A proposal to yank the Columbus Day state holiday from the calendar and recast it as “Indigenous People’s Day” is gaining traction at the statehouse after getting Democratic sponsors in both the Assembly and Senate. “Indigenous People’s Day reimagines Columbus Day and changes a celebration of colonialism into an opportunity to reveal historical tru...

The San Francisco Italian Heritage Parade is proud to announce its return to the streets of San Francisco on Sunday, October 9, 2022. Last year, the Italian Heritage Parade was the first major parade to take place in the city since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and this year the parade once again expects to host vibrant crowds coinciding with...

Is there a Columbus Day controversy in the Toms River School District? The school superintendent says no. But some Italian American groups are not buying it and are making their voices heard. The controversy stems from the fact that Toms River students will have class on Columbus Day. This was not always the case in recent years. The district’s fac...

The Nutley Belleville Columbus Day Parade committee will host the largest Italian-American event in Essex County with the Columbus Day Parade on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 1:30 p.m. The parade route starts at Belleville High School, proceeds north on Franklin Avenue and ends at Nutley High School. The Belleville Chapter of UNICO and the Federation of Itali...

Over two years after Mayor Joe Ganim's abrupt decision to remove the Christopher Columbus statue from Seaside Park and stick it in storage, an Italian American organization has asked the monument be transferred to its custody. "That statue has been lying in a barn  —  in a barn  —  where horses once were," former state Rep. Christopher Caruso of th...

Christopher Columbus is a hard guy to get to know. After all, he lived more than 500 years ago, and much of his story has been told by or through others. In the end, everything depends on who’s doing the telling, what they’ve decided to say or leave out, and why. Much of the debate nowadays is dominated by polar extremes, with vehement detractors e...

No fewer than four local groups will host major events in Columbus’ name this month. The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans will spearhead a daylong celebration on Oct. 10. Festivities will begin with a 9 a.m. Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago, followed by a noon parade down State Street and a 3 p.m. reception at Casa Ita...

In Turin's Piazza Castello, between the Teatro Regio and Palazzo Reale, under the porticoes of the Prefecture, there is a bronze medallion depicting Christopher Columbus, with the little finger of his right hand protracted outward.The relief was made by Dino Somà in 1923, (Villafalletto 1886- date and location of death unknown), in memory of the pa...

They wanted to celebrate holidays, not debate them. But as Palo Alto officials prepare to adopt policies to formally recognize Juneteenth, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day and to commemorate days of remembrance for the Holocaust and Armenian genocide, they are running into a thorny question: What should they call the second Monday in October? Th...

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is pleased to announce this year's Dr. A. Kenneth Ciongoli lecture series that will examine the basis of distorting Columbus' legacy. It will take place on select college campuses through the NIAF on Campus program. NIAF has partnered with Mary Grabar, Ph.D., author of Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing...