ITALIAN AMERICAN ONE VOICE COALITION LAUNCHES GOFUNDME PAGE TO HELP SAVE COLUMBUS DAY AND MONUMENTS
“Elected Officials across the country are violating our civil rights and this legislation of hate must be stopped,” according to ONE VOICE officials.
BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, US, January 7, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- ITALIAN AMERICAN ONE VOICE COALITION LAUNCHES GOFUNDME PAGE TO HELP SAVE COLUMBUS DAY AND MONUMENTS“Elected Officials across the country are violating our civil rights and this legislation of hate must be stopped,” according to ONE VOICE officials.
Bloomfield, NJ - The Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition (“ONE VOICE”), America’s largest independent Italian American anti-bias organization, is raising funds on GoFundMe to challenge local officials that seek to rename Columbus Day or remove monuments. This comes after several localities including NYC have initiated public debate over whether to keep or remove statues of Christopher Columbus and the holiday.
In 2018, many school committees and localities held meetings and voted to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. This created heated school board discussions and public debate that infuriated Italian Americans within these areas. Critics of Columbus Day say it represents slavery and oppression. However, supporters of Columbus Day, which includes millions of Italian Americans, feel the holiday celebrates a great explorer, 500 years of immigration to America and Italian heritage.
“2018 was the year that anti-italianism returned and we must resist the hatred,” stated Dr. Manny Alfano, President of ONE VOICE. “This is why it is so important for Italian Americans and supporters to contribute to our GoFundMe page. Our civil rights are under attack and the money will be used for legal defense and other areas of protest.” ONE VOICE has been an outspoken advocate of the Italian American community, and its members gave testimony in last year’s monument commission hearings held in the five boroughs of NYC.
Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1937 with many states and localities choosing to celebrate the holiday soon after. The monuments of Columbus were erected after the great wave of Italian immigrants began arriving in America in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, many of these monuments have been vandalized in the last few years leaving Italian American community leaders up in arms over the lack of criminal prosecution.
ONE VOICE is different from all other Italian American groups in that its sole focus and objective is to educate and fight bias, stereotyping and discrimination against Italian Americans. ONE VOICE’s stated mission is to “…secure the rightful representation of Americans of Italian origin and of all peoples whose paths toward social equality have been impeded. The powers of intellect, wisdom and due process of law will be brought to bear on all inequities.”
ONE VOICE issues a regular email newsletter, “The Alfano Digest,” to more than 5,000 individuals and Italian American organizations nationwide. Written and compiled by Dr. Manny Alfano, Founder and President of ONE VOICE, the Digest issues alerts on instances of bias, stereotyping, discrimination and defamation and activates the ONE VOICE nationwide network of “Defenders” who respond through calls, emails, faxes, letters and demonstrations where necessary. The Digest also contains informative Italian American cultural and heritage information. To receive the Digest, email Dr. Alfano - mannyalfano@comcast.net.
To join or obtain more information on ONE VOICE visit iaovc.org1.
To contribute to the campaign visit https://www.gofundme.com/italian-american-civil-rights
Supporters can also send checks/money orders directly to P.O. Box 2333 Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003
Andre DiMino
Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition
+1 201-739-6000
email us here
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1 http://www.iaovc.org
2 http://www.gofundme.com/italian-american-civil-rights