2 - Doing battle on many fronts

President of the Montreal Comites, Giovanni Rapanà discusses the contributions of Italians

People from Salento (Salentinians) mostly walked roads leading them in Europe: Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France. They gave an important contribution to the post-war reconstruction and prosperity of the countries where they worked. They made their fortune, but often lost their lives. For example, in Belgium, in the Marcinelle mine in 1958, as many as 275 Italian migrants lost their lives in a single disaster: most of them came from Salento, where they had recently left tobacco plantations overlooking the Ionian Sea that surrounds Lecce.
That tragedy not only marked the everyday lives of the survivors (many towns still have squares and monuments "to the victims of the Marcinelle disaster"), but occupied an important place in the collective imagination; many Salentinian gastarbeitern returned home, in order to dispel the dark curse of migrants who leave and never come back.
"I was one-years-old when the Marcinelle tragedy happened, so I cannot remember it. But I remember that, as soon as I began to understand, I noticed that it was constantly mentioned," says Giovanni Rapanà, from Galatone in Salento, President of the Montreal Comites. "It was an overhanging event, which in people's chats had even replaced the memories of the other great collective tragedy, the Second World War, whose wounds were barely beginning to heal."
Giovanni Rapanà is one of those scarce Salentinians who crossed the Atlantic Ocean, bound for Canada. "In Montreal," he says, "Apulians, especially from Bari and Foggia, are numerous, but there are very few Salentinians. Although Salento is indeed in Apulia, I want to distinguish between the two for historical and cultural reasons: Apulians and Salentinians live in the same region, yet they are different people. At the time of the Constituent Assembly, this diversity was almost recognized with the creation of the Region of Salento. The idea was torpedoed by Aldo Moro, who did not accept the idea of splitting Apulia in two. He had his reasons, which I respect as I always respected his political overtures, but I cannot forget that the Region of Salento was blocked by Aldo Moro, a Salentinian himself. His attitude at the time can be taken as symbolic of our character: Salentinians are scoffers, unable to accept unconditionally what other people have established; they are individualistic and stubborn."

Do you recognize yourself in this definition?
"I am not an individualist. As for the rest, yes, I recognize myself, especially as regards stubbornness. Lovers of the easy life see me as a pain in the neck, and from their standpoint they're probably right."
What about your standpoint?
"Of course not. The point is, I do not accept the petty relations, petty favours, petty politicking. I try to fly high: sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but I do my best regardless. Flying high is a recurrent problem with us Salentinians."
The trouble is that when they fall down they hurt themselves pretty badly, especially if their individualism prevents them from forming alliances. The Region of Salento vanished because Salentinians were so intent on getting it that they forgot that the matter would have caused friction with the Barese, who always lorded it over everyone in Apulia. And this is recent history. In the past, Maria d'Enghien, princess of Lecce, and her husband Raimondello Orsini del Balzo felt powerful enough to challenge the King of Naples creating in 1387 the Principality of the Land of Otranto, a sort of state within the state. It ended with the king of Naples taking back the Land of Otranto.
"But he also married Maria d'Enghien, who had become a widow in the meantime, so from Princess of Lecce she became Queen of Naples. As you see, stubbornness sometimes pays off."
And how did your stubbornness, as President of the Montreal Comites, pay off?
"A man, alone, can do very little if he's not assisted by men and women who share his vision and fight in the front line with him. Let's just say that our, our , I say, stubbornness paid off in terms of visibility for an organization that fought many battles, winning some."
Which, for instance?
"Think of how the Montreal Comites was elected: we had real consultations here, not simply appointments as in the rest of Canada. The consultations supplied the Consulate General with democratically elected names. And the Consul General, the late Clara Maria Bisegna, took notice. With her we lost a great supporter of our community, and a sincere friend. Then, if we want to mention some won battles, I would also throw in the publicity of all our deliberations, including the opinions we give on the public funds destined to various organisms. This is transparency, in my opinion. As is the controversy we opened with the Consulate about 30,000 requests for citizenship re-acquisition, submitted within the deadline but still stored in boxes. Finally, there's the battle on Italian language in school: this is another qualifying commitment for us."
How is this battle going?
"Discussing the school reform, the provincial Parliament is considering our proposal to regard Italian as the third language spoken in Quebec, therefore allowing it to be taught in school. The validity of this request of ours was clearly shown in the convention entitled Italian from language of immigration to language of culture, held on November 3 last at Montreal University, with an important contribution by Comites."
You also engaged a battle with RAI International. Is this battle won or lost?
"It's a battle that we shall win, because it was engaged by a grand alliance grouping all of Canada's Comites and the CGIE, with the support of the Italian Canadian community. At first sight, this might look as a problem felt only in Montreal, since in two months we collected about 23,000 signatures in support of our request for having programs broadcast directly from Italy. In reality, the problem is felt all over Canada, where 38,000 signatures were collected. This proves the damages inflicted to our community by RAI International."
Can you quantify these damages?
"How can one quantify cultural damages? This is what we are talking about, because Canada is the only country in the world where the programming of RAI International cannot be received directly. And one has to content with the fragments, often taken out of context and finalized to advertising needs only, and rebroadcast by Telelatino. Tell me, what sort of Italian culture can derive from these lame programmes? We want RAI International programming, in its entirety, to be receiveable directly from Italy, as happens everywhere else, without local middlemen."
How do RAI justify themselves?
"They claim they have commitments with Telelatino that must be respected. However, they say they have found a solution: within this year they will broadcast directly from Italy while also feeding programmes to Telelatino. In my opinion, this is a bungled solution, but if we shall be able to receive RAI International live from Italy we shall have taken a big step forward; should RAI continue to respect their so-called commitments to Telelatino, that's up to them. Anyway, I would like to clarify that mine is not a battle against RAI, but in favour of the new generations."
Isn't this a rather worn declaration of principles?
"Not at all. With all due respect for newsprint, TV is the most efficacious vector for Italianity abroad, because it allows people to see how Italy is, how it has changed, and become a great nation. New generations in general read little Italian, even though here in Montreal the situation is better than anywhere else in Canada. So, new generations must be shown Italy; then the newspapers will tell the rest of the story. I mean that who can read will do so; who cannot will not be left out in the cold. That is why the battle on RAI International has a marked cultural and political character."
Is this battle enough to maintain an Italian awareness?
"It is not, but if we'll win it our community will have taken another step forward. People in Italy should understand that so large an Italian community as we have here cannot be fed fragments of TV information. But we must understand it, too, and we have to gain awareness and not content ourselves with what we are."
What do you mean?
"I mean that the dinners, banquets, pizzas, and mandolins, around which our community often congregates, are not always culture. We must take a quantum leap, elaborating important cultural projects. There is a diffuse Italian culture here, but it frequently stops at the little rituals of everyday life, flying very low. At times, it looks like people are satisfied with being second-grade Italians. There's seldom grandeur in our actions."
Do you think life should be a constant pursuit of grandeur?
"It's a necessity: if we want to emancipate from the triviality surrounding us, we have to go beyond it. In order to go beyond triviality, one must think big. It is difficult, but sooner or later it pays off."
Vittorio Bodini, a poet from Lecce, once wrote that "we Salentinians are waiting for life to give us, all together, the things we think we deserve." Is it so for you too?
"Yes... yes, it is. But it is clear that you, too, are a Salentinian. Where are you from?"
Alezio.
"Ten kilometres from my hometown."
I know, but I am not the person being interviewed. Do you think the opening of the Leonardo da Vinci Centre in Montreal could be the turning point able to emancipate our community from triviality? Luigi Liberatore thinks so: he maintains that the second stage of multi-culturalism will begin there.
"I hope so. If that centre will be managed with intelligence, it will really be our community's new challenge. But don't underestimate my premise: it must be managed intelligently."
And what will be the new challenge for the Montreal Comites?
"The usual: free elections for Comites all over Canada, thus closing the antidemocratic habit of appointments; RAI International 24 hours a day directly from Italy; reopening the terms for re-acquiring the Italian citizenship; the teaching of Italian in Quebec schools. When these objectives will be accomplished, I'll retire."
On the contrary, there are rumours of your running in the first Italian elections when Italians abroad will vote.
"That is a rumour. I say that if I am needed I am available, but on my conditions, i.e. those I talked about in this interview. Conditions Salentinian-style, if you prefer."
What do you miss of Salento?
"The sea of Gallipoli, especially at daybreak, when it smells of the East, and the incomparable fish one can only eat at Marechiaro restaurant."
And what do you expect from the upcoming World Conference of Italians Abroad, which will be held from December 11 to 15 next in Rome?
"The beginning of a real strategy of attention of Italy towards Italians who emigrated. Which mostly means containing the overflowing of bureaucracy that often cancels the efforts of the politicians. Bottom line, I expect that we Italians who went away, and who became protagonists of development in our host countries, will be recognized for our role as the natural ambassadors of our mother country. This country has forgotten us far too long."

Publication Date: 2002-12-22
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2178