Cindy Squillace
“My great-grandmother, Carmella moved with her 2 young children back to NJ where they had other family and friends. She became the keeper of a boarding house for people emigrating from Calabria which is where my grandparents first met, married, moved to Newburgh NY and raised their family.
My dad was the youngest of 8 children, and married a non-Italian woman, my mom, who soon learned to make sauce, sing Italian songs, gather at my Grandparents on Sundays and enjoy the rich life of our Italian heritage family. My grandfather was a butcher and owned a small corner store until he died. My grandmother and her 5 daughters all worked in unionized factories most of their adult lives, the men joined the service and worked construction. I moved to Syracuse in my early 20’s to go to school, met my husband in upstate NY and we have made Syracuse our home, he is a retired professor from SUNY ESF, I am a social worker.
We love this city with all of its diversity and difficulties. Our lives have been profoundly influenced by our Onondaga Nation friends and neighbors and we understand now how the symbol of Columbus and the Doctrine of Discovery he represents has disastrously affected black, brown and red people around the world. I am working with this talented, dedicated group of Italian heritage women to promote and educate others about Italian people who more represent the values I believe in.”