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South of Rome–West of Ellis Island

December 29, 2013

Why did the Italians Leave Little Italy? Part II Urban Renewal:Elite-WASP conspiracy against working-class Euro-ethnic Catholics

Tom Verso

Part I of this series, about the mid-twentieth century migration of southern-Italian Americans away from Little Italy “Urban Villages” to the suburbs (e.g. from Bronx to Long...

December 17, 2013

So … What Happened to Little Italy? … Why did the Italians Leave? --- Part I: “The Urban Villagers”

Tom Verso

“I’d go back in a heart beat!” … So ended an interview with an upper-middle class southern-Italian American baby boomer. She was born and raised in one of Rochester, N.Y..

November 28, 2013

The First Risorgimento circa 200 B.C. – The South brings Civilization to Northern Italy

Tom Verso

Contemporary presentations of Italian history refer to ‘THE’ (definite article implying singularity) Risorgimento circa 1870 A.D., when in fact it should read ‘A’...

November 17, 2013

Mafia-ology: The Terroni-ization of Southern-Italian Americans … A Gramsci Hegemony/Culture War Analysis

Tom Verso

I use the word mafia-ology to mean the aggregate of Mafia ‘academic’ studies (e.g. Lupo’s “History of Mafia”) and ‘quais-academic’ journalism (e.g. Stille’s...

November 8, 2013

“At the End of a Dull Day” by Massimo Carlotto … WOW! Talk about a ‘Page-Turner’ … This ‘Bad-Boy’ is as Good as it Gets!

Tom Verso

A crime story ‘junkie’ from the profound “Crime and Punishment” to so bad I won’t mention for fear of libel. Accordingly, I speak from experience about the relative...

October 30, 2013

“La Mia Strada – My Road”… A History Narrative Addendum to a Brilliant Nostalgic Video Presentation

Tom Verso

Surprisingly, the 2012 Italian American Studies Association (IASA) conference prominently featured the film “La Mia Strada – My Road”; a southern-Italian American’s story...

October 22, 2013

“Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style” by Letzia Paoli … Brilliant Social Scientific History – Absolutely!

Tom Verso

Knowledge in Western scientific society consists of two categories: ‘Observation’ and ‘Explanation’. First, the characteristics of the phenomenon being studied are...

October 4, 2013

Mafia Studies: Subjective “Representations” vs. Objective “Realities”

Tom Verso

When writing narratives, historians face an inherent inner-conflict between ‘Objective Descriptions’ and ‘Subjective Value Judgments’. For example, Palermo car-bomb...

September 15, 2013

“Vendetta Mountain” by C. A. Fiore ... A ‘Low-Brow’ Symptom of ‘Culture War’ Waged Against Southern-Italian Americans

Tom Verso

After the northern Italian Piedmontese Army conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies circa 1861, they embarked on a Culture War bent on destroying the history and culture of the...

August 16, 2013

“Terroni” and “Polentoni” – Revisited … The Culturally Lobotomized Southern-Italian Americana

Tom Verso

Lorenzo Del Boca writes: “Terroni and Polentioni have become the paradigm for distant worlds, sometimes at odds with each other and often hostile.” 'Right off the Bat' and...

August 6, 2013

Etruscan Origins and Language --- Possible Northern Italian Ideologically Biased History

Tom Verso
“The position occupied by the woman among the Etruscans was a privileged one and had nothing in common with the humble and subordinate condition of the Greek woman.” - Bloch

Etruria was a highly developed pre-Roman society centered in present day Tuscany. Indeed, the name ‘Tuscan(y)’ derives from the word ‘Etruscan’ (eTrUSCAN). Knowledge...

August 1, 2013

The New Bishop of the Bridgeport Connecticut Diocese – Son of Campania Immigrants, and from Brooklyn … No Less!

Tom Verso
Most Rev. Frank J Caggiano

At a time when the Catholic Church in general and the Diocese of Bridgeport in particular are rife with controversy, the Pope appointed a southern-Italian American who immediately...

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