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Declaring Indigenous Peoples' Day on the same date as Columbus Day is an attempt to delete a part of U.S. history ["'Basta!' Italian Americans to fight Seattle's Columbus Day slight," Local News, Oct. 9].   European exploration of the Americas led to subjugation of New World natives and African slaves. It wasn't pretty. But it's also the rea...

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Hey, show a little respect for Christopher Columbus! Italian-American activists are outraged over a new plan to place an art installation around the statue of the explorer that stands in Manhattan's Columbus Circle. The planned installation, by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi, is supposed to give New Yorkers a new perspective on Chris by enclosing hi...

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It's almost Columbus Day but you would never know it in certain parts of the country. In many cities, and even whole states, Columbus Day has been replaced with "Native American Day", or "Discoverer Day" as has happened in Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon and South Dakota.   Other states are forced to authorize the holiday although they don't celebrat...

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In advance of the the 13th Annual Columbus Day Commemoration, members of Trenton Council Knights of Columbus, The New Jersey Italian American Heritage Commission, and community volunteers braved the weather and rain on Sat., Oct. 4 to clean Columbus Park around the statue.   This group included the following: Matt Tydryszewski, Don Povio, v...

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Standing at the end Boulevard, next to the tennis courts at Byrd Park, is the first statue of Christopher Columbus erected in the South. In the early 1920s, Richmond's Italian-American community – about 1,000 strong – wanted to gift a statue of their kinsman to their adopted home.   The residents hoped city officials would add a Columbus sta...

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Members of the Italian American One Voice Coalition (www.iaovc.org) were pleased this past weekend to join the Mercer County Italian American Festival Association, New Jersey State Senator President Stephen Sweeney, and other dignitaries, in rededicating the Christopher Columbus statue at the Italian American Heritage Center in Hamilton Township....

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It's been debated for years, but now the city of Minneapolis has decided to change from celebrating Columbus Day to observing Indigenous People's Day instead. Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1937, though not all states observe it, including Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota.   The day has long been a hot button issu...

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It's been 521 years since the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus "sailed the ocean blue/in fourteen hundred and ninety-two." Since then, there have been thousands of parades, speeches and statues commemorating Columbus, along with a critical rethinking of his life and legacy.   But the question remains, how did a man who never set foot on...

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All of a sudden, at the beginning of October 2014 Seattle has turned into the center of the communications in and about the Italian American community. What happened in the north western city that was so important to cause this? The Seattle city council voted to transform Columbus Day in Indigenous Day. We are glad to be able to talk about this, a...

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Rhode Island's Irish may have a lock on March, but October belongs to the state's Italians. And they know how to celebrate, with Columbus Day parades and festivals taking place from Westerly to Woonsocket. Providence's Federal Hill, the city's Italian stronghold, closes off much of Atwells Avenue beginning Saturday for three days of food, entertai...

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