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I’m so proud to be writing to you as the new president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. It’s a sacred trust I take as seriously as anything I’ve ever done. I have big plans for our venerable organization, and there will be plenty of time to share those with you in the coming months. Right now, though, we need to bear down on a tim...

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The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans is proud to announce the unanimous election of Ron Onesti as its new President. The JCCIA is the umbrella organization of almost fifty organizations in the Chicago area and has produced Chicago’s Columbus Day Parade since its inception in 1952. Ron will lead the Italian American community in fostering...

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JCCIA past President Enza Ranieri, representing current President Sergio Giangrande, presented the final check for our Helping Hands COVID-19 Relief campaign to Benton House food pantry. Located in a beautiful vintage building that was a settlement house many years ago, Alderman Patrick D. Thompson and Mary Murray of Benton House were there to rece...

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While the pandemic has brought some families closer together, it has kept many others apart. And with the holidays approaching and state restrictions still in force, we’re all wondering how to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in our hearts. The JCCIA is doing its part by inviting you to share your favorite Italian-American holiday memories with t...

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October 12 2020 Roma, Italy / The United States

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Columbus Day in Chicago will look different this year as the fight for the return of the Columbus statues weighs heavy on the Italian American community. One of the Columbus statues removed this summer sat at Arrigo Park. It was relocated because of violent protests, but not destroyed. Italian Americans say enough is enough and to put the statues b...

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On Friday, the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans hand delivered a letter to Chicago’s mayor, asking her to return the statues to their “rightful locations.” The letter cites Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s statement regarding the fate of the statues over the summer, calling the removal of the statues “temporary.” “We understood the mayor’s stance w...

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My parents brought me to America when I was 8 years old. Like all other Italian immigrants, they were incredibly proud to become American citizens. They learned English along with the history of this great country as they looked forward to the opportunities that lay ahead. Still, they never forgot where they came from and always made our Italian he...

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For 7 years I have been dealing with everything that is Italian American on a daily basis, and by now I have learned to recognize when a name comes back often, involved in many things: that is a leader of the community in which he/she lives and works. This is what happens in the Italian American community in Chicago: if there is music or the celebr...

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Did Chicago sleep better Thursday night after the Christopher Columbus statues were taken down? One group of Chicagoans did not. In fact, one very close-knit community has been hurt — badly. The Italian American community, which, along with Chicago, had a symbol of its resilience removed. More correctly, dismantled and hauled away. Upon comin...

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