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Ortigia, Ottobre 2020
Fornace Penna, Sicilia 2020
Ortigia, Ottobre 2020
I promised a part two so here it goes. My letter to America and racism culture within Italian American culture.
50 years ago I wouldn’t be white. I mean, I’m not white. But I wouldn’t have had white on my passport (don’t ask me why it’s white on my passport) because I’m Italian. I’m not even Italian I’m Sicilian but to most Americans that’s the same thing. They think I’m being pompous and obnoxious about where I’m from. Like I’m more special than other Italian Americans. But like.. no? The opposite in fact??
Back in Italy, Sicilians aren’t white. Sicilians are dirty. They’re mixed and disgusting and their skin is too dark and they’re too poor. Back in Italy, my accent alone tells people what they need to know. So how does that relate to me, here in America?
In America, existing is confusing. My mother (the whitewashed Tsalagi woman) thinks I’m white on my dad’s side. “But Tala why the fuck does this matter?” I hear someone asking. Because you need to understand the difference between being Italian and Sicilian. It boils down to the fact that Sicily was colonized a trillion times. We had to do genetic testing for medical reasons, here’s what I found out. I’m Arab, black, unspecified Asian (dunno why they couldn’t specify), Greek, Italian, and ofc white and Native American. Those last two are from mummy dearest. Everything else is from my dad. Sicily is a mixed race culture. That’s why Sicilians look so different from each other. Because it’s not a genetic set, it’s mixing races. It’s a beautiful thing and a beautiful culture, but being Sicilian doesn’t make you white. You can be a white Sicilian the same way I’m Arab-Greek Sicilian, but it’s not an automatic designation.
If you’re sitting here wondering why the hell that matters, dw so did my friends before I explained it. Imma give you some examples of things that happened to me.
In meetings at the balboa park house of Italy, saying I’m Sicilian got me a ticket to having change my shirt bc a 40 year old woman purposely spilled her wine on me.
In 2023 I got called a Dago (a slur I haven’t heard used as one since my incredibly fucking Sicilian history teacher explained its use in America back in the day) because I had a Sicilian flag on the back of my jacket.
So yeah racism against Sicilians is still a thing and I’m tired of some of y’all acting like it isn’t.
Ὦ τὸν ὑποχθόνιον ναίων δόμον, ὀβριμόθυμε, Ταρτάριον λειμῶνα βαθύσκιον ἠδὲ λιπαυγῆ, Ζεῦ χθόνιε, σκηπτοῦχε, τάδ' ἱερὰ δέξο προθύμως· Πλούτων, ὃς κατέχεις γαίης κληῖδας ἁπάσης, πλουτοδοτῶν γενεὴν βροτέην καρποῖς ἐνιαυτῶν. ὃς τριτάτης μοίρης ἔλαχες χθόνα παμβασίλειαν, ἕδρανον ἀθανάτων, θνητῶν στήριγμα κραταιόν· ὃς θρόνον ἐστήριξας ὑπὸ ζοφοειδέα χῶρον, τηλέπορον τ', ἀκάμαντα, λιπόπνοον, ἄκριτον Ἅιδην, κυάνεόν τ' Ἀχέρονθ', ὃς ἔχει ῥιζώματα γαίης. ὃς κρατέεις θνητῶν θανάτου χάριν, ὦ πολυδέγμων Εὔβουλ', ἁγνοπόλου Δημήτερος ὅς ποτε παῖδα νυμφεύσας λειμῶνος ἀποσπαδίην διὰ πόντου, τετρώροις ἵπποισιν ὑπ' Ἀτθίδος ἤγαγες ἄντρον δήμου Ἐλευσῖνος, τόθι περ πύλαι εἴσ' Ἀίδαο. μοῦνος ἔφυς ἀφανῶν ἔργων φανερῶν τε βραβευτής, ἔνθεε, παντοκράτωρ, ἱερώτατος, ἀγλαότιμε, σεμνοῖς μυστιπόλοις χαίρων ὁσίοις τε σεβασμοῖς ἵλαον ἀγκαλέω σε μολεῖν κεχαρηότα μύσταις.
Fun Fact:
In Disney's Hercules, we see Zeus get immobilized by the Titans attacking Olympus. But did you know that actually happened in ancient Greek myth? Only instead of being entombed in fire and ice like the movie shows, he endures something MUCH more painful.
When the Earth goddess Gaia sent her youngest and most monstrous son Typhon to slaughter the Olympians as punishment for their treatment of the Titans, literally all of the gods fled to Egypt in fear besides Zeus (and sometimes Athena). Left to defend his kingdom alone, Zeus fought as hard as he could against the brobdingnagian beast. But Typhon overpowered the king of Olympus and tore out his sinews, leaving him limp and nearly lifeless on the ground. It wasn't until the god Pan stole back Zeus's strength that he could fight again and ultimately defeat Typhon. After which, he chained the monster underneath Mount Etna where he was never heard from again.
...Although he was known to cause the occasional disturbance.
Cieli viola. Silenzio. Aria tiepida. Questo è ottobre 🌆 . . . . . . . . . . #palermo #livelovesicily #bestsiciliapics #ig_sicily #ig_palermo #loves_sicilia #loves_palermo #live_sicilia #sicily_tricolors #volgosicilia #volgopalermo #mondopalermo #igerspalermo #igerssicilia #sicilianjourney #vivopalermo #sicilia_bestphoto #palermo_bestphoto #instapalermo #ig_panormus #sicilia #sicily #palermomia (presso Palermo, Italy)
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Quel che resta di una bella villa trasformata in ospedale.. 20172209 (Palermo, Ospedale Villa Sofia)