Ciao from Rome, welcome to another wonderful issue of our magazine. Things are getting better in Italy, as we tell you twice a week in our video and audio podcast We the ItaliaNews, which we encourage you to watch or listen to all the time.

This past June 2, Italy celebrated 75 years of our Republic. At that time Italy chose the Republic and decided the end of the Monarchy. For the 75th anniversary, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella gave a magnificent speech, which we are proud to publish, translated into English, in this issue 140 of our magazine. You will find it only here: we recommend you read it, it is an extraordinary demonstration of love for Italy, and hope for our future. It is also President Mattarella's last speech for our Festa della Repubblica, because on June 2, 2022 his 7-year term will be over and we will already have a new President.

And continuing to talk about moments when Italian institutions have given us reason to be proud, let me give you a wonderful news: the Italian Parliament has approved the motion presented by Fucsia Fitzgerald Nissoli and Federico Mollicone in defense of Christopher Columbus! It has been a long and difficult work, but thanks to them, great friends of We the Italians, a result of great importance has arrived. I personally thank them very much indeed. At the beginning of July We the Italians will organize a press conference in the press room of the Chamber of Deputies together with Fucsia and Federico to comment on this historic result. The text of the motion was translated and published by We the Italians in our August 2020 magazine: you can find it here.

It was a June dedicated to Turismo delle radici for We the Italians. We participated in the 2021 edition of the round table on root tourism organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we discussed the future prospects for this fundamental segment of the future of Italian tourism, also in light of the post-Covid restart and the resources made available by the recovery plan. Italy will be able to spend more than 2 billion for tourism, and part of these funds will be dedicated to root tourism. Moreover, a few days ago I had the pleasure and the honor to accept the invitation of my friend Marina Gabrieli and to give a lecture at the prestigious Master dedicated to the training of the professional figure “Roots Travel Planning and Management", at the University of Calabria, coordinated by Prof. Tullio Romita.

I also had the opportunity to give a lecture on Christopher Columbus and cancel culture, thanks to the invitation of my friend Gabriele Taranto. It is important to be able to solicit as much thought as possible, even here in Italy, in defense of Columbus, and to recount the attacks to which he is subjected and the reasons why Columbus must be defended because he represents Italian Americans and Italy. The online lecture is in Italian, if you are interested you can find it here.

The We the Italians family continues to grow, and this makes me very happy indeed. With the 4 new members of our team, we have come to have Ambassadors in 26 American states and 11 Italian regions, and the family will continue to grow.

Lisa Bolamperti-Garrett is our Ambassador in Nebraska, the Cornhusker State. Born and raised in Omaha, NE, Lisa is one of 7 siblings of a traditional Italian family where food and family are the pillars of life. Lisa is an online holistic nutrition coach, married to Jim and has 4 boys, Sam, Joe, Nick and Tony. Currently, Lisa is the Chairman of the Board for the American Italian Heritage Society, where Italian culture and food are celebrated. Lisa's parents, Ted and Jeaniene Bolamperti are two of the founding members of the AIHS, founded in 1980

Richard DiLiberto is our Ambassador in Delaware, the First State. Richard was appointed chairman of the Delaware Commission on Italian Heritage and Culture in 2006 by Governor Ruth Ann Minner, reappointed in 2010, 2013 and 2016 by Governor Jack A. Markell, and in 2019 by Governor John Carney. Rick is a practicing attorney. He also served as a member of the Delaware House of Representatives from 1992 to 2002. Rick was honored by the Delaware Christopher Columbus Monument Committee as its 2017 Man of the Year. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Sicily, Italy. He and his wife, Faith, raised three daughters in Newark, DE.

Jenna Capra is our Ambassador in Colorado, the Centennial State. As the owner, publisher, and editor of Andiamo! (Colorado’s Italian Community Newspaper), Jenna has dedicated the entirety of her career to the celebration of Italian culture, history, and pride! Born and raised in Colorado, she has always been inspired by her family’s immigration story - leaving behind everything they knew in Molise to seek a better life of opportunity in America - and grew up loving “all things Italian!” Over 100 issues and 10 years of publication later, she continues to put her passions into Andiamo! and remains committed to documenting the stories that make us all proud to be Italian and Italian American.

Moving from the US to Italy, Catia Monacelli is our Ambassador in Umbria. Catia was born in Gualdo Tadino (Perugia) in 1974, where she now lives and works. She graduated at the University of Perugia in Modern Literature with cultural anthropological orientation with a specialization in visual and museum anthropology, and has a master's degree in Neuro Linguistic Programming and one in Management of Cultural Heritage and Services. She is the Director of the Polo Museale Città di Gualdo Tadino that includes among other structures also the Museum of Emigration Pietro Conti. He is a member since 2020, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, of the Museum of National Emigration in Genoa.

Please keep following We the ItaliaNews, the video and audio podcast about what happens in Italy at the time of the coronavirus. It has now become a real news program on Italy in English, each episode of which is seen by more than 1,500 of you. We have reached 232 videos. It's a big effort, but we care about it and it's part of the service we give to all of you, everything for free.

Also, please remember that the 2020 Yearbook of We the Italians is available. It contains 23 interesting interviews – both in English and in Italian - that touch on many topics regarding Italy and the United States: trust me, you won't be disappointed. You can buy it here: please, buy the book! For you, as a gift for friends and family. Please check a preview here. Thanks

And please, check our virtual store. Now you can find more than 20 products in different colors: t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, onesies, mugs, notebooks, pillows, totes, tapestries, pins, laptop and smartphone cases, magnets, stickers, masks. Buy We the Italians!

Well my friends, once again it’s all for now. Please stay safe, please stay healthy. I won’t gonna stop saying this: the future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades! But please, protect yourselves and wear the mask, too. Ciao from Rome