 21st Century, as indigenous groups and many in the general public have begun to call for a change to the holiday that tends to skew towards highlighting the Italian culture more than the explorer himself. Add Mayor Carlo DeMaria to the list of defender...