Monday, October 8, 2012

Happy Garibaldi Day, or Is It Happy Granata Day?

Last year, I proposed that Columbus Day be changed to Garibaldi Day because Columbus was pretty much an awful person while Garibaldi was a paragon of liberalism and national self-determination on both sides of the Atlantic. As if that weren't enough, he was a Noo Yawkah for a brief time. Even though my dad's dad's parents emigrated from a small town near Genoa, I'd rather celebrate Garibaldi's achievements than those of the Genoese Columbus. To tell the truth, I'd rather celebrate Rocco Granata's legacy than Columbus'- as far as I know, Rocco didn't destroy an entire culture, as long as you ignore this unfortunate misstep.

So, do I celebrate my Italian heritage by memorializing a grand hero of Italian unification, who was also associated with revolutionary movements in South America, or do I memorialize the guy who wrote an accordion-driven classic which is played wherever drunk Europeans congregate? Should I even have to choose?

5 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Columbus Day is big here, surprise!

But I had to put up something for War in Afghanistan's B-Day.
~

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

In honor of Columbus, I am moving into thunder's place in West Virginia and saying I discovered it.

mikey said...

I recognize it has nothing to do with Columbus, Italian heritage or Garibaldi, but personally I'd like a day set aside to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Henry Berry Lowrie.

Or at least a movie....

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I need to move back to thunder's place in West Virginia.
~

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

TOO.

LATE.