“Unfortunately, with ALL the heritage and awareness days/months out there, we don’t have time or resources to commemorate them all.”

Let me start out by saying I absolutely love my local library. They offer plenty of great programs and they are a true part of the community. They celebrate and acknowledge a wide variety of holidays. So when I received my latest email newsletter, I was disappointed to see they didn’t have anything for Italian Heritage Month.

I reached out to the library and asked if they had anything planned. The answer was a respectful, but hard, no.

“…we don’t have time or resources…”

Yes, there are a lot of different holidays, heritage months, and awareness days. And the honest truth is some get a lot of attention, while others… not so much.

So those of us of Italian heritage have a responsibility. Our story deserves to be told. And to paraphrase a line that is often repeated on The Italian American Podcast, if we don’t tell our story, no one else will.

We need to collectively, as a community take a stand, join local organizations, like your local library, and help organize and lead events.

I was told about the “Common Ground Committee” at the library that works together to help arrange events focused on different awareness days and celebration months.

The fact is I live in a town that doesn’t have a large Italian presence, so I’m sure this wasn’t even on their radar screen. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help educate those around me that we are far more than The Sopranos, Jersey Shore, and The Godfather.

We have a story to tell. We need to tell it.