OL Meets...
Welcome back, dear readers, for another year together. From now on, we'll be publishing monthly, with some new features in form and content. Beyond the voices you already know—above all, the radiant Benedetta—you'll find reading suggestions, our 0-13 section (fragility told through the eyes of the youngest, from drawings to rhymes, from audio to written word), and most importantly, our meeting of the month. Each time we'll bring you a place, a person, a community… We begin—through the voice of Giovanni Solaro—by entering Italy's first supermarket designed for people with autism. It's in Monza, on via Marsala. And this is where our journey starts.
Book of the Month
«Is it right,» asks Enrica Riera as she introduces The Most Beautiful. The Constitution Betrayed (Add Editore), «that Carla and Matteo, like so many others in similar circumstances, must fend for themselves because nobody helps them, with their protections and rights going unrecognized?» With this month's book, we continue our journey through Italy: through accounts of real events across the peninsula, amid facts and often uncomfortable questions, journalist and Piazzapulita correspondent Alessio Lasta's investigative book bears witness to how much—and how—our Constitution remains a dead letter for the lives of so many, far too many Italians. «It's time to open our eyes,» Riera concludes, «to take concrete steps forward: the Constitution is seventy years old.»
Entertainment
Our third stop is Venice. Actually, the other Venice—the one nobody talks about—which Claudio Cinus explored for us, traveling safely to the 77th Film Festival, the first major international in-person event in the pandemic era. And so we present a selection of many films on themes of fragility and disability, mostly overlooked by the media. We begin with Oaza, a Serbian film shot entirely inside an institution for people with mild intellectual disabilities, and Listen, about the anguishing struggle between parents and British social services over care for a deaf child.
Photo of the Month
A solid friendship between Roberto, Walter, and Luisa (behind the camera): in these times, they can only see each other through the gate because Roberto has barely left confinement, like so many others living in group homes, family houses, and institutions. You have to find ways to pass the time… so downloading an app together on a phone can make the day less boring.
0-13
«Hi, my name is Greta, I'm 11 years old, a few days ago someone asked me what disability is. Well, that word doesn't exist in my vocabulary. How I define it is as a gift. Each of us has a gift—some people keep theirs hidden and others don't. Some people would call these gifts strange, sometimes ugly, but the truth is they're just being idiots. For example, to me an autistic person is a beautiful gift, because they say things straight without talking too much, without meaning to hurt anyone. For me this isn't disability, it's humanity.»
(Greta is in seventh grade and lives in the province of Bari)
Benedetta's Blog
I Decided. Me, Myself
I really don't want to talk about my beach vacation. I just don't feel like it. Period. Everyone asks me "Benedetta, what did you do at the beach?" But I don't want to answer. I don't feel like it. How else am I supposed to say I don't feel like it? There! Read more...
Post of the Month
When I walk around Rome with my severely disabled daughter, I always notice with sadness how almost no disabled children are out and about. We need to give families all the means possible to throw open their doors and let people with disabilities live without fear ✌️
— Alessandro Carosi (@Alecarosi) October 5, 2020
Faith and Light Life
After the sudden confinement that kept us living in "emergency mode" but #closetogether and after a summer break that led to organizing brief breaks for those who were struggling most, Faith and Light communities are asking whether and how to restart meetings and activities. Caution and care are essential, and everyone's strength isn't equal: so each community decides what to do next, tests new possibilities, reflects on memory, and thinks about what we've lived through. Everyone's goal is to find a good "dynamic of accompaniment": Sister Veronica Donatello spoke about this when she met with the Ecclesial Movements for Disability, including Faith and Light, at the end of September. And we remain ready for a year full of uncertainty that we can only face better together.