Island people (Sicilians, Irish) are vulnerable to looters, conquerors,<\/p>\n
Storms, imperial schemes, thugs.<\/p>\n
Its an old story for our people; it breaks our heart<\/p>\n
And compromises our integrity, more; our souls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When you ask Italians to give up You need to know how we lost our soil and our souls.<\/p>\n We were tough people: small in stature and bent by work and the fear<\/p>\n Of the padrones, the landowners,<\/p>\n and their Mafioso who kept us all in check by terror.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A very long time ago the (It\u2019s always the empires and their want-to-be\u2019s)<\/p>\n against Native Italians (Sicels, Elymians, Apuani, Ligurians, Celts and many more).<\/p>\n In order to survive, we made a desperate pact with the empire\u2019s thugs.<\/p>\n Let my child live, let me take care of my family, our land, I won\u2019t ask much more.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll forget. I\u2019ll pray.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For a long time, Italians of the south, Calabrese, Siciliani<\/p>\n managed as farmworkers and fishermen, paying \u201cprotection\u201d to stay alive.<\/p>\n Crop failure, diseases, land grabs and globalization put them over the edge.<\/p>\n Millions left for Most shunned them, even the unions. They came poor and would stay poor unless:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They organized. One such effort became The Knights of Columbus;<\/p>\n a mutual aid society; A form of health and life insurance for the poor.<\/p>\n It was started by An Irish priest, the eldest of 13 children, 6 who had died in infancy<\/p>\n or childhood, a father whose illness and death left them paupers.<\/p>\n The Knights of Columbus took its name in the 19th century when Non-Native<\/p>\n Americans bought the lie that and Italians said, \u201clook, he\u2019s one of us,\u201d<\/p>\n We saw it as an entryway into the American dream. To becoming fully \u201cWhite.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Which eventually meant: losing awareness, compromising our intelligence,<\/p>\n Denying the Holocaust on this Land, Ignoring Columbus the rapist who set it off,<\/p>\n Forgetting our connection to the earth and each other. And to the Creator.<\/p>\n Joining a global catastrophe rampantly destroying the only home we have together.<\/p>\n NO! Let us Remember.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let us celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day together<\/p>\n Let us break bread: Fry Bread and Pizza Frite.<\/p>\n Let us look at the Columbus Legacy with a good mind and a healing heart<\/p>\n Let us share our stories of oppression and resistance.<\/p>\n Let us remember the Peacemaker and Francis of Assisi.<\/p>\n Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Elder Brother Sun, Grandmother Moon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jack is a long-time SPC member, especially with Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, and a poet and maker of blessings. He is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at SUNY ESF and the author of Arming the Heavens, the Hidden Military Agenda in Space<\/i>; Privileged Goods: Commoditization and Its impact on Environment and Society;<\/i> and co-author of Ending the Fossil Era<\/i>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Island people (Sicilians, Irish) are vulnerable to looters, conquerors, Storms, imperial schemes, thugs. Its an old story for our people; it breaks our heart And compromises our integrity, more; our souls. When you ask Italians to give up Columbus You need to know how we lost our soil and…<\/p>\n