February 20, 2021 will be remembered as one of the most important dates in Italian American history, as 354 organizations, lodges, groups and clubs from throughout our country participated in the first-ever National Italian American Summit Meeting.

The online meeting was initiated by ISDA President Basil M. Russo and sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, which Russo currently chairs.

View the full recording of the Summit here:

Russo opened the meeting by telling all of the group presidents participating, “Whether your group strives to uphold our heritage, celebrate our customs, perpetuate our language, educate our youth, provide for those in need, or fight discrimination, the more connected we are to one another, the greater our likelihood of success. Let us remember that we are on a mission to do something that has never been done before. We are on a mission to unite Italian Americans throughout our country.”

Italian American leaders applauded Russo for initiating the meeting and pledged that their organizations would begin to work together under the leadership umbrella of the Conference of Presidents.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss, and to begin to find solutions to the following three vital topics:

A Fragmented Italian America

Italian Americans need to establish a sense of national unity among our people and our organizations so we can speak with a louder and more influential voice throughout our country in our efforts to preserve our heritage, values and customs.

Connecting to Our Younger Generations

Our biggest similarity is our biggest weakness. All of our groups have been losing touch with our younger generations, and we need to initiate programs that will allow us to reconnect with them.

The Fight for Columbus

We watched in disbelief in 2020 as lawless protesters destroyed Columbus statues, and some cities changed the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. We need to find ways to work together to save Columbus Day and protect our heritage from this onslaught of anti-Italian American bias.

During the meeting, presentations on each of these topics were made by prominent Italian American leaders. National committees were then established to bring organizations with similar missions together to provide recommendations that would then be shared with all the Italian American organizations.

However, the most important result of the meeting was to announce the creation of a new Italian American website called: italianamericaonline.com

This website will allow the Italian American community to create a national data bank of individual and organization emails, which will unite our community throughout the country by providing us with the ability to communicate with one another quickly and effectively.

The plan hereafter is for the various committees to present their recommendations at the next National Italian American Summit Meeting, which Russo will schedule within the next two to three months.

ISDA President Basil Russo encourages every member of our organization to do their part to support the Italian American community by signing up on italianamericaonline.com. It is simple and easy to do. Just go to the website and fill in your name and email address.

 

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