We the Italians October 5, 2015 - 69 | Page 35

th # 69 •OCTOBER 5 , 2015 of positive energy coming from the Italian community. Online, though, this energy wasn’t represented. So I went ahead and created bostoniano.info one cold winter night of 2011. Being a journalist by trade, I really wanted to offer what I thought people were looking for: news and events. That’s what the website focused on. But in mid-2012, I realized we could take the experience one step further. After getting to know the Italian and Italian American communities, I felt there was a need for something more tangible than a website. There were many people being left out of the conversation. That’s when I decided to launch Bostoniano, Boston’s Italian American Voice. The magazine was to be a window onto Italian culture, as well as offer a platform to showcase the (young) history and culture of Italian America. Back then, some people thought I was crazy to launch a print product at a time when newspapers were suffering all across the country. But by reaching out to businesses that understood our mission and our goal, we were lcky enough to collect enough funds to launch in Dec. 2012 (three days before Christmas, to be exact!). Almost three entire years have gone by since the launch and the success we have had demonstrates that the magazine is treasured by Italians, Italian Americans and anyone interested in Italian culture. You recently launched a wonderful project to open in Boston’s Little Italy, the North End, “I AM Books The First Italian American Bookstore in the Country”. This is a fantastic project, please tell us more and WE THE ITALIANS | 35 www.wetheitalians.com