While reading Orsi, I decided that his book was two things: 1) a tribute of his own to the Madonna of 115th Street, as well as 2) a reminder to later Italian generations of their earlier roots. But while Orsi’s book may focus on the Italian community, there are aspects of it that all of us, as immigrants and the children of immigrants, can connect to. For example, like Silky mentioned, the Italian domus-centered society is similar to the respect that children must give their elders in Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Afghani, Japanese, Chinese, Nepali, …. okay, maybe just about every culture. In fact, even having lived in America for more than two-thirds my life, I would probably jump off a building before I intentionally disobey my mother. Even reading about the devotion to the Madonna, which at first glance may seem extreme, had me drawing parallels to other cultures.
But despite having similarities to other cultures, Orsi presents Italian Harlem as a unique community with its individual struggles and victories. For instance, Orsi talked about how the Pope legitimatized the Madonna. I doubt many other communities can boast about this achievement. Though this is a very large aspect of Italian Harlem uniqueness, there are others that Orsi mentions that are just as significant. For example, outside communities were often astonished by the way the Italians celebrated the festa. Even the Italian clergy shook their heads at them, wishing for them to adopt traditions more acceptable to mainstream Americans. Only an insider was able to truly appreciate this feature of the Italian culture. In order to truly understand this or any other community, one must look with the eyes of an insider. Alexa talked about this when she talks about the mind-boggling task that we have to complete in four short months–understanding the communities that make New York New York.
