Victorian Comrade

Many [Italian immigrant] women expressed an understanding that their exploitation was directly tied to the emergence of industrial capitalism and the attendant forces of imperialism, racism, and nativism. They denounced U.S. imperialism in Asia and Latin America, and the aggression of the Italian government in Africa. They called these “civilizing missions” into question by drawing on the rhetoric of American nationalism to expose how “liberty” and “freedom” were elusive for many in the United States. The multiethnic nature of New York City and New Jersey’s radical subcultures meant that they heard firsthand about the effects of U.S. imperialism abroad, and their writing linked these policies to the violence of European colonialism. In 1907, for example, amid a flurry of essays on women’s emancipation, Titì wrote an essay titled “Il Congo” (The Congo) in which she reminded readers how Belgian King Leopold disguised policies of violent brutality in Africa with the language of benevolent paternalism. Italian anarchists believed deeply that nationalism was at the root of the problem. In describing what it was like to be an immigrant, Ersilia Cavedagni wrote, “How evil is this, a society in which its members have developed a stupid aversion to others who do not speak the same language, or are born under another sky, and wear different clothes. . . . Ah, this damned and miserable concept of country separates those who nature intended to be brothers, so stupidly, uselessly, and ferociously.”

let's serve face with great-grandpa