Story Behind the Song
Italian and Sicilian Americans suffer a lot of discrimination, my family included. Yet they are strong, artistic and loving. I am so proud of them. "MAFIA" took about three takes. It's the longest selection on the CD, and the longest poem I've ever writtten.
Lyrics
Mafia.
How do you spell Mafia?
M-A-F-I-A
My family and I aren't
Mafia.
My grandparents had their marriage arranged
after my grandfather came to America, U.S.A.
from Termini Imerece, Sicily,
seeking betterment and an education
for himself and his family.
Grazie, Grandnonno!
Thank you, Grandfather.
Imparare-
L-E-A-R-N
spells learn, my friend.
He left in a boat,
settled in Wisconsin,
brought bananas
from New Orleans
to the Midwest
and sold them near
St. Paul and Jefferson Street.
His brother, my great uncle,
Francesco, the great
post-impressionist
painter
Artiste-
A-R-T-I-S-T-S
My family and I aren't Mafia.
The night before my grandfather's
first would-be wife
would go to America,
she dreamt the boat sank.
And she wouldn't go.
The second to-be-betrothed
sent her picture to
my grandfather.
He said to his father,
my great-grandfather,
"If you make me marry this woman,
I will never smile again."
His father said, "What?
"My son never smile again?"
Pauline Palmisano
took one look at my grandfather's photo
and said she would go to America.
My grandfather saw her picture
and responded, "Yes, she I will marry.
cappelli rossa-
"She has the red hair."
Fifteen years old,
my grandmother Pauline
left in a boat
from Termini Imerece, Sicily,
and sailed to America,
land of freedom, U.S.A.
seeking betterment and an education
for herself and her family.
Grazie, Grandnonna!
Thank you, Grandmother.
Corragio-
C-O-U-R-A-G-E
How intense could that'a be?
My grandfather's sister
was so mean,
everyone called her
"The Black Crow."
She chastised my grandmother
because after one year of marriage
she had no children.
My grandmother went to St. Joseph's
and prayed to the Virgin Mary
to give her babies.
My father was the youngest.
of thirteen.
Divina-
D-I-V-I-N-E
They say the Virgin Mary
really liked my grandmother
and favored her prayers.
Her daughter, my aunt Mary,
speaks of discrimination
at St. Lawrence Elementary.
'Cause even though
she tied with Mary O'Neill
in the school Spelling Bee,
Mary O'Neill was declared
the winner, not Mary Spicuzza.
Injiusto-
U-N-J-U-S-T
I know what I see.
Soon after my grandfather
stopped taking his family
to St. Lawrence Holy Roman
Catholic Church.
The parish pastor told him he would
have him excommunicated.
My grandfather said,
"It will take a lot more than you
to excommunicate me."
Fangula-
F-U. You know what I mean.
When I performed at Lollapalooza,
a Black-American poet
spoke out loudly
against racial discrimination
and injustice.
He introduced me
in front of an audience
of hundreds,
and asked my name.
"Jeanne Spicuzza," I said.
"Is that Italian?" he asked.
"Sicilian," I answered.
"Are you Mafia?" he said.
Mafia?
Can you spell Mafia?
M-A-F-I-A
My family and I aren't Mafia.
How about racism?
R-A-C-I-S-M
***Really ain't crap,
it should mean that.
Doesn't he know it
when he sees it
flat out like that?
Mafia?
M-A-F-I-A
My family and I aren't Mafia.
My aunt Mary went on to create
the first school in Milwaukee
for Down's Syndrome children
after her son Chucky was born
with that and a clef palette.
My aunt Marjorie
was the first woman president
of Reliance Savings & Loan,
the first at any
Milwaukee bank at that.
My father took an inner city job
instead of counseling high school kids
in the suburbs, safely tucked away.
He taught me to stand and to work
for what you believe in.
My cousin Kathleen told
The University of Wisconsin
"Ba Ma Fangula"
when sexism in academics
and bad politics
prevented her tenure.
And my cousin Mickey, Yale.
I had my daughter
at seventeen, got a GED,
college degree, poet and artist
I fight like a banshee
for honor and integrity.
I survive
and rise.
Tell me
I can't anything do anything
I'll laugh in your face
and spell it out for you
"I W-I-L-L!"
Will too.
I'm not Caucasian
I ain't white
I'm not a Barbie
pink and light
or blond and blue-eyed;
I've got curly soul
and curly hair
I'll never straighten
to look white or be white again.
Mafia was made for protection
became extortion,
but, baby, right will rise again.
Sicilians have soul
behind their eyes,
you can see it
deep inside.
U manchare-
means good food
Ti amo-
means I love you.
Mafia?
Can you spell Mafia?
I'll spell it out for you
M-A-F-I-A
My family and I aren't Mafia.
Mia famiglia e io fa Amore.
My family and I are Love.
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