Decked out in temporary tattoos of the Italian flag and matching red, white and green earrings, Madia Crudele, 49, waved a flag with her fiancé, Frank DiPaolo, along the parade route at the 71st annual Columbus Day Parade on Monday.
Crudele and DiPaolo were both born to parents who emigrated from Italy. On Monday, they attended the parade to honor their parents and their history.
“My father is gone, but my mom is still here, so the older she gets, the more involved in my culture I become,” Crudele said. “We’re here just celebrating and continuing our heritage.”
Crudele and DiPaolo joined others lining the eight-block route at the parade, hosted by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans.
“It’s very important to us and our families, and what they went through. They tell us stories about what they went through when they came,” Crudele said. “My grandfather would come and go from Italy to Chicago. He went like five times, two weeks on a boat.”
This year’s parade was also attended by delegations from Puglia, Milan and Sicily, as well as other local dignitaries.
Civic committee President Ron Onesti said the holiday isn’t just about celebrating Italian American heritage.
“It’s about all of us coming together in unity, brotherhood, sisterhood, so that we can join together, march together, celebrate all of our ethnicities, all of our cultures, because that’s what this is about,” Onesti said at a rally before the parade.
Paying tribute to legendary singer Tony Bennett, who died in July, his daughter, Antonia Bennett, served as this year’s honorary grand marshal.
“My dad had such a nice relationship with the city, and the people in Chicago were always so good to him, so thank you for honoring him,” she said.
Honoring Tony Bennett was a focus of this year’s parade, Onesti said, adding: “One thing I have to correct: He left his heart in Chicago, at least today.”
Francesca Griseta, 20, said she loves living in Chicago and being around other Italian Americans, many of whom still speak Italian. She attended the parade with family and came draped in the Italian flag.
“I feel like there’s a lot of shame now on the holiday, but I feel like it’s still important to Italian Americans,” Griseta said.
Griseta’s aunt, Marla Geraci, said people need to accept that no one is perfect. She added that she thinks any celebration of heritage is good.
“Rather than trying to tamp down all of this, I think we should celebrate everybody’s backgrounds, no matter what they are,” Geraci said. “Let there be more parades. I think it’s time for everybody to be happy again.”
Illinois still recognizes Oct. 9 as Columbus Day, but many states, and Chicago Public Schools, now commemorate it as Indigenous Peoples Day. The move represents a reckoning over Christopher Columbus’ legacy of colonialism and genocide, which also led to the removal of several statues of the explorer. Indigenous communities have encouraged Italian Americans to celebrate their culture without using Columbus as a focal point.
“We celebrate Columbus Day. We don’t necessarily celebrate Columbus the man or his accomplishments as an explorer, and we celebrate the hero, what he stands for,” Onesti said. “This is something very important to many generations, our heritage, and just kind of squashing it just for the sake of squashing it is terrible.”
He added that though his goal is to “make peace with everybody,” he feels that many people are “just being flat-out mean.”
In June, Illinois designated October Italian American Heritage Month.
