Arturo giovannitti sermon on the common arturo

Arturo Giovannitti was an Italian who emigrated to North America in the early 1900s. It was a time of great discrimination and inequality for Italians in the United States then. Italians were falsely considered a lesser people, as has unfortunately happened far too many times to far too many different ethnic groups in a nation dedicated to the “poor huddled masses yearning to be free”.

Giovannitti studied theology, eventually becoming a labor leader, poet and political activist.

By design, my blog is neither religious nor political but when I read this sermon and thought about the state of the world today, I was touched deeply by Giovannitt’s words. I wanted to share an excerpt from what was perhaps his most famous work.

I hope you will find it as moving as I did.

Italian-American union leader, socialist political activist and poet

Arturo M. Giovannitti (Italian pronunciation:[dʒovanˈnitti]; 1884–1959) was an Italian-American union leader, socialist political activist, and poet. He is best remembered as one of the principal organizers of the 1912 Lawrence textile strike and as a defendant in a celebrated trial caused by that event.

Early life

Arturo Giovannitti was born January 7, 1884, in Ripabottoni in what is now the Province of Campobasso, Italy, at the time part of the Abruzzi but now part of Molise. He immigrated to Canada in 1900 and, after working in a coal mine and railroad crew, began preaching in a Presbyterian mission. He soon came to the United States, where he studied at Union Theological Seminary. Although he did not graduate, he ran rescue missions for Italians in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh. He also began writing for the weekly newspaper of the Italian Socialist Federation. In 1911, he became the newspaper's editor.

Political career

On January 1, 1912, in accordance with a new state law, the textile mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts, posted new rules limiting the hours of workers to 54 a week, down from the previous 56. It soon became clear that the employers had no intention of adjusting wage rates upwards to make up for the lost work time, and a strike ensued.

On January 12, 1912, the Italian-language branch of the Industrial Workers of the World Local 20 decided to send to New York City for Joe Ettor, the organization's top Italian-language leader, to come to Lawrence and lead the strike. Within a few days, Ettor called his friend Giovannitti to Lawrence to coordinate relief efforts. Giovannitti soon began speaking to Italians. His most noted address was his "Sermon on the Common," which modified Jesus's Beatitudes to decidedly less passive stances, such as "Blessed are the rebels, for they shall reconquer the earth."^[3

[Words to hearten the workers near the end of the   almost three-month Lawrence Textile Mill Strike during the winter of 1912. Edited for brevity by Lou Agre]

by Arturo Giovannitti

Blessed are the strong in freedom’s spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of the earth.
Blessed are they that mourn their martyred dead: for they shall avenge them upon their murderers and be comforted.
Blessed are the rebels: for they shall reconquer the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after equality: for they shall eat the fruit of their labor.

Blessed are the strong: for they shall not taste the bitterness of pity.
Blessed are the sincere in heart: for they shall see truth.
Blessed are they that do battle against wrong: for they shall be called the children of Liberty.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for equality’s sake: for theirs is the glory of the brotherhood of man.

Blessed are ye when the scribes of the press shall revile you, and the doctors of the law, politicians, policemen, judges and priests shall call you criminals, thieves and murderers and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for the sake of Justice.

Ages have come and gone, kingdoms and powers and dynasties have risen and fallen, old glories and ancient wisdoms have been turned into dust, heroes and sages have been forgotten and many a mighty and fearsome god has been hurled into the lightless chasms of oblivion.

But ye, Plebs, Populace, People, Rabble, Mob, Proletariat, live and abide forever.

Photos:   https://www.google.com/search?q=images+Lawrence+Textile+strike&safe=off&biw=1120&bih=568&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiiwO3r5fbOAhWBrB4KHTITBXgQsAQIGw

Bencivenni, Marcella. "6. Arturo Giovannitti: Poet and Prophet of Labor". Italian Immigrant Radical Culture: The Idealism of the Sovversivi in the United States, 1890-1940, New York, USA: New York University Press, 2011, pp. 155-186. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814791035.003.0007

Bencivenni, M. (2011). 6. Arturo Giovannitti: Poet and Prophet of Labor. In Italian Immigrant Radical Culture: The Idealism of the Sovversivi in the United States, 1890-1940 (pp. 155-186). New York, USA: New York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814791035.003.0007

Bencivenni, M. 2011. 6. Arturo Giovannitti: Poet and Prophet of Labor. Italian Immigrant Radical Culture: The Idealism of the Sovversivi in the United States, 1890-1940. New York, USA: New York University Press, pp. 155-186. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814791035.003.0007

Bencivenni, Marcella. "6. Arturo Giovannitti: Poet and Prophet of Labor" In Italian Immigrant Radical Culture: The Idealism of the Sovversivi in the United States, 1890-1940, 155-186. New York, USA: New York University Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814791035.003.0007

Bencivenni M. 6. Arturo Giovannitti: Poet and Prophet of Labor. In: Italian Immigrant Radical Culture: The Idealism of the Sovversivi in the United States, 1890-1940. New York, USA: New York University Press; 2011. p.155-186. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814791035.003.0007

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