April 2, 2021 www.gazettechicago.com eedition.gazettechicago.com Gazette 13 Michael Niedzinski, Alderman Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward), Ali- son Pure-Slovin of the Simon Wi- esenthal Center, JCCIA First Vice President Lisa Ryan, Alderman Ariel Reboyras (30th Ward), The- resa Panzicka of the Christopher Columbus Book Club, Illinois State Representative Anthony DeLuca, Cook County Commissioner Pe- ter Silvestri, Joanne Spata, San Ma- rino Honorary Consul Robert Alle- grini, Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward), and JCCIA Sergeant at Arms Frank DiPiero. Frank Maselli, honorary con- sul general of Italy in New Orle- ans, spoke as well. Instrumental in securing the apology from the City of New Orleans, he struck a hope- ful note. Having heard of this event my whole life, I said, 'You know, this may give us a chance for closure,'" said Maselli. "Mayor Cantrell, I thought, was very bold in making this apology. The good news is to- day, 130 years later, descendants of all these different factions-the police chief, the rabble rousers, the victims-we're all friends now. We all do business together. My brother is law partners with a de- scendant of one of the main peo- ple that started the whole issue. I just hope the whole country can continue a movement toward all of us getting along." The event concluded with two prayers from the Rev. Richard Fragomeni, rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii. First, we will pray for the dead," said Fr. Fragomeni before leading a prayer to honor the men killed in 1891. "I would like to make our second prayer, and that is the prayer of Saint Francis of As- sisi. It is a prayer for peace and healing." Before and after the event, at- tendees described how they felt. We as a community want to make sure that we honor them and educate the rest of the city and the country," said Enza Rain- eri, a past president of the JCCIA. Our culture is just as important as everybody else's, and we want to share our history. Erasing history doesn't teach the future gener- ations everything. That's cata- strophic. Whether it's good or bad, the only way you teach anybody a well balanced history is teach- ing them everything. We need to re-educate ourselves to be think- ers. It's up to us to think and not just react to something somebody else may not want." I've been living on Taylor Street for about six years now," said Sean Romanowski, whose family tree includes Italian heri- tage. "My grandfather grew up in what used to be the old projects right over there. I love the diver- sity-it's great to see new people coming in-but I do appreciate the celebration of Italian culture." As an Italian American born and raised in this neighborhood with a master's in history, it's something I never knew about-I learned about it later," said Bill, who declined to provide his last name. "People have to know our history before they start slamming us. I read Columbus's journals in college, but people make state- ments without reading anything." Meanwhile, Jennie and Luke Capuano were handing out refreshments. I grew up in this neighbor- hood," said Jennie Capuano. "My fa- ther's grandparents came from Na- ples, and my mother was Sicilian." I'm here every Sunday," she continued. "We're fighting to get our statue back. We come every Sunday to give support. That statue was given to us in the neighbor- hood, and I know this land is the Park District's, but that statue was given to us in the neighborhood. It's not the City's-it's ours. This was really fantastic what the Civic Committee has done, bringing us together to com- memorate this," Capuano added. There's so much going on right now-so much hate, so much evil. I don't understand why a statue would bother somebody so bad that they would remove it and we can't get it back. Hopefully some- day we can get it back." For more on the JCCIA, log on to jccia.com.
Photo by Christopher Valentino
A crowd gathered in Arrigo Park to commemorate the lives of Italian-Americans lynched in New Orleans in 1891.
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