Month: October 2025

bookmark_borderA new home for Benjamin Owens statue

Posted on by Marissa

The statue of Benjamin W. Owens, a Confederate Medal of Honor Recipient, has found a new home after being unjustly removed from the grounds of a church in Lothian, Maryland in 2020. The statue will now reside in Point Lookout Confederate Park in Maryland, which is located next to a mass POW gravesite. Check out this post from Dixie Forever to see a picture of the statue en route to his new home. 

Also, check out this post for a video of a ceremony that took place at Point Lookout Confederate Park earlier this month.

bookmark_borderRevere City Council pushes for Columbus statue to become national historic landmark

Posted on by Marissa

In 2020, among various other atrocities, vicious bigots demanded the obliteration of this beautiful statue of Christopher Columbus at St. Anthony’s church in Revere, MA. 

Mercifully, they did not get their way (knock on wood). 

And now, the Revere City Council is trying to keep it that way. 

The council members joined together to sponsor a motion requesting that State Rep. Jeffrey Turco, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the Archdiocese of Boston collaborate to nominate the statue as a national historic landmark. 

Via the Revere Advocate:

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, one of the original sponsors of the motion, gave a brief history of the statue commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and sculpted by Belgian artist Alois Buyens in 1892. It was originally installed at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, but in 1925 Cardinal William O’Connell ordered the statue to be moved to Revere as a gift to the city’s Italian American residents. The statue was intended to symbolize the importance of Columbus to the city’s immigrant community, and it has stood at St. Anthony’s for more than 100 years.
 
McKenna also shared the harrowing story of her family’s escape from Italy during World War II. “The statue is a tribute to my mother and what the Italian people endured,” said McKenna, adding that the timing of the motion was especially significant since October is Italian American Heritage Month.
 
Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya said she regularly attends St. Anthony’s church, and the statue is personally meaningful to her. “It’s an important part of my heritage and history,” she said, adding, “This is special to my heart.”
 
Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro described himself as a proud Italian American. “Five years ago, there were threats to take the statue down. Now we are trying to make it a historical landmark. This is a proud day, and I’m proud to be part of that,” said Cogliandro.
 
The effort to remove the statue was also clear in the memory of Councillor-at-large Anthony Zambuto. Zambuto said he remembers the horror of someone saying during a political rally that the statue has to go. “It was horrifying to hear someone say that. If we go through with this motion, that will never happen,” said Zambuto, who referred to the move throughout the country to remove certain statues and monuments.
 
“This is our heritage, our history, and it’s not going to be erased,” added Zambuto.
 
McKenna said she discussed the motion with church officials at St. Anthony’s, and they support the plan.
 
Source here

bookmark_borderFun facts about the extraordinary Albert Pike

Posted on by Marissa
Shortly before the resurrection of the Albert Pike statue, the awesome Facebook page, Dixie Forever, posted this summary of Pike’s extraordinary life:
 
“Albert Pike (1809–1891) was an extraordinary figure—a self-made polymath whose life spanned adventure, intellect, and influence. Here’s a snapshot of his key achievements, drawn from historical records:
– Explored the American Southwest (1831–1832), trapping and mapping routes through Texas and New Mexico.
– Settled in Arkansas (1833), teaching school and editing newspapers under the pseudonym “Casca.”
– Became a prominent attorney in Little Rock, shaping Arkansas’s early legal system.
– Served as associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court (in exile, 1864–1865).
– Represented Native American tribes (e.g., Creek Nation) in Supreme Court cases against the U.S. government (1850s).
– Fought in the Mexican-American War (1846–1847) as captain of the Arkansas Mounted Infantry, participating in the Battle of Buena Vista.
– Confederate brigadier general (1861–1862), commanding Native American forces in Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma); negotiated alliances with tribes like the Cherokee.
– Prolific poet and essayist; works include Hymns to the Gods and Other Poems (1872) and contributions to Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, where he was hailed as one of America’s top poets.
– Renowned orator whose speeches were reprinted nationwide.
– Joined the Masons in 1850; became Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction) for 32 years (1859–1891).
– Authored Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871), a 700+ page philosophical tome blending Hermeticism, Kabbalah, and Enlightenment ideas—still a cornerstone of Masonic study.
Pike was extraordinary—Northern-born but Southern-hearted, a defender of Native rights who allied with Confederates, and a brilliant thinker.”
 
I don’t think I could have described Pike more eloquently if I tried. 
 
It never ceases to boggle my mind, and to infuriate me, that the individual described above is the person whose statue was torn down and set on fire. A mob of bullies and bigots decided, because he did not live and think like the majority, that Pike did not deserve to be honored with statues and monuments. They decided, because he did not mindlessly comply with norms, that he deserved to be obliterated from existence. It’s completely incomprehensible to me how anyone could think this way. It’s as if their goal is a world in which only bland, mundane, and compliant people, who don’t think for themselves, are allowed to exist. It’s completely incomprehensible to me how anyone could want such a world.
 
Well, Pike is once more honored with a statue in our nation’s capital. As he abundantly deserves. Vicious, soulless bigots with no capacity for independent thought, didn’t get their way this time. And they don’t have a right to get their way, ever, because they are bad people.

bookmark_borderAlbert Pike statue is back

Posted on by Marissa

As promised by the National Park Service, the Albert Pike statue is back!

Bullies and bigots – whose goal is to inflict as much pain as possible on people who are different – do not deserve to get their way. And in this case, they didn’t. In Washington, D.C., there is, once more, at least one statue that sends the message, people who are different have a right to exist.

Source: Dixie Forever

bookmark_borderMy message to Kara Walker

Posted on by Marissa

I am an artist. I am not the most talented or skilled artist in the world. I don’t have much formal training. But I like to think that I possess a higher than average amount of artistic talent, and that I’ve improved my skills over years of practice.

I am proud of my talent and my skills. But I am even more proud of the meaning and purpose behind my art. Through my drawings, I honor historical figures. I try to showcase their beauty, uniqueness, and diversity. I bring the inhabitants of my imaginary world to life in this world, and I keep historical figures alive in the present. This is what I strive to accomplish with my artwork. I am proud of my artwork because of its beauty and also because of its significance.

My art is an expression of love, respect, and celebration.

Kara Walker’s art, on the other hand, is an expression of contempt. 

I’m not able to type out what Kara Walker did, because describing her act in words feels like it would trivialize its awfulness and moral repugnance. Google it if you are curious (and have a strong stomach). 

Kara Walker’s art (if it can even be called that) is an expression of contempt for Stonewall Jackson. Because he looked different from her, dressed differently, spoke differently, lived differently, and thought differently, she decided that he deserved to be cruelly dismembered, sliced to pieces, mocked, ridiculed.

Walker’s “art” is an expression of contempt for the original artist, contempt for the time, effort, care, and talent that he put into his sculpture. In a breathtaking display of intolerance, she presumed that she had the right to destroy his art and grotesquely reassemble it into a mockery of its original meaning. Because he saw the world differently from her, she decided that his perspective didn’t matter. Because he came from a different culture and a different time, she decided that his work ought to be erased

And worst of all, Walker’s “art” is an expression of contempt for the very idea of nonconformity, of resistance to authority, of being different. 

The message that Walker sends with the monstrosity that she falsely characterizes as art, is that only her perspective matters, only her feelings, only her thoughts. Those who are different deserve to be dismembered, sliced to pieces, destroyed. Our perspectives, feelings, and thoughts erased. Our pain mocked and ridiculed.

An artist had the audacity to create a sculpture honoring someone who rebelled against authority. So Kara Walker sliced the sculpture to pieces and reassembled it into a nonsensical monstrosity as if to say, see, this is what happens when you disobey. This is what happens when you don’t comply. This is what happens when you think for yourself, when you diverge from norms, when you live in a way that society does not approve of.

Only people like me matter, she proudly proclaims. Only people who are “normal,” only people who are like the majority.

I saw a social media post containing images of Walker’s monstrosity, as well as an earlier sculpture depicting her son holding a Confederate soldier’s horse by the tail. I was struck by the irony: the fact that Walker even has a son demonstrates her immense privilege compared to someone like me. The fact that she has a child demonstrates that has the capacity to enter into a sexual relationship with another person, as well as the capacity to be responsible for another human being. Due to my autism and post-traumatic stress, I am not able to form genuine connections with any human beings other than my parents. True friendships are impossible for me, and the prospect of having sex with another person is a complete nonstarter. This is why statues are so important to me, and their destruction so devastating. Yet Walker chooses to participate in that destruction. Enjoying a life filled with relationships that are considered basic to most people and that are outside the realm of possibility for me, she actively adds to my suffering, and then makes a mockery of my pain, all while claiming that because I happened to be born with light skin, I am “privileged.”

There’s nothing honorable about punching down, nothing courageous about beating up on those who lost a war, nothing thoughtful about attacking and condemning an unpopular minority, nothing creative about rubbing salt in the wounds of those who are already suffering.

My art is an expression of diversity and of inclusion. Through my drawings, I attempt to portray a world in which all different types of people thrive and coexist happily, a world in which all different people are represented, respected, included.

Kara Walker’s “art” does the opposite. It sends the message that only people like her have a right to exist, and that acceptance should be reserved for people who obey authority, comply with norms, and are like the majority. Her “art” is an expression of cruelty, of bigotry, of intolerance.

My message to Kara Walker is this: Inflicting harm, pain, and ridicule on people for being different does not give you the moral high ground. It’s actually the very essence of what it means to be immoral. You probably think that you’re being thoughtful, creative, revolutionary, subversive. But in reality, you’re just being a bully. 

bookmark_borderColumbus Day celebrations around the country and world (part 2)

Posted on by Marissa

Here are a few more Columbus Day photos, writings, and posts I’ve come across, which have given me hope in these dark times:

Government agencies and public officials:

Italian American organizations:

Other organizations:

Individuals & social media pages:

bookmark_borderColumbus Day celebrations around the country and world

Posted on by Marissa

Here is a roundup of some Columbus Day celebrations around the country and world that brought a smile to my face: 

New Orleans, Louisiana: American-Italian Federation of the Southeast to host a Columbus Day reception (via We The Italians)

Boston, Massachusetts: Blessing of the Christopher Columbus statue (via St. Leonard’s Parish Facebook page)

Malden, Massachusetts: Columbus Day post from the St. Rocco’s Feast Association (via St. Rocco Malden Facebook page)

Newton, Massachusetts: Columbus Day rolling parade flyer (via Watertown Sons of Italy Facebook page)

Springfield, Massachusetts: Poster for Columbus Day parade (via Springfield Italians Instagram page)

Springfield, Massachusetts: Post about the history and significance of Columbus Day (via Springfield Italians Instagram page)

Springfield, Massachusetts: Getting ready for the Columbus Day parade (via Springfield Italians Facebook page)

Springfield, Massachusetts: Live video of the Columbus Day parade (via Springfield Italians Facebook page)

Springfield, Massachusetts: Columbus Day Parade returns to Main Street Springfield after two-decade hiatus (via Springfield Republican)

Watertown, Massachusetts: Columbus Day post from the Watertown Sons of Italy (via Watertown Sons of Italy Facebook page)

East Hanover, New Jersey: Senator Anthony M. Bucco selected as Grand Marshal of Morris County Columbus Day parade (via Senator Anthony M. Bucco’s Facebook page)

Montville, New Jersey: Unico members place a wreath on Columbus bust (via Montville Unico Facebook page)

Northvale, New Jersey: IAOVC media alert: Columbus Day schedule (via IAOVC Facebook page)

Eastchester, New York: Italian pride on full display at Eastchester Columbus Day Carnival (via We The Italians)

New York City: Celebrating Columbus Day in the Bronx with residents and Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato (via Curtis Sliwa Facebook page)

New York City: Italian American Civil Rights League statement on why Columbus Day matters (via IACRL Instagram page)

New York City: Columbus Circle wreath laying ceremony (via Curtis Sliwa Facebook page)

Brooklyn, New York: Columbus Day Parade along Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue in Brooklyn (via Rep. Nicole Malliotakis Facebook page)

Southern Pines, North Carolina: Cool Columbus graphic (via SoPies NY Pizzeria Facebook page)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pictures from the Columbus Day Parade in Bloomfield shared by the Sewickley SOI Lodge #1277 (via Pittsburgh Italians Facebook page)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pictures from the Columbus Day Parade in Bloomfield shared by the Sewickley SOI Lodge #1277 (set 2) (via Pittsburgh Italians Facebook page)

Dallas, Texas: Columbus Day and Italian Festival in Dallas (via We The Italians)

Italy:

Genoa celebrates Columbus Day with the 34th edition of “The cloisters of Columbus’s time” (via We The Italians)

Statement by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanking President Trump for restoring Columbus Day (via Springfield Italians Instagram page)

Statement by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the occasion of Italy’s National Christopher Columbus Day (via We The Italians)

bookmark_borderColumbus statue in New Jersey moved to a MORE prominent location

Posted on by Marissa

In a miraculous development, the town of Garfield, New Jersey has decided to move its Christopher Columbus statue to a more prominent location within the park that bears the explorer’s name. “A statue of Christopher Columbus went on a much shorter voyage than its namesake when it was relocated within a Bergen County park on Oct. 6,” writes Kyle Morel at We The Italians. Mayor Everett Garnto said that the statue had been “out of sight, out of mind,” at its previous location near the train tracks, so it was moved to the entrance of the park. After the hellish past five and a half years with so many statues being obliterated and destroyed, for a Columbus statue to move to a more, not less, visible location is unusual and very welcome news.

bookmark_borderPresident Trump’s Columbus Day proclamation

Posted on by Marissa

A beautiful and wonderful thing to read in what has been a dark and awful time:

Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus — the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth.  This Columbus Day, we honor his life with reverence and gratitude, and we pledge to reclaim his extraordinary legacy of faith, courage, perseverance, and virtue from the left-wing arsonists who have sought to destroy his name and dishonor his memory.

Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451, Columbus quickly emerged as a titan of the Age of Exploration.  On August 3, 1492, following years of intense study, preparation, and petitioning, Christopher Columbus secured funding from the Spanish Crown to set out on a daring expedition that most believed to be impossible.  Commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Columbus and his crew boarded three small ships — the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria — to set sail on a perilous voyage across the Atlantic.  He was guided by a noble mission:  to discover a new trade route to Asia, bring glory to Spain, and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to distant lands.

Just over 2 months later, on October 12, 1492, Columbus made landfall in the modern-day Bahamas.  Upon his arrival, he planted a majestic cross in a mighty act of devotion, dedicating the land to God and setting in motion America’s proud birthright of faith.  Though he initially believed he had arrived in Asia, his discovery opened the vast frontier and untold splendors of the New World to Europe.  He later ventured onward to Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean — exploring their coasts and engaging with their people.

Guided by steadfast prayer and unwavering fortitude and resolve, Columbus’s journey carried thousands of years of wisdom, philosophy, reason, and culture across the Atlantic into the Americas — paving the way for the ultimate triumph of Western civilization less than three centuries later on July 4, 1776. 

Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage.  Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces.  Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth:  Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.

As we celebrate his legacy, we also acknowledge the contributions of the countless Italian-Americans who, like him, have endlessly contributed to our culture and our way of life.  To this day, the United States and Italy share a special bond rooted in the timeless values of faith, family, and freedom.  My Administration looks forward to strengthening our long and storied friendship in the years to come.

This Columbus Day, more than 500 years since Columbus arrived in the New World, we follow his example, we echo his resolve, and we offer our gratitude for his life of valor and grit.  Above all, we commit to restoring a Nation that once again dares to tame the unknown, honors our rich cultural inheritance, and offers rightful praise to our Creator above.

In commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage, the Congress, by joint resolution of April 30, 1934, and modified in 1968 (36 U.S.C. 107), as amended, has requested the President proclaim the second Monday of October of each year as “Columbus Day.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 13, 2025, as Columbus Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.  I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of the great Christopher Columbus and all who have contributed to building our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.

Source here

Indeed, Columbus is legendary, visionary, a hero, a giant, a titan. 

Indeed, the intolerant bullies’ campaign of obliteration has been both merciless and vicious. 

Unlike proclamations issued by President Biden, this proclamation is not being issued alongside another one honoring the intolerant bullies. Also unlike proclamations issued by President Biden, which focused on praising Italian American immigrants and mentioned Columbus only briefly and in a neutral tone, this one focuses on Columbus himself, and showers him with effusive praise. Such praise is precisely what he deserves, particularly after years of being subjected to the most sadistic, cruel, and disgusting treatment imaginable.

By issuing this proclamation, the U.S. government has taken a significant step towards righting the horrific wrongs that have been committed over the past five and a half years. By issuing this proclamation, President Trump has helped to heal (not entirely, but to a meaningful extent) the trauma that has been inflicted on me by the vicious and merciless bullies. 

Thank you.

Further coverage: