AIDS 1- Summer 1986. (Between Junior & Senior Year). Part Two. In Liberty and Reality. Two Lives Continue
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The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a gift from France in 1886. Liberty Weekend, the 100th anniversary, was to be a spectacular weekend and I must say, while I was incredibly fortunate in my circumstances throughout that weekend, I have never had any other experience yet that left quite such an indelible impression. New York and New Jersey were in a turf war starting before I moved to the East Coast in 1985 with New Jersey claiming that Liberty Island was actually in New Jersey waters. They ultimately lost this war and as huge an advocate as I am for New Jersey, this one was bullshit. New York made it clear by putting the statue on their license plate after endless years of orange and black nada. I don't care about the map, people didn't come to America to come to Jersey. I say that, though my father's family did from Italy as did many others as well as many other Europeans and later on, perhaps not through Ellis Island, but Cubans and Puerto Ricans and other populations also came to New Jersey. My sister-in-law's family are immigrants from Cuba and those that are not in Florida are in New Jersey. But, mass immigrants for decades came thinking they were going to New York City.
My father tried to get the company he worked for, Jack Morton Productions, to be producer of that event. They were, I guess, second in line and I think did some side gig things. In any event, the consolation prize was a series of tickets to everything. I had to take my father's client's daughter, which was great because Kelly was a friend of mine. I brought a couple friends from Morristown High School. We first attended the Sports Salute to the Stars. The only part I really remember is Dorothy Hamill and skating and her near fall with a scarf she was using in her act. Peggy Fleming also skated, but so many big athletes, such as Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, and Billie Jean King among others were there for this somewhat intimate event in the smaller Brendan Byrne Arena. We sat two rows behind Vice President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. I tried to find a way to meet him but it never became possible. He was later the first President I ever voted for, following my family and county where Republicans beat Democrats on average 5 to 1 at that time. Northeastern Republicans were a different breed at that point. The Reagan years, at least on the surface, made it easier to feel better about the party. Tom Kean was the Governor of New Jersey when New Jersey was the wealthiest state in the US and Morris County was in the the top three wealthiest counties in the country. I was the only high school student journalist to attend the US Conference of Governors and following a session the press was outside asking Kean questions and he stopped and let me ask mine. It was the impetus for my writing my college essays on the person I particularly admired. "New Jersey & You, Perfect Together" was his tourism campaign and I preached it proudly. I didn't realize how Reagan's denial and ignoring of the AIDS pandemic were needlessly killing people, what a sham trickle-down economics really are or any other things I know now. I will note that a handful of years later the Republicans tried to lure Kean to run for Senate and he said he didn't feel there was a place for someone like him any longer in the Republican Party.
Following The Sports Salute to the Stars we went over to the much grander in scale Giants Stadium with seating for 55,000. There had been an effort to make the New York Giants the New Jersey Giants but that too failed. Many years later, in 2012, the formerly NJ Nets became the Brooklyn Nets, moving from the Meadowlands to the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Now, Giants Stadium has been replaced by the MetLife Stadium and both the New York Giants and New York Jets play there. It seats 82,500 people. On this day, it was to host the closing ceremonies of Liberty Weekend. We all had flashlights at our seats. They had colored filters over the tops of them in red, white and blue. At one point in the ceremony, we all were to light our flashlights in the dark. As Barbara Bush recalls in her book, Barbara Bush: A memoir "we all turned on our lights and we turned into a red, white and blue flag with stars and LIBERTY was spelled out." The ceremonies had included tributes to most all forms of American music and had performances from Patti Labelle, The Pointer Sisters, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Gene Kelly and Liza Minnelli among others. It was, to me, captivating and overwhelming. It certainly was a "proud to be an American" moment. I have had the fortune of being at many great events, but this still stands out as particularly unique. Certainly at 17 years old it was the most spectacular event I had ever attended.
Then my phone rang. Few had cell phones then and nor did I, but my father sent me with his so he could be sure we were able to be reached. Yes, it was one of those weird bricks you see in old movies. My father was crying. I thought Liza had done a great job too but wasn't quite to the point of tears over it. My grandfather had called him, having watched the ceremonies. At 47 years old, 3 years younger than I am now, my father just learned that his father was not actually born in Bridgeton, NJ but immigrated to Ellis Island at 5 years old along with the vast number of his 6 siblings. My grandfather's first memory of America was pissing in his pants because he did not know how to ask where the bathroom was in English. That reality, I remember vividly with shitty cell phone service that isn't even like bad service now, really hit him hard. We had long known that my great-grandfather labored on the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks day after day. We know he had a jug of Chianti at the floor by his side at the dinner table. My grandfather let me know they would have qualified for welfare had such a thing existed in the day. My grandfather had turned down a full scholarship to Princeton because he was worried about keeping up (and not academically) with all those rich kids, and instead went to Temple University on a scholarship where he was able to do a work study program and start two of his siblings in college. He also worked in a tailor shop before and after school every day to help support the family. It is one reason I refuse to iron shirts. He taught my father, then my father went into the Marine Corps on top of it, and I am never, ever satisfied with the quality of my work. I wish my grandfather had taught me a bit about alterations. I could have saved a fortune over the years!
Our real family name is Sanginisi, Sungenis became a name assigned at Ellis Island. We already knew that St.Genis was a name my grandfather had changed during WWII as he felt it was better for business. There are today only 7 of us in the US; everyone else is still a Sungenis. My guess is my grandmother was really behind it. She was working angles to get the social acceptance she wanted to the day she died. I greatly respect her for this on one hand and if being a "wop" on the Main Line (suburban Philadelphia) in the 40s and 50s was her only fault I would be her greatest champion. However, she really never did fit in and in some ways I am not sure why she wanted to anyway. My dad has often lamented that we would have been far better off being among the wealthier "eye-talian" families in South Philly than outcasts in WASP-land Main Line Philly.
I left Giants Stadium in awe of the amazing performances and incredible celebration I attended live while my parents, grandparents and millions of others watched it on television. I left knowing that my grandfather was part of his family which came to Ellis Island as refugees from Italy. At least when they came, the United States welcomed them in rather than separating them and putting them in cages. I am sure my grandfather would have had far harsher memories ingrained in his mind than pissing in his pants had he been treated as we have been treating immigrants most recently.
My grandfather had not only "dug his way" out of poverty but become successful working first for General Motors then Chrysler for 30 years. He was living the Middle Class American Dream. My father had gone further in his career, continuing that "promise" of the American Dream. As I got in the car, I thought of how proud I was, yet how much pressure that their successes put upon me at the same time.
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Big news to plan ahead in LA as early as April. Imagine in NY & NJ...
Cast of 8,000 at Liberty Weekend-LA Times
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