The Italian American One Voice Coalition (IAOVC) is campaigning against those who aim to eradicate Columbus Day by enacting measures to get all Italian Americans involved in defending our heritage and saving our holiday. The IAOVC is asking Italian American friends and organizations to sign the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Save Columbus Day Petition by visiting www.savecolumbusday. com. A special request has also been made to the government through the “We the People” petition which aims to organize official White House celebrations to recognize and endorse Columbus Day and the Italian American community. To sign this, click here.

We must act soon, as there are already four cities that do not recognize Columbus Day and more are sure to follow. Columbus is being used as the scapegoat for all the ills in North and South American and it is time to speak out. We cannot judge people in history by the standards that we have at present. Minneapolis, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington are two places that have done away with Columbus Day. Voice your opinions and defend your heritage by sending an email to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges at [email protected] and to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray at [email protected]. You can also mail a letter to Mayor Murray by sending it to: Seattle City Council, PO Box 34025, Seattle, WA 98124-4025. Italian American organizations and officials have taken astand against these two cities.

​The UNICO Delegation has refused to have their 2016 convention in Minneapolis and Italian Ambassador to the U.S. wrote to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray to express concern about renaming Columbus Day “Indigenous People Day.” It is important to keep the pressure on our officials so that we do not lose this Italian American holiday. This is a special request to all our ONE VOICE Defenders, coalition organizations and all Italian American organizations. Remember to be polite. Below is a recent email to CBS Sunday Morning by IAOVC member Frank Cipolla: Gentleman: As an Italian-American I wanted to commend both of you for making a point to include the Italian American heritage of both Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in the package you ran on ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ over the weekend. To your credit it was in a very positive light.

Much too often we see worn out negative stereotypes of Italian Americans as the media continues to focus on the small sub-culture of organized crime and the bimbos and bimbettes (Jersey Shore, Housewives of NJ…etc). Maybe this Columbus Day you could do a package on how we continue to be the only nationality that it is okay to bash. As the owner of a PR firm and a former NYC TV reporter and anchor who now represents the Italian American One Voice Coalition, I would welcome it. The coalition’s president is frequently seen and heard on network radio and TV. The One Voice website is below. Call me directly if you are interested.