Essays | Pummarolə

2Jan

By Charles TocciNo Comments

Essays

Escape from Imaginary Cuba

"No la tope ni con el pétalo de una rosa" Artist: Hector Reynoso, Dominican Republic, Instagram: @ArtReynoso by Pilar Hernandez Growing up, when I would argue with my father about something I found unfair, I would yell “But this is AMERICA!” To which he would retort “not in this house, this is Cuba!”. Neither of my parents are from Cuba nor have ever visited but in our three generational, multi-ethnic household of new American immigrants, Cuba, held the exile of freedom in our imagination. It was an absurd parenting tactic for a Central American man raising an American born teenage daughter in Rhode Island to employ, or so I thought at the time. Now, looking back I realize Cuba was the perfect example to use when trying to reason with a privileged, educated and passionate La...

4Jun

By Gabriel PiemonteNo Comments

Essays

Healing Through Colors: Reflections by Annie Lanzillotto

Hear artist, memoirist, and poet Annie Lanzillotto discuss the surprising ways that art inspires and heals over a lifetime. This conversation marks the inaugural episode of a new broadcast series announced earlier this year by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is republished from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Frame of Mind podcast series. Frame of Mind explores connections between art and wellness from a range of individual experiences and perspectives. The short-form, 11-episode weekly series is available free on The Met’s website and on demand across all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Overcast, and Spotify. The podcasts are made possible by Dasha Zhukova Niarchos and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Click to listen:

30Jan

By Gabriel Piemonte1 Comment

Essays, In Italiano

Being a Nonno

by Tony Del PlatoTranslated into Italian by Danielle Vestita “By each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” ― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas I love being a Nonno. I have enough good health to enjoy my three grandchildren. Sagan Alexander Del Plato will be 4 February 14, this year; Conor Ryan Kidney (or KaNAH in Brooklynese) is 4 ½, born May 4; and Orianne Olivia Del Plato, approaching 6, March 9. They bring me laughter and out-of-breath moments. They are sunshine with bursts of thunder and lightning. The apples of my eye. The sweetest, most loving little people. I rejoice to their spontaneous: I love you Nonno. When meeting Sagan and Orianne at their house, Sagan is hopping up and down shouting “Hi Nonno!” Orianne is coy with my arrival. And as soon as I’m out of the truck, I st...

28Jan

By Gabriel PiemonteNo Comments

Essays

The Shoebox Negatives

The Shoebox Negatives: A Trove Rediscovered by Joan Tortorici RuppertMy dad died in 1964 when he was 43 and my mom was 38 years old. Over the decades that followed, my mom lived in apartments where space was limited and storage was highly prized. Only the most important objects survived brutal rounds of downsizing. That’s why I was baffled when, about 30 years ago, my mom reached into the closet of her studio apartment, took down a shoebox stuffed with hundreds of photo negatives and handed it to me. Everybody keeps photo albums. But negatives? “Your dad took these,” she explained. She told me he developed the film himself and that he had been an avid hobbyist.What prompted this unexpected conversation was my mentioning that I was taking a darkroom class. Upon opening up the shoebox, I...

19Dec

By Gabriel Piemonte1 Comment

Essays

Memories of Christmas Enchantment

by Anne Ierardi Making raviolis at Aunt Josie's home, author's mother in the middle. It’s Christmas season in 1960s Boston. After my mother dragged me up and down the escalators at Jordan Marsh and Filenes to try on frilly dresses, I could count on two rewards: lunch on the eighth floor of Filenes—white tablecloths and chicken a la king—and the awesome Enchanted Village created in 1958 by the president of Jordan Marsh. Mr. Minton’s Bavaria artisans created 80,000 pounds of Santa’s helpers, friends, pets, a general store, shoemaker’s shop, glassblower’s shop, and a sled named Rosebud. He dedicated it to the children of New England to cast a spell of enchantment. My grandparents would not have understood a ban against Christmas practiced by the Puritans of New England . ...

Is it Possible to Transform Thanksgiving?

22Nov

By Gabriel PiemonteNo Comments

Essays, Opinion

Is it Possible to Transform Thanksgiving?

By Laura Cinat President Joe Biden pardons a Thanksgiving turkey. Togetherness, gratitude, great homemade food, and the first indoor fire of the season are reasons I adored Thanksgiving growing up. Family and friends arrived on Wednesday to prepare the dressing, to laugh, to catch up, and to be so glad we had each other. My favorite times were sitting and chopping the bread, celery, and other secret ingredients that, when mixed with the turkey gravy the next day, would be something extraordinary. While I chopped, I savored the moments with my parents and siblings. We were captive at the table with nothing to pay attention to but each other and the glorious food. There were also decorations and artifacts on the table. The napkins with autumn colors, the cand...

11Oct

By PummarolaNo Comments

Essays, Stracciatella: A Sprinkling of This & That

Sausage for Lunch

By Joanna Clapps Herman The author's aunt with her tomato harvest. We always had sausage for lunch on Saturdays, because we were always making the sauce for Sunday macaroni. Every Saturday started the same way. First my mother, my sister and I cleaned the house, then we started the sauce. Two pounds of sausage, one hot, one sweet, two pounds of ground meat for the meatballs. Only sometimes braciola. My mother’s Tolvese grandmother put in chicken too. But we never did. We made it Aviglanese style because that’s what the wife does. She learns the sauce of her husband’s people so he’ll always have the sauce from his childhood. My mother studied the Aviglanese recipes from my father’s grandmother, Mammanonna. It was a point of pride that women were great cooks and that they learned their...

Learning to love swimming in Lake Michigan

10Oct

By PummarolaNo Comments

Essays, Stracciatella: A Sprinkling of This & That

Learning to love swimming in Lake Michigan

By Teresa Albano Lake Michigan The ferocity of the waves cannot be captured in a single photo of a rising sun, although my swim buddy, Aliza, tries. The waves’ height are, according to Lake Michigan Buoy #45174, 4.3 ft., coming every 6 secs. They hit the shallow sandy bottom and break with energy that easily knocks you down. It’s impossible to confront high-breaking waves by standing upright, as if you were a courageous Black Lives Matter activist, standing your ground for decency, democracy and the First Amendment. You have to submerge or swim through them, which may feel counterintuitive. But when facing a force like water, being relaxed and flexible beats being stiff and rigid. Aliza and I, teammates on an adult swim team, take to Lake Michigan during the summer of 2020 for ...

Speaking Truth to the Fabricated Story of Christopher Columbus

10Oct

By Pummarola3 Comments

Essays, Opinion

Speaking Truth to the Fabricated Story of Christopher Columbus

A Call for Understanding and Inclusion to All Americans of Italian Descent By Tony Del Plato Americans of all ethnicities and cultures have staked their claim to “the land of the free.” But are we brave enough to face the dark side of the American story? Those who inhabited this land before the Europeans, Asians and Africans arrived, have suffered continuous attacks upon their lives and culture. They have endured a genocidal assault. And yet, they are alive and exist amongst us. I am calling on Americans of Italian descent for understanding and inclusion of our history on the land called Turtle Island by the Haudenosaunee peoples. America contains diverse truths based upon the historical record and the many voices among native peoples and those who colonized the Western ...