(no subject)
I had a sweet thing happen to me yesterday. I went to this cultural and educational center for Italian Americans in my neighborhood yesterday. Its only five blocks away! Anyway I went in and this director was so happy to see me (I don’t even know her) she started talking to me in Italian, I stood there clueless. Anyway she told me how excited she was to see someone of my age visit the center. She said that I can be as involved as I wish to be. She also told me that I could bring in photos and documents of my grandparents immigration, including a written story of their experience and she would hand it in the gallery show. I told her of an art project that I was working on about my family history and she said that she would love to see and possible show it in the museum. I also told her I wanted to start a book club/ discussion group for young Italian Americans to read about the history of their culture (since we know nearly nothing) and she said that would be fine. She also wanted my help hanging up the next art show. It was such a sweet and pleasant surprise. All my ideas came to fruition when I spoke to this woman. I have until august to get the book club ready.
I need to come up with a book list and promote the book club. It’s going to be hard to get young people my age to be interested. We've all seemed to do what our southern Italian grandparents wanted us to do, assimilate into American culture. The only attribute some of us have left is the vowel at the end of our last name. I am also worried about running into the racism, sexism and homophobia in my ethic community. Those are big reasons why I have feared working with my people. I ran straight to people with opposing ethics and different identities. Now that I am going back to my ethnicity, I’m rediscovering this fear of my community.
I’ve seen several of my friends’ transition out of Y.E.S. into work or political environments that organized around their racial or ethnic identity. I have had trouble finding my place among my friends, although I am very happy for their transitioning success. It’s rewarding to find something similar, a place where I can find others who also want to look back at where they came from before they move forward. I know that who ever I meet in this book club group, will never replace those that already mean so much to me (and who have been some of greatest life teachers) (wow I get too mushy on live journal, yuck!)
On a separate note, Angel and I are broke. We did our budgets yesterday, and it doesn’t look good at all. I don’t know how we are going to get through the summer.
I need to come up with a book list and promote the book club. It’s going to be hard to get young people my age to be interested. We've all seemed to do what our southern Italian grandparents wanted us to do, assimilate into American culture. The only attribute some of us have left is the vowel at the end of our last name. I am also worried about running into the racism, sexism and homophobia in my ethic community. Those are big reasons why I have feared working with my people. I ran straight to people with opposing ethics and different identities. Now that I am going back to my ethnicity, I’m rediscovering this fear of my community.
I’ve seen several of my friends’ transition out of Y.E.S. into work or political environments that organized around their racial or ethnic identity. I have had trouble finding my place among my friends, although I am very happy for their transitioning success. It’s rewarding to find something similar, a place where I can find others who also want to look back at where they came from before they move forward. I know that who ever I meet in this book club group, will never replace those that already mean so much to me (and who have been some of greatest life teachers) (wow I get too mushy on live journal, yuck!)
On a separate note, Angel and I are broke. We did our budgets yesterday, and it doesn’t look good at all. I don’t know how we are going to get through the summer.