Does he have any idea about how he is spending City taxpayer money?
“The bad news: City officials still have no idea how the goof happened.”
Ben Walsh has wasted over $200,000 on his attempted destruction of the historic Columbus Monument.
Democrat Mayor Faces Lawsuits Over Discrimination Against White People
Is this what Ben Walsh is doing with the Columbus Monument?
The owners of five restaurants in Boston, Massachusetts, are alleging they have been discriminated against because of their white, Italian background by the city’s Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu.
The legal dispute stems from the levying of a fee on restaurants in the North End area—which is known for its Italian heritage—for placing tables outside for outdoor dining. Court documents cited a joke she made in a St Patrick’s Day speech on March 17, 2022, in which she said: “I’m getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive and white.”
The complaint perpetuates a broader debate about what should be considered discrimination amid a shifting sense of power felt among different communities. A May 2022 poll found that 40 percent of Americans felt there was more discrimination against white people than there was five years ago.
Read the entire article on Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/democrat-mayor-boston-michelle-wu-lawsuit-discrimination-white-people-1786698
Congratulations to our friend Angelo Vivolo
Please join us in congratulating our friend Angelo Vivolo, who is being honored this evening by the National Italian American Foundation in NYC.
Angelo Vivolo is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and lifelong advocate for educational opportunity and promoting and supporting his Italian Heritage and Culture. Mr. Vivolo presently serves as the President o the Columbus Heritage Coalition, dedicated to preserving the legacy of Christopher Columbus. He was elected president of the National Columbus education Foundation. Funded by the most influential Italian American organizations in the country. He served as past resident and the chairman of the Board of the Columbus Citizens Foundation and the Columbus Day Parade in NYC. His focus is on preserving Italian Heritage and Culture amd supporting Columbus Day and Columbus monuments.
Happy International Monuments Day!
The International Day for Monuments and Sites is observed on April 18 all around the world every year. The goal is to raise awareness of cultural heritage diversity, the vulnerability of sites and monuments, and the measures needed to maintain and conserve them. Every year, the International Council of Monuments and Sites (I.C.O.M.O.S.) sets a theme for initiatives organized by its members, national and international committees, and anyone else interested in commemorating this day. The organization invites participants to focus on contentious and complex narratives about cultural heritage, to encourage the development of new discourses based on a respectful and inclusive approach. Addressing erroneous or contentious historical interpretations appears to be critical to preserving our heritage, given that the deterioration or extinction of any cultural property, as stated by the UNESCO 1954 and 1972 treaties, causes harm to mankind as a whole.
We all need to work hard to preserve this important art, history, and heritage.
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Ben Walsh’s Wasteful Appeal Begins Tomorrow
On Monday April 3 at about 11 am, you can watch oral arguments as Ben Walsh sues his citizens in the case of City of Syracuse against the Columbus Monument Corporation.
Ben Walsh lost his first attempt to remove the historic Columbus Monument. In the process he spent approximately $150,000 of taxpayer funds on expensive law firms. Now he has insisted in appealing that loss in Appellate Court.
Court opens at 10 am. This case is in the middle of the docket, so perhaps around 11am.
Watch live at https://ad4.nycourts.gov/go/live/
We Join in Celebrating Black History Month
We pay tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in America, and to the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story.
Mayor Bucci of Genoa establishes Columbus Center
Will provide clarity to Columbus’s contributions to the formation of our modern world
Mayor Marco Bucci launches academic reexamination of Columbus’ life and legacy, days after Italian Americans win major lawsuit that saved navigator’s statue in Philadelphia.
A historical reckoning is underway in the U.S. and Italy as governmental and cultural leaders work to reset prevailing narratives that, for decades, have maligned Columbus’ legacy and the monuments that pay homage to him.
In Italy, Genoa’s Mayor — Marco Bucci — passed a resolution establishing a center for Colombian studies that will be housed in the historic Palazzo Ducale (a 700-year-old Genoese palace that has been converted into a world-renowned museum and cultural hub).
The new center will enlist researchers and academics to scan and catalog Columbus’ documents and artifacts, stored away in archives and museums across both Italy and the globe, to create a robust database that will offer a wealth of source material and analysis on the navigator and his world-changing voyages.
“Cherry-picked and decontextualized research has completely blurred our knowledge of, and perceptions toward, centuries-old global history,” said Basil M. Russo, who leads The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations. “COPOMIAO proudly supports Mayor Bucci’s unprecedented Columbus project, as it will provide overdue clarity to Columbus’s innumerable contributions to the formation of our modern world.”
In the U.S., Russo — in coordination with a grass roots network of Italian American organizations, politicians and Italian dignitaries — helped score major legal victories in Syracuse earlier this year, and last week in Philadelphia, blocking city leaders from removing Columbus statues.
Additionally, a federal lawsuit is playing out in Philadelphia, where COPOMIAO’s National Counsel George Bochetto is arguing that Columbus’ holidays and monuments be preserved under the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of “equal protection” against government discrimination.
“Columbus statues and parades were organized and built en masse by Italian immigrants who used the explorer as a symbol to fuel assimilation and fight crushing discrimination,” said Bochetto. “Today these monuments and events, thanks to misinformation, have been conflated with racism and prejudice. This past year, we saw a surge in attendance at Columbus Day parades, from San Francisco, to Chicago, to Cleveland, to New York City. People want to celebrate their history and ancestry, and COPOMIAO and myself think every community and ethnicity should have the freedom and the right to do so.”
Creator of Merriman Valley statue revisits river’s legacy with Cuyahoga Falls sculpture
An idea for Mayor Walsh to emulate
A new sculpture greeting visitors outside Cuyahoga Falls’ municipal offices pays tribute to the waterfall that gave the city its name — and a culture that long preceded the city’s establishment.
The statue, created by Peter B. Jones and installed in early December, was commissioned by Cuyahoga Falls and funded in part through grant funds administered by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town initiative. The public artwork depicts what the Cuyahoga River meant to the indigenous people of the area.
Jones created the bronze sculpture “River Trade” to show how indigenous people utilized the Cuyahoga River to trade with their peers in surrounding settlements, with a Native American rowing a canoe and carrying goods aboard.
“I wanted to commemorate the waterfalls and river that goes through the town,” said Jones, who lives in Salamanca, N.Y. “I have friends in the Akron area.”
If the artistry seems familiar, that’s no accident. In the 1990s, Jones was commissioned to create a similarly themed statue, “The Portage,” along the Cuyahoga River corridor nearly 4½ miles west at the central crossroads of Akron’s Merriman Valley. That sculpture shows a Native American carrying a canoe over his head.
Jones is an Onondaga who resides on the Cattaraugus Territory of the Seneca Nation of Indians in western New York state. His work is featured in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. With his latest work finished for Cuyahoga Falls finished, Jones said his next effort was preparing for his one-man show at the Syracuse University’s art museum, which opens Aug. 24 and is entitled Continuity, Innovation, and Resistance: The Art of Peter Jones. Jones said he will have around 30 pieces in the exhibit.
For the full article from the Akron Beacon Journal, visit
Italian American Future Leaders Conference
a Bellwether of Cultural Progress
The precedent-setting IAFL Conference has reached its endpoint. Syracuse was well represented by Jared Saya, Syracuse, Jackie Antonacci, Town of Onondaga, and, Dominick Ciciarelli, Town of Salina. Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) VP John Viola is setting the stage for a new wave of leaders to uphold our heritage, elevate our culture and promote our history – starting with Columbus.
Conference organizers were struck by the impassioned and highly insightful remarks by delegates that mirrored the viewpoints of elder generations concerning the importance of ancestry and traditions, and the negative effects of pervasive stereotypes.
Hollywood directors Joe and Anthony Russo highlighted how their Italian American upbringing played a critical role in shaping their lives and careers. The Russo Brothers encouraged attendees to take up the torch and celebrate their heritage.
“Our family emigrated to the U.S. from four small hill towns in the Abruzzo and Sicily. We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to those places and connect with our roots because we love and value the role our Italian cultural heritage has had in our lives,” said Anthony Russo.
COPOMIAO President Basil Russo’s motivational keynote address set the tone and was enthusiastically received by the delegates.
Russo spoke about the significant contributions Italians have made to world civilization, the need for younger Italian Americans to assume the mantle of leadership in the IA community, the challenges facing the younger generation of Italian American leaders, and his faith that younger delegates will get the job done.
